[Asperger's syndrome--a separate nosologic entity or part of the spectrum of autism]

This paper describes Asperger's syndrome, a disease similar to the autistic disorder, delineated for the first time by Asperger in 1944, just a few months after L. Kanner described infantile autism. Although, according to the epidemiological data, it occurs far more frequently than infantile autism, in practice this diagnosis is rarely established. Asperger's syndrome is defined as autistic syndrome among children with relatively high degree of intellectual functions, with marked disorder of speech and motoricity and interest confined to a very specified area. Learning is mechanical and routine and games uninventive. Children lack the need for age peer company. Boys are affected ten times more frequently than girls.