At all schools, AS children participate to the best of their abilities in all subjects of the national curriculum, but in addition there is particular emphasis on the teaching of personal self-help and social skills. A few AS children have undergone the system of conductive education but it is not known at the present time whether this method is of particular benefit to AS children or not. AS is not a progressive condition, and although progress is slow, skills continue to be acquired throughout life. AS children have specific problems with the development of speech. The majority of children have no speech atall or say less than three words, but most will learn to communicate in other ways and speech therapy remains important for the development of communication skills.
Some children use only primitive gestures as a means of communication.
In almost all cases comprehension is better than expressive speech and the problem with communication remains one of the main areas of concern to parents. Preliminary studies of detailed brain scans suggest that there may be abnormal development of speech areas of the brain but more research is needed in this area. The commonest time for fits to begin is between 18 and 24 months of age, often associated with a fever. A variety of anticonvulsants have been used to control fits with sodium valproate and clonazepam being some of the more successful. Each child needs treating individually, however, and when fits are difficult to control referral to a paediatric neurologist is important.