Tragedy for Bacharach highlights silent plight of Asperger's sufferers

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In 1966 when Burt Bacharach penned Nikki for his prematurely born daughter, the song was full of a new father's love.

But over the past week the man who has written more than 50 top-40 hits has been struggling to come to terms with the loss of Lea Nikki Bacharach.

Having struggled all her life with the developmental disorder Asperger's syndrome (AS) - a form of autism - she took her own life last week. Her body was found in her California home. A brief statement issued by Bacharach and Nikki's mother - his former wife, actress Angie Dickinson - said their only daughter killed herself at her apartment in the suburb of Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles.

"She quietly and peacefully committed suicide to escape the ravages to her brain brought on by Asperger's," it read. "She is now in the white light, at peace."

Her suicide has focused attention on Asperger's syndrome, an often misunderstood condition that, like all forms of autism, leaves sufferers struggling with communication, social interaction and imagination. At the same time, people with Asperger's syndrome can be high achievers. A number of celebrities have been diagnosed with the disorder.

"Autism is a spectrum disorder and it affects people in very different ways," a spokeswoman for the UK-based National Autism Society said. "You can have classic autism at one end, where people are very clearly affected and may not be able to communicate verbally. As you move up the spectrum you have high-functioning autism or AS. People with AS usually have a normal IQ but have problems expressing themselves.

"People with AS can lead a very full life - they can be married and have a job. But the right support is needed."

AS was first identified by the late Austrian physician Hans Asperger in the 1940s. In a paper written in 1944 he talked of a pattern of behaviour he had identified in four young boys which he termed "autistic psychopathy". He said this behaviour featured "a lack of empathy, little ability to form friendships, one-sided conversation, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy movements". He referred to children with AS as "little professors" because of their ability to talk about their favourite subject in great detail.

He wrote: "Exceptional human beings must be given exceptional educational treatment, treatment which takes into account their special difficulties. Further, we can show that despite abnormality, human beings can fulfil their social role within the community, especially if they find understanding, love and guidance."

There has been a fresh drive into learning more about AS. There have also been claims that a number of brilliant historical figures, including Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, may have had the condition. In 2003, New Scientist magazine reported that the Cambridge-based autism expert Simon Baron-Cohen said the two men showed typical symptoms.

"He [Newton] hardly spoke, was so engrossed in his work that he often forgot to eat, and was lukewarm or bad-tempered with the few friends he had. If no one turned up to his lectures, he gave them anyway, talking to an empty room. He had a nervous breakdown at 50, brought on by depression and paranoia," it said. Einstein, meanwhile, was a loner and repeated sentences obsessively until he was 7.

Professor Baron-Cohen concluded: "Passion, falling in love and standing up for justice are all perfectly compatible with Asperger's syndrome. What most people with AS find difficult is casual chatting - they can't do small talk." He added: "This condition can make people depressed or suicidal, so if we can find out how to make things easier for them, that's worthwhile."

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