Asperger's Disorder explained

Intense preoccupation with one or two topics
• Fanatical about his interest
• Seems obsessed with interest
• Talks incessantly about his interest
• Little interest in other topics
• Pursues advanced knowledge about his interest
• Shows off knowledge in almost encyclopedic manner

Repetitive routines, behaviours and movements
• Sticks to rigid routine
• Difficulty being flexible
• Imposes routine on others
• Needs excessive reassurance when changes take place
• Upset by changes in routine
• Repetitive, senseless body movements

Play
• Seems to not understand how to play with other children
• Does not know unspoken rules of play
• Often prefers to play by himself rather than with peers
• Uses playmates as objects
• Intense reaction if play does not go his way
• Controlling of playmates
• Difficulty sharing toys
• Lacks imaginative play

Speech and language
• Interprets things literally
• Does not understand figures of speech, metaphors
• Has an unusual tone of voice
• Talks in an overly precise manner
• Uses advanced vocabulary
• Odd rhythm
• Peculiar voice characteristics

Motor skills
• Poor coordination
• Poor ball play
• Odd gait when walking or running
• Poor writing

Sensory sensitivity
• Overly reactive to sounds
• Overly reactive to lights
• Overly reactive to fabrics
• Resistant to food textures

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Excerpted from The Asperger's Answer Book: The Top 300 Questions Parents Ask by Susan Ashley, Ph.D. Copyright 2007 by Susan Ashley. Excerpted with permission by Sourcebooks. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced without permission in writing from the publisher.