Todd Cardin to Pen Play about Aspergers

Philadelphia playwright, Todd Cardin announced that he has begun working on a new play with the central character as a child with aspergers syndrome. Cardin, who is best known for musical comedies such as Amish Chicks, 1WG and Dramamine High has not decided if the play will be a comnedy or drama. Todd Cardin has in the past worked with social scripting for asperger children.

Asperger's Disorder is a milder variant of Autistic Disorder. Both Asperger's Disorder and Autistic Disorder are in fact subgroups of a larger diagnostic category. This larger category is called either Autistic Spectrum Disorders, mostly in European countries, or Pervasive Developmental Disorders, in the United States. In Asperger's Disorder, affected individuals are characterized by social isolation and eccentric behavior in childhood.

There are impairments in two-sided social interaction and non-verbal communication. Though grammatical, their speech is peculiar due to abnormalities of inflection and a repetitive pattern. Clumsiness is prominent both in their articulation and gross motor behavior. They usually have a circumscribed area of interest which usually leaves no space for more age appropriate, common interests. Some examples are cars, trains, French Literature, door knobs, hinges, cappucino, meteorology, astronomy or history. The name Asperger comes from Hans Asperger, an Austrian physician who first described the syndrome in 1944. An excellent translation of Dr. Asperger's original paper is provided by Dr. Uta Frith in her Autism and Asperger Syndrome.

Todd Cardin recently was honored by the NFPCA for writing of Pictures of Lily, his first drama.