Asperger's and dyslexia

Asperger’s syndrome, also known as AS, or high functioning autism, is grouped along with the Autism Spectrum Disorders, although Asperger’s syndrome is a mild form of autism. This is a psychological disorder that affects the child’s perception of the inability to read the facial expressions of others. The AS sufferer has difficulty with communication and social settings, suffering a great deal of anxiety when forced to be among others. This is due to the fact that they realize their uncertainties in these areas.

Although the autistic child has difficulty with speech and other areas of development, the Asperger child suffers no developmental delays. In fact, just the opposite is true of these children and they are regarded as having average to above average intelligence. Their thinking process is often very organized, highly logical and deeply thought out.

Unfortunately, their inability to pick up social clues and “read” people often interferes with their advancements on a social level. They suffer with a great deal of anxiety in these situations that causes them to wonder why they are different and why people react to them in the way that they do. The Asperger child will often line things up and are sometimes awkward in their gestures and movements.

Some or all of these things may be present in the normally developing child as well. This is the reason that Asperger’s children may often be misdiagnosed, most often as having ADHD, or worse, not being diagnosed at all possibly into their later childhood years or even later than that.

Dyslexia is a disorder, a learning disorder, which makes learning how to spell, read, and write very difficult for some people. This disorder is a lifelong disorder. However, improvements in the dyslexic’s skills can be made. Additionally, some people who suffer with dyslexia also have difficulty with speech as well. A dyslexic’s disabilities can range from very mild to very severe.

In the dyslexic person the brain is impaired in regard to the translation of the letters that he or she is viewing and hearing, although dyslexia is neither the result of a vision nor a hearing disability. Dyslexia can appear in three different forms and can affect the person in several ways. Its causes are varying, but most type of dyslexia due to a brain disability, although the dyslexic is in no way mentally retarded.

Asperger’s and dyslexic can go hand-in-hand although many people afflicted with Asperger’s syndrome are not dyslexic. Through specialized one-on-one learning techniques, social skills, behavior, and communication therapy a child with both of these disorders can be helped and lead a productive and well rounded life. Contact your local Autism/Asperger’s, and dyslexia groups for assistance in dealing with these disorders. Information on the internet is also plentiful and extremely helpful in finding other means of support in dealing with these disorders.