The Invisible Disablilty

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The Invisible Disability
Growing up in a family with five other members can be tough, but also fun and exciting. When two of these members have Asperger’s Syndrome, chaos can ensue. My older brother and my father both have Asperger’s Syndrome. Growing up with members of our family diagnosed with this disability was very hard on the family. Having to make sure my brother would do the simple things each day such as his homework, brushing his teeth, and taking his medication caused a headache each day. It often makes me wonder how my mom took care of it all and then three other children. Having two members of our family who could not pick up on the emotions of others around them, have a hard time understanding some humor, have concept of time and speak in a language too sophisticated for anyone around them except for each other caused many problems that we sometimes could not fix. Being raised in a family like mine caused me to be an advocate for those with disabilities. With the current events in the world of disabilities, those with Asperger’s Syndrome are now a part of the autism spectrum. Asperger’s Syndrome should not be included in the autism spectrum as to not restrict the benefits that have been given in the past. This is must happen because there are differences in the symptoms of each disorder, the roots of each disorder are very dissimilar, and the differences in the new Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders.
According to the “Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Tool Kit” written by Ann Brendel and her colleagues, the history of Asperger’s Syndrome is very interesting. Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) was first documented in 1944 by German physician, Dr. Hans Asperger. A group of four children he car...

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...y do not belong to.

Works Cited

Baron-Cohen, Simon. "Autism and the Technical Mind." Scientific American 307.5 (2012):
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Brendel, Ann, Geraldine Dawson, Peter F. Gebhardt, Kerry Magro, Valarie Paradiz, Patricia
Schissel, and Stephen Shore. "Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Tool
Kit." Autism Speaks. EBSCO. Autism Speaks, 2010. Web. 13 Feb. 2014.

Sanders, Laura. "One Problem, Many Paths." Science News 180.4 (2011): 20. EBSCO. Science
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"The Affordable Care Act and Autism and Related Conditions." HHS.gov. EBSCO. United
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Gardner, Amanda. "Psychiatry Gets Revised Diagnostic Manual." HealthDay Consumer News
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