Asperger’s syndrome

Abstract

This study presents a 14-year-old Saudi child with poor school achievement, diagnosed by psychiatrists as mentally retardated with a significant social deficit. No neurological disorder was evident. She has high to very high intellectual abilities on testing her intelligence quotient. Her verbal learning ability was also very high. Her social skills and capacity were impaired. No evidence of poor language was detected. The patient is diagnosed as suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, and not mentally retarded. She has the criteria for Asperger’s syndrome according to Diagnositic and Statistical Manual, 4th edition, including the significant social deficit with normal intellectual functioning. The utility of such a diagnosis is briefly discussed.