>From: Robert Galatzer-Levy <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Psychoanalysis <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Asperger's Syndrome
>Date: Sat, 24 Mar 2001 08:05:46 -0600
>
> >.
> >
> >Thank you Dr. Galatzer-Levy.
> >What do you think about it?  Do the two have identical aetiologies?  Do
>they
> >originate from infantile psychical trauma, or are they caused by some
>sort
> >of damage to the nervous system?  Are the two deemed related due to
> >symptomology alone, or has someone performed a detailed genetic analysis?
> >Forgive me.  I know this request is, itself, a cheap form of
> >research--begging knowledge from authority--but it's a start, and
>hopefully
> >I will be able to repay you some day in-kind.
> >
> >Respectfully,
> >
> >Larry D. Lyons
> >.
>
>The beginning point is to admit our ignorance. I don't think we know what
>causes either of these conditions as a universal matter. Certainly some
>forms of brain damage can lead to symptoms found in both disorders and it
>is reasonable to assume that some of the people with these disorders have
>them principally on the basis of a biological endowment. On the other hand
>sufficiently traumatic experience could contribute to the disorders. I
>suspect that in individuals with the capacity to develop these disorders
>environmental factors will shape their course. (This is true of even the
>most clearly biological disorders. Patients with Down syndrome,  have
>markedly different outcomes depending on the environment in which they grow
>up.)
>In terms of therapeutics and intervention I have generally found it most
>useful to approach both syndromes with the assumption that the underlying
>problems in processing interpersonal relations will be little influenced by
>therapeutic interventions but that learning to use these different ways of
>processing information can result in a much more satisfying quality of life
>and sometimes in the development of unusual capacities. I strongly
>recommend Oliver Sacks' An Anthologist from Mars on this topic.
>
>Robert M. Galatzer-Levy, M.D.            Telephone 312 922 5077
>122 South Michigan Avenue                 Fax 312 922 5084
>Chicago, Illinois 60603                        E-Mail
>[log in to unmask]

Thank you Dr. Galatzer-Levy:
This is so exciting!  I also got a response from a Lacanian.  His
explanations were much too abstruse for me right now, but with the start you
and him both gave me, I'm on my way.
Respectfully,

Larry D. Lyons

P.S. Presumably An Anthologist From Mars is Mr. Spock...

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