Developmental aspects of the Asperger brain

rbalogh

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Ever since my diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome, my interest has been to develop a sense of how and why I experience what it is I experience, with attention to brain function associated with ASD (autism spectrum disorder), in particular Asperger Syndrome. I will attempt to link brain development to behavior. I will also share my thoughts about how our schools could better attend to the of children who have ASD diagnoses.

What it this syndrome that I am unable to touch, taste, hear, smell or see?

I conceptualize Asperger Syndrome, not as something defined by symptoms produced by a disturbance of sensory input, but by symptoms which are primarily the result of information that one fails to experience. It is an experience that results from a lack of processing of a certain spectrum of sensory information within the brain. The spectrum of sensory processing involved is mainly related to the integration of our brain's language center with other regions of the brain. These other regions of the brain involve all of the various sensory and behavioral aspects of communication. The result of this communication breakdown is most obvious in our social and emotional life.

Abilities affected include:

1. Ability to effectively decipher and communicate the visual components of emotional expression.

2. Ability to effectively decipher and communicate the auditory components of emotional expression.

3. Ability to effectively decipher and communicate the sensory components of emotional expression involving touch, smell, and taste.

4. Ability to effectively integrate thought with emotion.

The social behaviors include:

1. Participation in group social interactions

2. Recognition and maintenance of interpersonal boundaries in relationships

3. Establishing and maintaining intimacy in relationships

4. Dealing with change

5. Integration onto the job market

6. Function as a parent

The degree to which these abilities are effected can vary greatly. Our processors aren't either fully connected (integrated) or disconnected. There is a spectrum of integration involving neurons in the brain. The variability of integration can be infinite. This can result in a tremendous variability in the degree and variety of symptomatology.

The breakdown of integration of sensory input with the language center starts early in the development of the human brain (pregnancy). A brain so effected will continue to grow and develop in unique and different ways. Perhaps the lack of earlier connections cause subsequent development to be regulated (disregulated?) differently. Perhaps the brain is trying to find a way to compensate for or correct the missing connections. This growth can result in an individual who has special or unique abilities.

Affected individuals can develop powerful visual and associative processor abilities.

Highly developed visual processor abilities allow for the individual to picture virtually anything in his or her mind. What's visualized is multidimentional and can be altered in any way imaginable. Touch, sounds, tastes, and smells can be incorporated into this imagery. The imagery can be stored and retrieved at will.

Highly developed associative processor abilities allow the individual to connect whatever he of she is experiencing with virtually any past memory, image, thought or other experience. This ability is an essential part of problem solving.

The combination of these abilities can result in an extremely intelligent or gifted person.

The scope of these abilities can be highly variable. Sometimes the ability is very narrow in scope. The term for this type of individual is "savant". The term for someone with a broad scope of abilities is "genius".

Early in life, many of these children appear strange and unusual. In a sense, these children have a mind which operates like a race car with no instructions on how to drive it. They take off and crash repeatedly. Messages may go to the wrong part of the brain. Messages may get reversed, inverted or jumbled. Thoughts may have trouble being converted into actions. All aspects of sensory and motor function may, to some degree, be involved. Their world is very chaotic and confusing. The experience is, to say the least, overwhelming. The result is high levels of anxiety and frustration which culminates in emotional outbursts or shutting down. In order to control this chaos, children resist change in his or her environment. They will seek out behaviors they can control which block the sensory overload, and reduce anxiety (sooth). They will repeat the behavior for as long as it takes for the anxiety to resolve.

Their behavior may be mistakenly confused with mental illness or mental retardation and treated as such. That is one of the worst things society can do to these gifted children.

Please remember that certain mental illnesses do regularly occur in these children and need proper diagnosis and treatment.

Physical and/or emotional abuse is one of the worst things that can happen to these gifted and vulnerable minds. The memories and emotions (anxiety, fear, anger) connected with past abuse can be very vivid, intrusive, and can quickly trigger sensory overload.

These children need to be recognized as early in life as possible. They are vulnerable and must be protected from damage (abuse, bullying). The ways that they can effectively communicate, interact, and learn need to be discovered early, respected, and utilized so that advantage can be taken of the brain's receptiveness to learning different skills which peak at different times as the brain grows and develops. The behaviors associated with successful social and emotional interactions will need to be taught to these children, just like other school curriculum skills are currently taught to the general student population.

Such an educational environment will allow for the individual's gifts to be discovered and nurtured so they can become a productive part of our society.

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