Aggression and sexual offense in Asperger's Syndrome

Asperger's Syndrome is one of the diagnostic subcategories of pervasive dev elopmental disorders. It is characterized by a defect in reciprocal social interaction, lack of empathy for others and poor non-verbal communication. Antisocial acts, including aggression and sexual offense, are not considere d to be common in this disorder. We describe an adolescent with Asperger's Syndrome whose main problems are his violence and sexual offenses. We assum e that these symptoms are secondary to his diagnosis of Asperger's as a man ifestation of his difficulties with the "theory of mind" of others. This at ypical case report is in contrast with the low prevalence of aggression and sexual offense in Asperger's, as reported in the literature. We discuss th e reasons for this low prevalence. Our conclusions are based on one case hi story and a literature review. We call for further research in this field.