[AntiGuv]

How can a mild form really be a diagnosis?

Well, in part because "mild" is my own relative term which means to convey "high functioning" which is the correct medical term..

I think it could be risky to put labels on what is really within normal behavior --- asocial tendencies --- where someone is happy without friends isn't an illness.

We are not talking about introversion here. People with Asperger's are measurably and demonstrably incapable of processing social cues. Someone who can process social cues without a conscious thought - whether introverted or not - is not comparable.

True autism would interfere with success...

Asperger's does interfere with success; often severely and to much greater extent than this article indicates. It interferes with success no less surely than do other learning disabilities or than do mental illnesses.

Many with Asperger's do not live very successful lives, a number of them due to that very reason..

[FITZ]

I think that's what maybe Rush was after --- trivializing a real disorder --- someone who cries about their lack of a social life seems to me like they might not have it because they care. Maybe some people care too much about what others think of them but still aren't popular -- they want social interaction --- that wouldn't be the same thing.

[FITZ]

who excels at his job but finds the art of small talk impossible to master

I think it's this kind of thing that makes people so skeptical --- not mastering "small talk" is hardly a disorder. How many of us on here right now could really claim we mastered the art of small talk --- if anything to me those who really mastered it seem like they might have more of a problem. You see them at parties mingling everywhere, talking to everyone but saying nothing.

[tiamat]

AntiGuv wrote:



We are not talking about introversion here. People with Asperger's are measurably and demonstrably incapable of processing social cues. Someone who can process social cues without a conscious thought - whether introverted or not - is not comparable.

---

Yep! Exactly. I have to use VERY exagerrated tone of voice and facial expression with my daughter, otherwise, she just DOESN'T get a clue.

It has caused TERRIBLE problems at school.

We've made some progress, but she still has problems.