Transition Into Adulthood With Asperger’s Disorder

Lisa Ward

College of Saint Mary’s

Robinson, Curwen and Ryan reviewed studies and put together conclusions on the findings of people with Asperger’s disorder transitioning into adulthood. In their study they were looking at education, living arrangements, employment and relationships. The studies looked at all ages from 3 years to 18 years old, then college age all the way to their 30’s. They also looked at co-morbid disorders and if there was a correlation between them and Asperger’s or if co-morbid disorders went along with Asperger’s.

Asperger’s disorder is a Pervasive Developmental Disorder that is characterized by significantly impaired social development, obsessive-compulsive-like behaviors, and typically developing language and self-advocacy skills (Robinson, Curwen and Ryan, 2012). Males are diagnosed more than females. Robinson, Curwen and Ryan said that it is similar to Autistic Disorder, but from other studies I have read Asperger’s would be better grouped as a sub group of Autistic Disorder. I feel this way because they share similar attributes but the main difference is with Autism it can be diagnosed as a child however it is harder to diagnose Asperger’s in a young child.

Asperger’s could also be seen as a High Functioning Autistic, this is why when people think of Autism they feel it is better to have Asperger’s than Autism. This makes looking at studies a little more difficult since some researchers group them all together instead of looking at them separately. People with Asperger’s tend to be more anxious than the normative groups. The normative groups are people with a disorder that is not associated with Autism or Asperger’s.

Studies of the children would sometimes have the parents fill out information. Parents thought Autistic children are less anxious than