This article considers whether Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) necessarily leads to disability or whether AS/HFA simply leads to "difference." It concludes that the term "difference" in relation to AS/ HFA is a more neutral, value-free, and fairer description than terms such as "impairment," "deficiency," or "disability"; that the term "disability" only applies to the lo...

We discuss the development of an embodied conversational agent with Asperger-like communication skills. The agent was developed for use in educational software in a virtual environment specifically aimed at autism spectrum disorder software. We describe the design and implementation of the agent, and pay particular attention to the interaction between emotion, personality and social context. A ...

BACKGROUND Autism spectrum conditions (ASC) are a group of conditions characterized by difficulties in communication and social interaction, alongside unusually narrow interests and repetitive, stereotyped behaviour. Genetic association and expression studies have suggested an important role for the GABAergic circuits in ASC. Syntaxin 1A (STX1A) encodes a protein involved in regulation of serot...

This article is the second in the series entitled ‘Life-span psychiatry’, which considers the developmental psychiatry of adulthood. The first article (Zwi & York, 2004; Invited commentaries: Asherson, 2004; Coghill, 2004, this issue) looked at attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Subsequent topics will include early developmental aspects of psychopathy and psychosis, and training implicat...