Asperger Syndrome (AS) is one of the Autistic Spectrum Disorders and is characterized by a pattern of difficulties. Individuals with Asperger Syndrome tend to have difficulty in social situations, particularly in showing empathy, and also have trouble communicating. Children with AS can be delayed in learning language. This means that it takes them much longer to learn vocabulary and grammar compared to their peers.
What is their working memory like? It is important to remember that some individuals with AS are considered as high-functioning. This means that their IQ is average or above average. I recently published a study on high-functioning teenagers with AS. I tested their working memory by asking them to remember different patterns and word sequences using a computer test
. The findings were very surprising. People usually think that individuals on the Autistic Spectrum Disorder have amazing memory (think ‘Rain Man’ with Dustin Hoffman).
In fact, what this study showed was that the majority of the teenagers with Asperger Syndrome (AS) struggled in verbal memory tasks. They found it very difficult to remember a sequence of numbers or words. What does this mean? The combination of poor verbal memory and social difficulties mean that individuals with AS will have a hard time learning language and remembering words and sounds, much like those with dyslexia.
The good news is that they do have strengths in visual memory, and can even have above average visual memory skills. Computerized programs that use visual demonstrations to build vocabulary and use language are really effective ways in helping individuals with AS. Some psychologists are also looking at how robots can be used to teach children with autistic spectrum disorders and these individuals prefer interacting with them.
READ MORE ABOUT THE STUDY
Individuals with dyslexia often have difficulty in understanding the sound structures of words. In particular, they struggle in a skill known as segmentation and blending: breaking up words into smaller segments (e.g., c from –at) and putting them together. This skill is tested using ‘spoonerisms’. Try some yourself—exchange the first letter in each word.
Fat Dog = Dat Fog
Here are some more, see how quickly you can do them (answers are below)
• Cat flap
• Bad salad
• Soap in your hole
• Mean as custard
• Plaster man
• Flock of bats
• Chewing the doors
Why do children with dyslexia struggle? One explanation is that they have poor working memory so they struggle to hold all the sound segments in their head while they are doing the spoonerism task. Someone with dyslexia described it like this: “If I can’t see the word, I really struggle. I have to picture it before I can read it“. The process of keeping two words active in our mental post-it-note, combined with trying to exchange the first letter proves much too difficult for most dyslexics.
So much of language learning relies on working memory. When we learn new words, we have to remember each sound segment, put it together, learn the meaning, and finally remember what it looks like for future use! Someone with poor working memory, like the person with dyslexia, struggles because they simply don’t have a big enough mental post-it-note (working memory) to cope with all these steps.
ANSWERS: Flat cap; Sad ballad; Hope in your soul; Keen as mustard; Master plan; Block of flats; Doing the chores
