This book is intended as a comprehensive source of information on the diagnosis and treatment of Asperger syndrome. Chapter 1 discusses major classification of characteristics and chapter 2 describes prevalence, comorbidity, and causal factors of Asperger syndrome. Chapter 3 examines clinical diagnosis and misdiagnosis and the influence of historical information, psychological examinations, communication assessments, and rating scales and profiles. Chapter 4 presents the case history of an 11-year-old child with Asperger syndrome. Chapter 5 discusses the concept "theory of mind," and its relationship to children with Asperger syndrome. The difficulty children with Asperger syndrome have in taking others' perspectives is explained. Chapter 6 addresses the social and emotional characteristics of children with Asperger syndrome, presents a social/emotional checklist, and provides treatment strategies for teaching social skills, changing social behavior, structuring play groups, focusing attention, capitalizing on strengths, easing transitions, building self-confidence, and other skills. Suggestions are provided for social-interactive, social-communicative, and social-emotional intervention. Academic issues are discussed in chapter 7. Treatment strategies are presented that target task completion, reading comprehension, motor deficits, adapting the curriculum, modifying the environment, and developing thinking skills. Chapter 8 examines the prognosis for children with Asperger syndrome. (Contains 67 references.) (CR)