When you meet a person with Asperger's Syndrome, you will know it within minutes...they will engage on you on their topic of interest, and you will be impressed at their knowledge.

Just don't try to talk about your own interests or self with them.

"The Curse of Asberger's".... is the disorder of self-absorption, brilliance, amazing memory, and absolute indifference to what anyone else goes through unless it relates directly to them.... marked by the inability to RECIPROCATE IN CONVERSATIONS and a very obvious lack of eye contact. And a tendency to go ON and On and ON about trains, the Beatles, or Superheroes.

As adults, an inordinate number of them work at "Best Buy" (bless you, Best Buy, Circuit City, Used Record Stores, and in computer, technical, and accounting industries)

I spent 45 minutes trying to get away from a salesman at Best Buy the other day (no eye contact, nice guy, clearly bright) who proceeded to recite the entire history of "They Might Be Giants"....sigh, I was tired, but I thought, man, this guy is on the spectrum...let it be. Wait him out. How many others are going to do that for this guy?

Sound like someone you know? Could be an undiagnosed Asperger's Adult!

The Asberger's kids are being diagnosed, but not really treated in most public schools...we still just don't seem to get that a person's whole life, future, relationships, everything...is affected by whether or not he can reciprocate in a simple conversation. Like that is an unimportant skill that you should just "pick up" along the way. HELLO WORLD, IT'S NOT PICKED UP IN THIS POPULATION AND YOU ARE WRECKING THEIR LIVES BY NOT INTERVENING IN THIS AREA AT YOUNG AGES. Yes, public schools AND hesitant parents. I'm talking to you. If you think they are annoying as children, then wait until they grow up....or don't. Social skills classes and appropriate intervention could make all the difference in the WoRld to this population.

Nuff said? I think so too.