Cognitive Characteristics?of Asperger’s Syndrome:
Susceptibility to distraction
Difficulty in expressing emotions
Resistance to or failure to respond to talk therapy
Mental shutdown response to conflicting demands and multi-tasking
Generalized confusion during periods of stress
Low understanding of the reciprocal rules of conversation: interrupting, dominating, minimum participation, difficult in shifting topics, problem with initiating or terminating conversation, subject perseveration
Insensitivity to the non-verbal cues of others (stance, posture, facial expressions)
Perseveration best characterized by the term “bulldog tenacity”
Literal interpretation of instructions (failure to read between the lines)
Interpreting words and phrases literally (problem with colloquialisms, cliches, neologism, turns of phrase, common humorous expressions)
Preference for visually oriented instruction and training
Dependence on step-by-step learning procedures (disorientation occurs when a step is assumed, deleted, or otherwise overlooked in instruction)
Difficulty in generalizing
Preference for repetitive, often simple routines
Difficulty in understanding rules for games of social entertainment
Missing or misconstruing others’ agendas, priorities, preferences
Impulsiveness
Compelling need to finish one task completely before starting another
Rigid adherence to rules and routines
[i]Difficulty in interpreting meaning to others’ activities; difficulty in drawing relationships between an activity or event and ideas[/i]
Exquisite attention to detail, principally visual, or details which can be visualized (”Thinking in Pictures”) or cognitive details (often those learned by rote)
Concrete thinking
Distractibility due to focus on external or internal sensations, thoughts, and/or sensory input (appearing to be in a world of one’s own or day-dreaming)
Difficulty in assessing relative importance of details (an aspect o the trees/forest problem)
Poor judgment of when a task is finished (often attributable to perfectionism or an apparent unwillingness to follow differential standards for quality)
Difficulty in imagining others’ thoughts in a similar or identical event or circumstance that are different from one’s own (”Theory of Mind” issues)
Difficulty with organizing and sequencing (planning and execution; successful performance of tasks in a logical, functional order)
Difficulty in assessing cause and effect relationships (behaviors and consequences)
An apparent lack of “common sense”
Relaxation techniques and developing recreational “release” interest may require formal instruction
Rage, tantrum, shutdown, self-isolating reactions appearing “out of nowhere”
Substantial hidden self-anger, anger towards others, and resentment
Difficulty in estimating time to complete tasks
Difficulty in learning self-monitoring techniques
Disinclination to produce expected results in an orthodox manner
Psychometric testing shows great deviance between verbal and performance results
Extreme reaction to changes in routine, surroundings, people
Stilted, pedantic conversational style (”The Professor”)
Bold for the ones I fit. Italics for the ones I don't know what they mean or not sure about.
The list is too long and will do the rest later.
16 May 2011, 1:22 am
