The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome

by Anthony Attwood

Some aspects of the special interest can be indicative of impaired executive function (see Chapter 9). One of the roles of the ‘executive’ or frontal lobes of the brain is the cognitive or thoughtful control of what you do or say, especially the ability to change and inhibit thoughts and actions. When a person with Asperger’s syndrome engages in or talks about the special interest, there may be evidence of perseveration and being ‘stuck in set’, with considerable difficulty changing thinking or conversational focus to another topic (Turner 1997). The person seems to have a ‘one-track’ mind, with an irresistible determination to complete the activity or monologue. Children and adults with Asperger’s syndrome often say how the special interest dominates their thinking and how difficult it is to stop part-way through the thought or activity and to do something else. It is almost as if once the person has started there is a compulsion for completion. The person cannot be interrupted or distracted, or close the thought before the natural conclusion.