If you know of or have a family member that is diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, you will realize that marriage and children are not uncommon with someone diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome. People raised by parents with Aspergers syndrome do not always exhibit A.S. tendencies. The traits that people with A.S. exhibit and possibly hand down to their children is below.

Married men that are diagnosed will still exhibit their A.S. symptoms after marriage. It’s still very difficult to connect with other members in his family. With his wife, he will want minimal contact. He will not show much empathy or sympathy and he will probably be very literal minded. He will want to a lot of space between them.

This section explains some of the most common reasons for a child with an ASD over-eating and provides some basic strategies to help you try and overcome the problem.

Some individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) can have problems relating to feeding and difficulties surrounding their diet. These dietary problems can relate to both over- and under-eating. Unfortunately, there is limited literature which focuses on this issue. For further information relating to a restricted diet please see the ‘Dietary management for children and adolescents with ASDs: restricted diet’ information sheet.

Please note that all of the following points are general and therefore we would always advise individuals or their carers to consult with a GP or a medical professional if they have any dietary issues.

The first step if you are concerned about an individual’s diet should be to create a food diary. A food diary will hopefully be able to show possible reasons for the over-eating or weight gain. By regularly recording an individual’s eating habits you will be provided with useful information about their eating pattern.

In the world of Asperger syndrome, Victoria Harris is a success story with a job and a long-term relationship.

She is among just 12% of people with the condition currently employed in Britain, according to the National Autistic Society.

Asperger’s can cause behavioural and social difficulties often meaning it is hard to find work and sustain relationships.

But Miss Harris, from Weymouth in Dorset, has now been going out with her boyfriend Matt Dale, who has Tourette syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, for four years.

She believes it was only down to being diagnosed at a young age that she was given the support she needed.
‘Work together’

“I think it is a problem [nowadays] that a lot of people are having with the condition.
Victoria Harris Miss Harris works part-time at a Tesco store

“Councils are finding money tight, especially at the moment, so getting a diagnosis is like getting blood out of a stone.”

For graduate Martin Hedley who has Asperger’s syndrome being unemployed for the past 10 years is a situation he cannot understand.

“I did a degree… but I’ve got a debt of £14,000 and I’m on benefits – that’s completely mental,” he says.

He is among about 88% of people with the condition who are currently unemployed in Britain, according to the National Autistic Society.

The 44-year-old singer-songwriter from Weymouth, Dorset, has been out of work since he was diagnosed.

He was previously working as a mechanic and a self-employed wood turner but has struggled to find suitable employment since his diagnosis.

Asperger’s is a form of high-functioning autism, which often leads to intelligent and capable people struggling with social situations.
‘Like a curse’

Common workplace problems, like a change of routine, can make them stressed and anxious.

“My brain never ever stops analysing things, over and over and over again,” Mr Hedley said.

“In that sense it is like a curse because it just never ever stops.”
Rowan Hedley Mr Hedley’s daughter Rowan said her father can be “child-like” because of his condition

After years of failing to find employment, Mr Hedley decided to set up his own community project to renovate a historic building in Weymouth.

Last of Four Parts

As more children are diagnosed with autism, researchers are trying to find unrecognized cases of the disorder in adults. The search for the missing millions is just beginning.

When autism researchers arrived at Norristown State Hospital near Philadelphia a few years ago, they found a 63-year-old man who rambled on about Elvis Presley , compulsively rocked in his chair and patted the corridor walls.

Ben Perrick, a resident of the psychiatric institution for most of his life, displayed what the University of Pennsylvania researchers considered classic symptoms of autism. His chart, however, said he was schizophrenic and mentally retarded.

Delving into the file, the researchers learned that as a 10-year-old, Perrick had seen Dr. Leo Kanner, the psychiatrist who discovered autism. In his notes from 1954, Kanner described Perrick as “a child who is self centered, withdrawn, and unable to relate to other people,” and recommended that he be committed.

Later, other doctors relabeled Perrick. The autism diagnosis was forgotten.

The researchers found 13 other patients with unrecognized autism in the Norristown hospital — about 10% of the residents they evaluated. It was a sign of how medical standards and social attitudes toward the disorder have shifted.

Third of Four Parts

An autism treatment called applied behavior analysis, or ABA, has wide support and has grown into a profitable business. It has its limits, though, and there are gaps in the science.

In 1987, Ivar Lovaas, a charismatic UCLA psychology professor, published what remains the most famous study on the treatment of autism.

Lovaas had broken down the basic skills of life into thousands of drills, such as pointing, identifying colors and reading facial expressions. For 40 hours a week on average, the therapists he trained used rewards and punishments, ranging from food treats to slaps on the thigh, to instill those abilities in 19 autistic youngsters under the age of 4.

When the study began, most of the children didn’t speak and were considered mentally retarded. After a few years, nine of them tested average or above in intelligence and moved on to mainstream first-grade classrooms — a far better outcome than in two control groups.

Lovaas described the children as “recovered.”

Autism, long considered a sentence of lifelong isolation, suddenly had a potential antidote. It was called “applied behavior analysis,” or ABA.

As the diagnosis of autism has exploded, so has demand for ABA, the most commonly recommended treatment. It has become a thriving business, worth more than $200 million a year in California alone.

Second of Four Parts

Public spending on children with autism in California varies greatly by race and class. A major reason: Not all families have the means to battle for coveted assistance.

From the day her son was diagnosed with autism nine years ago, Stacie Funk has made it her full-time job to find him the best possible help. Hiring lawyers and experts to press her case, she established herself as a mother whose demands could not easily be dismissed.

The result has been a bounty of assistance for Jonah: A behavioral therapist who works with him at home and comes along on family outings, a personal aide at school and specialists to design his curriculum, improve his speech and refine his motor skills.

So far, the state of California and the Los Angeles Unified School District have spent at least $300,000 on specialized services for Jonah.

Now 13, he bites his hands , pinches his younger siblings and is easily flustered by changes in routine. But his mother is proud of the progress he’s made — his ability to express his needs, read aloud and surf the Internet for movie trivia.

The outside support, she said, helps hold the family together.

“Am I more entitled than someone else?” said Funk, of Encino, whose husband owns a trophy-parts business. “No. But that’s how the system is set up.”

First of Four Parts

Autism rates have increased twentyfold in a generation, stirring parents’ deepest fears and prompting a search for answers. But what if the upsurge is not what it appears to be?

Amber Dias couldn’t be sure what was wrong with her little boy.

Chase was a bright, loving 2 1/2-year-old. But he didn’t talk much and rarely responded to his own name. He hated crowds and had a strange fascination with the underside of the family tractor.

Searching the Internet, Amber found stories about other children like Chase — on websites devoted to autism.

“He wasn’t the kid rocking in the corner, but it was just enough to scare me,” recalled Dias, who lives with her husband and three children on a dairy farm in the Central Valley town of Kingsburg.

She took Chase to a psychologist in Los Angeles, who said the boy indeed had autism and urged the family to seek immediate treatment.

But a team at the Fresno agency that arranges state-funded services for autism said Chase didn’t have the disorder. His problems, staff members said, were nothing more than common developmental delays that he would eventually outgrow.