Abstract
Asperger syndrome (AS) is a pervasive developmental disorder generally regarded as a variant of autism. While it has been included in the ICD-10 and DSM-IV as a distinct diagnostic entity, it is still unclear to what extent it differs from highfunctioning autism (HFA). Persons with HFA have been reported to show a variety of deficits of thought processes. Abnormalities such as poor reality testing, perceptual distortions, and areas of cognitive slippage have been described using the Rorschach inkblot test (Dykens, Volkmar, & Glick, 1991). Since AS has been conceptualized as a mild variant of autism, we hypothesized that persons with AS will have fewer abnormalities on the Rorschach test compared to persons with HFA. To test this hypothesis, we compared 12 subjects with AS (ICD-10, 10 male, mean age = 12.2±3.3 years, mean full-scale IQ = 99.6) with 8 subjects with HFA (ICD-10/DSM-III-R, 7 male, mean age = 12.2±3.8 years, mean fullscale IQ = 83.4) on the Rorschach test. AS subjects demonstrated a trend towards greater levels of disorganized thinking than the HFA group. They were also more likely to be classified as “Introversive” suggesting that AS subjects may have more complex inner lives involving elaborate fantasies. Also, AS subjects tended to be more focused on their internal experiences. However, overall, the Rorschach test was not found to differentiate the two diagnostic groups on the majority of structural variables. Implications of these findings are discussed with regard to the diagnostic validity of Asperger syndrome.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (1987).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Asperger, H. (1944). Die ‘autistischen psychopathen’ im kindesalter.Archives fur Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, 117, 76–136.
Dykens, E., Volkmar, F., & Glick, M. (1991). Thought disorder in high-functioning autistic adults.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 21, 291–301.
Exner, J., Jr. (1986).The Rorschach: A comprehensive system (Vol. 1). New York: J. Wiley.
Ghaziuddin, M., Tsai, L., & Ghaziuddin, N. (1992). A comparison of the diagnostic criteria for Asperger syndrome.Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 643–649.
Krug, D. A., Arick, J., & Almond, P. (1980). Behaviour checklist for identifying severely handicapped individuals with high levels of autistic behaviour.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 21, 221–229.
Tantam, D. (1988). Annotation: Asperger's syndrome.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 29, 245–255.
Van Krevelen, D. A. (1971). Early infantile autism and autistic psychopathy.Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 1, 82–86.
Wechsler, D. (1974).Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. New York: Psychological Corp.
Wechsler, D. (1981).Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. New York: Psychological Corp.
Wing, L. (1981). Asperger's syndrome: A clinical account.Psychological Medicine, 11, 115–129.
World Health Organization. (1993).International classification of mental and behavioral diseases; Diagnostic criteria for research (10th rev.). Geneva: Author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ghaziuddin, M., Leininger, L. & Tsai, L. Brief report: Thought disorder in asperger syndrome: Comparison with high-functioning autism. J Autism Dev Disord 25, 311–317 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02179292
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02179292