High Functioning
Aspergers Syndrome Follow Up Study
Over the last 7 years I have seen 57 patients who were previously diagnosed as as Aspergers Syndrome, Most of these were seen in the last 4 years. The population I treated is what I would now call High Functioning Aspergers (HFA). These were not patients with autistic features. As of April 2003 we were able to locate 36 who were at least 6 months post treatment. Twenty nine of them were male and 7 were female.
A telephone interview was conducted to ask about changes in socialization, anxiety, depression and overall success of CAER treatment. The results indicate that there was a strong positive effect in socialization. Since the focus of my HFA treatment program was improving social skills, only clients who reported significant social problems were accepted for treatment. Of these, 25 reported being much more social, 4 said that they were more social and 7 indicated that there was little or no change. For those in the first two categories this meant that they had developed a small circle of friends that they enjoyed and related to on a regular basis. Many of them had joined special interest groups that provided a media for social exchange. Most importantly, they seemed to feel happy with this level of social contact.
The 7 who were in the No Change group were characterized by more severe initial symptoms, including greater social withdrawal, depression and anxiety. They also tended to be those who were treated earliest in my program. This may reflect both more time for regression and improvements in the treatment technology which made later treatment more successful. Also, with early HFA children I did not insist that parents be involved. I now require parents to be involved and this seems to have improved outcomes.
Though most patients had suffered some degree of both anxiety and depression as a result of their social problems, the extent varied greatly. All were anxious, most were also depressed. These symptoms were sometimes masked by anger.
Approaching and participating in social situations created significant anxiety for most HFA's. As would be expected, the results for anxiety are almost identical to socialization, since anxiety is one of the primary forces making them avoid social contact. Twenty four said that they were much less socially anxious, 5 said they less socially anxious, and 7 reported no change.
The increased comfort level in the first two groups is probably a key factor in their increased socialization. The reports of reduced social anxiety does not mean that they had no social anxiety. Some social anxiety is almost universal, but their experience was much closer to normal. Those we had the opportunity to use WebCAER found that it helped them maintain a lower level of anxiety even after social disappointments.
