ASPERGER SYNDROME - A REVIEW OF DIAGNOSTI C-CRITERIA

Asperger syndrome is an autistic disorder which was first described in 1944 without further acceptance in the literature over almost four de cades. Following several publications in the '80's, the disorder becam e more widely known. Asperger syndrome was introduced into ICD-10 and DSM-IV as a new diagnosis in 1988 and 1994, respectively. Several auth ors developed own criteria. Until now, some of the diagnostic criteria of Asperger syndrome remain controversial. We present a survey and a comparison of the criteria in the classification of DSM-IV, ICD-10 and of other authors. Six criteria are widely accepted, but there are div ergent opinions about the criteria ''intelligence'' and ''speech devel opment''.