A case of Asperger's syndrome first diagnosed in adulthood

A 25-year-old white male patient was admitted to the Department of Psychiat ry, Division of Social Psychiatry, of the University of Vienna, Austria, fo r severe social withdrawal, selective mutism and outbursts of violence with attacks on his mother. Careful examination revealed the presence of all th e typical symptoms of Asperger's syndrome. The diagnosis had never been mad e before, although the patient had a history of a difficult childhood with several admissions to a child psychiatric inpatient unit for 'obsessional n eurosis' and an institutional career, It is stressed that, in view of the a vailability of treatments and the deleterious effect of the untreated condi tion in the sensitive years of personality development, early recognition a nd diagnosis of Asperger's syndrome are of utmost importance.