The challenge of adolescents and adults with Asperger syndrome.

Despite the rapid growth of interest in Asperger disorder in children, there continues to be a lack of awareness of the diagnosis and its implications for adolescents and adults. The reasons for this lack of awareness lie in the history of the disorder and in the historical development of mental health services. Because, as Santayana wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," this article reprises some of the history given elsewhere in this issue, but in a highly partial way, to bring out what the author believes to be the historically grounded prejudices that are the first challenge to anyone wanting to help adolescents and adults with Asperger syndrome.

[1]  Victor Lotter,et al.  Epidemiology of autistic conditions in young children , 1966, Social psychiatry.

[2]  L. Wing.  The autistic spectrum , 1997, The Lancet.

[3]  G. Robert DeLong,et al.  Correlation of family history with specific autistic subgroups: Asperger's syndrome and bipolar affective disease , 1988, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[4]  M. Fitzgerald.  Autistic psychopathy. , 2001, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[5]  N. Tinbergen,et al.  Autistic Children: New Hope for a Cure , 1983 .

[6]  H. Asperger,et al.  'Autistic psychopathy' in childhood. , 1991 .

[7]  M. Rutter,et al.  Quasi-autistic patterns following severe early global privation. English and Romanian Adoptees (ERA) Study Team. , 1999, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[8]  C. Gillberg.  Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism , 1998, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[9]  L. Wing,et al.  Asperger's syndrome: a clinical account , 1981, Psychological Medicine.

[10]  S. Baron-Cohen,et al.  The Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ): Evidence from Asperger Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism, Malesand Females, Scientists and Mathematicians , 2001, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[11]  N. Jansen.  Kierkegaard news from abroad , 1987 .

[12]  S. Calhoun,et al.  Does DSM-IV Asperger's Disorder Exist? , 2001, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[13]  D. Tantam,et al.  Nonverbal expression in autism of Asperger type , 1993, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[14]  The psychopathology of autistic psychopathy. , 1962, Acta paedopsychiatrica.

[15]  L. Wing,et al.  Severe impairments of social interaction and associated abnormalities in children: Epidemiology and classification , 1979, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[16]  A. Grounds,et al.  Violence and Asperger's Syndrome: A Case Study , 1985, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[17]  L. Kanner.  Autistic disturbances of affective contact. , 1968, Acta paedopsychiatrica.

[18]  U. Frith,et al.  Autism and Asperger Syndrome , 1992 .

[19]  Joanne Porter,et al.  Valuing people: a New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century , 2002 .

[20]  H. Asperger,et al.  Die „Autistischen Psychopathen” im Kindesalter , 1944, Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten.

[21]  D. Tantam.  Lifelong Eccentricity and Social Isolation , 1988, British Journal of Psychiatry.

[22]  E. Fombonne,et al.  The epidemiology of autism: a review , 1999, Psychological Medicine.

[23]  P. Decouflé,et al.  Prevalence of autism in a United States population: the Brick Township, New Jersey, investigation. , 2001, Pediatrics.

[24]  Graham Thornicroft,et al.  National Service Framework for Mental Health , 2000 .