For many years, both the DSM‑IV and ICD-10 have built up the misconception that there are no language disorders in Asperger’s syndrome. This has had a significant impact on the problems with the diagnosis of Asperger syndrome, and has been the cause of many misdiagnoses. The current editions: DSM-5 and ICD-11 have not changed the established approach. Many years of research and clinical experience have allowed the author of this article to verify the view of normal speech and communication development in Asperger syndrome. We now know that children with ZA may manifest different types of disorders, concerning both systemic and communicative competence. The author of the article characterises the types of language problems observed in ZA, including: the specificity of early speech development, alalia (delayed speech development), aphasia, comprehension of speech and intonation of speech and indicates their sources and examples. This is of great importance in the context of the correct diagnosis and therapy of children on the autism spectrum, including the differential diagnosis of autism and Asperger syndrome.
Asperger syndrome has been included in the common category of autistic disorders in current medical classifications. In spite of that, there are still some researches allowing us to see the differences in the structure and functioning of the brains of people with autism and Asperger syndrome. Differentiation at the level of diagnosis is important because of the different educational and therapeutic needs of children with autism and AS. This paper presents the concept of dimensional case assessment of children with Asperger syndrome. The dimensional approach allows for viewing the disorder multidimensionally, taking into account the severity of the phenomenon and in connection with other factors, not only other disorders, which significantly reduces the omission of non-prototypical cases in diagnoses and accelerates the use of therapeutic measures. It is necessary because of the low effectiveness of the diagnostic categorical approach.
The authors emphasize the importance of language diagnosis of children raised in bi- or multiculturalism in early identification of developmental disorders. In the diagnostic process, they distinguish between skills independent of culture and those culturally (environmentally) conditioned, like the language system. They discuss the causes of speech development delays from a neurobiological and social (environmental) perspective. The article also includes short case reports.
The diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome has caused many problems for diagnosticians and therapists since the establishment of this nosological unit. Many concepts of rules and criteria for assessing the functioning of people with AS have been born. The increase in the number of cases of children with Asperger Syndrome indicates the need to create effective ways of making early diagnoses, which can become the basis for building effective therapy programmes. The authors point to the necessity to observe early stages of children’s development and to notice the symptoms of the disorder. This is often possible for children aged under 24 months. After the child reaches the age of two, the symptoms become very evident, especially in the areas of language and communication, social development, cognitive and manual development.
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