Support for people with Asperger Syndrome

Although many people with Asperger Syndrome are capable of living independently or semi-independently, their disability does cause severe problems for which they need informed help.  Unfortunately it usually takes a crisis before such help is available.

Whereas people with learning disabilities and those with mental health problems can draw on the support of dedicated teams, those with Asperger Syndrome can fall through the net.  The argument for some 20 years now has been that they do not qualify as learning disabled because their I.Q. is within the normal range; neither do they qualify as having a mental health problem because the condition cannot be treated medically.  Of the pervasive developmental disorders listed above, only people with Asperger Syndrome are discriminated against in this way by learning disability teams.

Although the condition cannot be cured, skills can be learned and practiced over time that greatly assist him/her to overcome disability and make progress in life.  What we lack, outside special schools, is a mechanism to provide such training and on-going support.

In our view Asperger Syndrome is a disorder of development in much the same way as any other learning disability.  People with Asperger Syndrome require the same sort of social support as many people with learning disabilities.  Like them, they are not suffering from a mental illness that can be treated medically. Therefore the most appropriate source of support would come from learning disability support teams.  Furthermore these teams should be strengthened by the availability of specialists in the condition in order to overcome the years of neglect of it.

Timely, informed help would help greatly to reduce the crises that blight the lives of people with Asperger Syndrome.  This would in turn greatly enhance their lives reduce the need to provide institutional and long-term residential care.