The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome

by Anthony Attwood

The child (and some adults) with Asperger’s syndrome can have significant developmental delay in the narrative discourse aspects of a conversation. There may be no clear beginning to the story, too much or too little information provided for the listener, an absence of key information, and a tendency to be side-tracked with irrelevant information. There can also be a difficulty summarizing and getting to the point, which can be boring or irritating to the listener who expects a shorter and more coherent story. The facts may be there, but logical structure and the thoughts and feelings of the participants are often missing. The errors in the pragmatic aspects of language can cause other people to assume that the person with Asperger’s syndrome is being deliberately obtuse and uncooperative, and thus there may be a reluctance to engage in subsequent conversations.