The project of my diploma thesis Fragile Line is a continuation of my bachelor thesis Limits of Normality in which I compiled part of the drawn black and white imaginary world of a 10-year old boy Jára with Asperger syndrome and created its colourful 3D visualisation. Fragile Line is for me some imaginary border between the real world and Jára`s fictional world. In my diploma work I created three planets from Jára`s space system, intentionally I used different technology and range of colours for each of them because children like disparity and variety.

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Children with Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism typically experience difficulty with social interaction and social communication, hence the development of social competence is important to promote social inclusion. A quasi-experimental baseline design was employed to measure changes in social competence following participation in Lego therapy. Fourteen children with Asperger syndrome participated in an eight week Lego therapy intervention in nine schools. Social competence was measured through observations of social interaction on the school playground and adaptive socialisation and communication. Statistically significant increases were observed in adaptive socialisation and play following participation in Lego Therapy. No significant differences were found in communication, median duration of interactions or frequency of self-initiated social interactions. Measures of social competence were completed again following a period without intervention, to establish whether increases in social competence were sustained. Aspects of social competence decreased following a period without intervention, however, decreases were not significant. Programme fidelity was measured by adherence to fundamental aspects of the intervention and a measure of inter-rater reliability. Adherence ranged between 63-100% for aspects of the intervention, and between 82-97% for schools delivering the intervention. Implications for practice were highlighted, and included the need to encourage generalisation of skills from Lego therapy into the wider school environment, and a need for on-going support for school staff when the intervention is delivered in schools. Alternative ways of promoting social competence within an inclusive school environment were discussed.

Asperger syndrome is a relatively recent diagnostic classification. Several factors, including a high prevalence of mental illness, mean receiving a diagnosis in adulthood is a very unique experience but remarkably there is little literature about the impact on individuals. Instead the dominance of the medical/psychiatric paradigm pervades and limits understanding and possibilities. The main implication is a lack of clarity about what support services are needed and effective, and as such the needs of this population are often overlooked. This is the first study to explore the sense of self among a sample of males and females diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in adulthood using social constructionist and constructivist ideas. It was interested in whether personal construal of the self before diagnosis and self after diagnosis were differentiated. Given the importance in the development of self-concept of discriminations between the self and others, the research also sought to explore how people diagnosed with Asperger syndrome in adulthood construe other people with and without Asperger syndrome. Using the repertory grid and other techniques from Personal Construct Psychology (Kelly, 1955) in combination with a semi-structured interview, this study presents a novel exploration of idiosyncrasies and commonalities across a demographically diverse sample of eight participants. An extended analysis of a unique subsample of women diagnosed aged 50 years and over was undertaken. Both cognitively complex and simple construct systems were found across the sample. Findings indicated the self before diagnosis was construed critically and was more elaborated than the self after diagnosis. Several participants had a reduced sense of self following diagnosis. The diagnosis offered an explanation of symptoms but for some participants these symptoms were a way of life and accommodating the new label with the existing view of self posed challenges. An overarching and striking theme was the sense of difference felt by participants before and after diagnosis. This study offers a fresh insight into a virtually unexplored population which, through dissemination, may influence the way clinical psychologists and other practitioners work to support adults diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. Recommendations for clinical practice included approaches that target the need for individuality, commonality and sociality, and should be gender-specific where possible. Such approaches might elaborate multiple aspects of self, the diagnosis and related dilemmas. They should support people to widen their perceptual field to alternative ways of construing and explore change. The mixed method approach was assessed to be a strength of the study and a number of recommendations for future research are presented.

The main target of this study is to identify the scales in MMPI-2 which could help the differential diagnostic process between Asperger's syndrome and schizophrenia. Adult persons with Asperger's syndrome and adult persons with schizophrenia were examined. The study has a quantitative character, concretely data mining, which offers generating and verifying hypothesis. The results show that configuration of heights of specific scales can be crucial in distinguishing between Asperger's syndrome and schizophrenia. In the concrete we expect increase in 0Si, Sc1, Pa2 and OBS along with medial T-scores in Sc6, Pa1, Psyc and Biz in protocols of people with Asperger's syndrome. People with schizophrenia have increased T-scores in Sc6, Pa1, Psyc and Biz. KEY WORDS  Asperger's syndrome  Schizophrenia  Differential diagnostic  Adulthood  MMPI-2

Annotation: This diploma thesis analyzes the factors affecting the position of pupils with autistic spectrum disorders in the class of basic school. Theoretical study is confronted with a specific case study of individual integration of pupil with highfunctioning autism during nine years of school attendance. Analysis of documents, interwievs and the questionnaire survey deals with the socializaton of that student in the class.

This diploma thesis deals with the life of a student with Asperger Syndrome at university. The theoretical part is dedicated to the characteristics of Asperger Syndrome, it explains the history, terms and specific areas of the given disability. Further, the work explores the particular areas in the life of the individual with this disability and familiarizes the readers with the organizations, which help the people with Asperger Syndrome. On the basis of the theoretical part, qualitative research investigation was selected for the practical part of the thesis. In the practical part, there is presented the case study of the individual with Asperger Syndrome, which provides an overall insight into the ways of supporting a student with Asperger Syndrome at university by means of the analysis of the interviews, observations and documents. Key words: Asperger Syndrome, university, support, education

Autismo é um transtorno do neurodesenvolvimento caracterizado por uma díade de sintomas que inclui anormalidades na comunicação, interação social e padrões restritos de comportamentos e interesses, numa idade precoce. Na ausência de um marcador biológico para o transtorno do espectro autista, são exploradas definições cognitivo-comportamentais que expliquem esse quadro. Um modelo cognitivo recente sugere a teoria da empatia-sistematização que explica as dificuldades sociais e de comunicação no autismo em virtude de um atraso e deficit na empatia e explica as aptidões em virtude de uma habilidade intacta ou superior em sistematização. O teste de física intuitiva é um instrumento utilizado para avaliar sistematização. O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar evidências de validade do teste em crianças brasileiras e verificar o desempenho de autistas de alto funcionamento neste teste e na bateria de provas de raciocínio. A análise da consistência interna do teste de física intuitiva revelou um coeficiente considerado insatisfatório. Entre os 330 participantes de escolas, observou-se diferença das pontuações estatisticamente significativa entre gêneros, com desempenho superior em meninos, assim como um incremento na pontuação conforme idade, série escolar e tipo de escola. Os participantes da escola particular apresentaram melhor desempenho. Já entre o grupo clínico (composto por 28 participantes com diagnóstico de autismo de alto funcionamento) e o grupo controle (composto por 28 estudantes de escola particular), observou-se melhor desempenho deste último no teste de física intuitiva, assim como na prova de raciocínio mecânico da Bateria de Provas de Raciocínio. As propriedades psicométricas do teste indicam baixo índice de precisão. O desempenho entre os participantes de escolas modificou-se de acordo com o desenvolvimento, resultado que pode refletir não apenas o desenvolvimento cognitivo da criança, mas também sua experiência diária e aprendizado escolar. Por outro lado, os pacientes com autismo de alto funcionamento não obtiveram melhor desempenho no teste, em relação ao grupo controle / Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by symptoms that includes deficits in social interaction, communication and narrow interests and repetitive stereotyped behavior, in an early age. In the absence of a biological marker of the autism spectrum disorders cognitive-behavioral definitions are necessary for these conditions. A recent cognitive model suggests the empathizing-systemizing theory that explains the social and communication difficulties in autism spectrum disorders by reference to delays and deficits in empathy, whilst explaining the areas of strength by reference to intact or even superior skill in systemizing. The intuitive physics test is an instrument developed to assess systemizing. The aim of this study is to analyze the evidences of validity of this test in Brazilian children and to measure the performance of high functioning autists in this test and the Battery of Reasoning Tests. The analysis of the internal consistency of the intuitive physics test disclosed an unsatisfactory coefficient. Among the 330 schoolchildren there was observed statistically significant difference between the scores of the two genders, with superior performance in boys, as well as an increment in scores in accordance with age, grade in school and type of school. The best performance occurred in the children of private school. Between the clinical group (composed of 28 high functioning autism individuals) and the control group (composed of 28 from private schoolchildren), the latter showed the best performance in the intuitive physics test as well as in the mechanical reasoning test. The psychometric properties of the test showed a low consistency index. The performance among school participants changed according to the development, which may reflect not only cognitive development but also their everyday experience and school education. Otherwise, the high functioning autists didn´t have better performance in the intuitive physics test when compared with the control group

A temporalidade é considerada, na perspectiva teórica deste estudo, como uma condição essencial do indivíduo no mundo, possibilitando a constituição de sentido do percebido e do vivido e evidenciando, ainda, a circunstância da qual partem todas as possíveis concepções de tempo. Além disso, o homem também é considerado em sua intencionalidade, na qual está dirigido para algo, ou seja, só pode haver mundo percebido e definido para o sujeito que pode percebê-lo, estando voltado para ele. A síndrome de Asperger (SA), um transtorno invasivo de desenvolvimento pertencente ao espectro autístico, caracteriza-se por seus portadores apresentarem um modo de interação extremamente peculiar, no qual é considerada a presença de prejuízos relacionados à simbolização, à comunicação e à socialização. Em uma vertente teórica psicossocial, esses aspectos têm sido compreendidos a partir da possibilidade de haver uma inabilidade inata na criança autista que compromete a atitude conativo-afetiva (relacionada à intencionalidade) fundamental no processo de desenvolvimento. Questões a respeito da rigidez na experiência da duração de períodos de tempo, das dificuldades para aceitação e compreensão da possibilidade de mudanças de fatos previstos e da aparente restrição de perspectiva temporal, independentemente do nível intelectual, têm sido evidenciadas na prática clínica com esta população. Dessa forma, o presente trabalho objetivou caracterizar a noção de tempo e a temporalidade em portadores da síndrome de Asperger. Sua constituição ocorreu em duas fases complementares e fundamentais. Na primeira, a partir de uma amostra de trinta indivíduos em cada grupo (grupo síndrome de Asperger e grupo de comparação) verificaram-se aspectos de noção de duração tempo através de instrumentos quantitativos e qualitativos. Na segunda fase a partir de uma amostra de quinze indivíduos em cada grupo (grupo síndrome de Asperger e grupo de comparação) investigaram-se, através de entrevista qualitativa, temas relacionados à temporalidade. Na descrição dos resultados pôde-se constatar uma temporalidade restrita evidenciada pela presença de prejuízos relacionados à continuidade no contato com o ambiente, à limitada perspectiva no sentido do devir e noção de tempo a partir de elementos espaciais, em detrimento dos aspectos subjetivos, restringindo o compartilhar do tempo comum e a formação de projetos de vida / Based on a theoretic-phenomenological perspective, temporality is defined as an essential condition of a person in view of the world. This condition is determinant to build what is perceived and experienced as well as makes evident the circumstances from which all possible conceptions of time emerge. In addition, the subject is also considered accordingly to his intentionality by which he is directed towards something. In other words, a defined and perceived world can only exist for a subject who, being directed towards it, can conceive that world through his senses and consciousness. The Asperger syndrome (AS), a pervasive developmental disorder belonging to the autistic spectrum, is characterized in individuals showing a very peculiar pattern of interaction, particularly displaying deficits of symbolization, communication and socialization. Under a psychosocial point of view, these aspects have been understood as an innate lack of affective-conative attitude impairing the development of autistic children. In clinical practice dealing with these children, professionals have been asking questions on their inflexibility in time span experience, on the difficulties in accepting and understanding changes and on the apparent restriction of the perspective in temporality independently of their intellectual levels. Temporality in Asperger syndrome was herein investigated aiming at its characterization. The study was constituted by two complementary and fundamental phases. In the first phase (N = 30 for the AS group; N = 30 for the comparison group) aspects of time notion were evaluated through quantitative and qualitative instruments. In the second phase (N = 15 for the AS group; N = 15 for the comparison group) matters related to temporality were investigated through a qualitative interview. The results have shown a restricted temporality evidenced by impairments related to the continuity of contact with the environment, by a limited perspective in the sense of becoming, and by a notion of time based on spatial elements, all in detriment of subjective aspects, thus restricting time sharing with people and elaboration of projects of life

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