[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.

[AntiGuv]

Well, as I mentioned, I do think that this article trivializes the situation to some extent. I also think that there is a wide range of 'affliction' that for all intent merges in with 'normal' behavior at the margins. FWIW, an actual diagnosis generally requires a determination of some kind of functional maladaption that clearly and concretely impacts one's life (I'm not sure if I'm wording that precisely correct, but anyhow).

[Travis McGee]

not mastering "small talk" is hardly a disorder

Yes it is, when you are neurologically incapable of ever mastering normal social discourse, and your mistakes lead to scorn, humiliation and rejection. For an adolescent who is desperate for friends, and to "fit in," this makes life a living hell.