ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes what has emerged from the literature and from our own studies in Edinburgh about the nature of schizoid/schizotypal and or Asperger’s disorders: how they are best classified diagnostically; how common they are likely to be; their probable genetic basis and relationship to both schizophrenia and childhood autism; and their possible underlying psychological processes. Asperger’s syndrome is said to include autistic psychopathy and schizoid disorder of childhood, but is classified separately from schizotypal disorder. Of course, one should be wary of making a diagnosis in childhood that has a poor prognosis, especially when there is uncertainty about the outcome for the individual child and when the outcome is largely determined by the child’s ongoing life experiences. This is so especially for the label ‘dissocial personality disorder’, which includes antisocial or psychopathic personality.
