The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome

by Anthony Attwood

When in doubt as to what to say, the person with Asperger’s syndrome can lack the confidence to admit ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m confused’ and, rather than saying ‘I’m not sure what you mean by that,’ ‘This is not easy to talk about,’ or ‘I’m lost for words,’ can take a considerable length of time to think of his or her reply, or may suddenly change the conversation to a topic he or she is familiar with. The conversation can lack flexibility of themes and thought and there may be problems generating relevant ideas (Bishop and Frazier Norbury 2005). Thus, the conversation can include abrupt changes of topic and tangential responses (Adams et al. 2002; Fine et al. 1994). An unfortunate characteristic of some conversations with a person with Asperger’s syndrome is that the conversation eventually reverts to the person’s special interest, or is characterized by ‘and now for something completely different.’