Aspergers (Autism) Do you know what it is?

Just two cents worth of perspective. It may sound 'prejudiced' to an aspie that my view of autism is different because I have a son with a more seriously impairing form of the condition. So be it. Autism is a spectrum disorder which describes the functionality of the person with the condition based on criteria of their ability to perform what most people would consider routine behaviors: talk, interact socially, tolerate the surrounding environment. It also is sometimes accompanied by uncontrolled physical ticks: hand flapping, toe walking, verbal noises, head shaking, the list goes on. Aspergers is found on the high-end of the ability level of the ASD spectrum (Austim Spectrum Disorder is short-handed ASD). The difficulty in defining the condition is that it ranges from the abilities of the writer (Outlaw1) who is fluent in language, obviously comprehends society, has interactions and can relate to most social norms down to a child like mine, one who can barely speak, does not connect with the world at large, has difficulty tolerating overstimulating environments and has ticks--such as screaming--that he is unable to control. I am not correcting anyone here in my presentation. I am simply pointing out that defining something that has such a vast range of 'what it looks like' is very difficult. Autists are like snowflakes--no two are alike, but, they have some facets in common. I hope this helps to round out the discussion. Thank you.

Young people who have Aspergers tend to stand out socially among their peers; quite often they excel academically but lack some social skills including the ability to pick up on subtle social cues that most people can tune in to. Other characteristics include difficulty maintaining eye contact and speaking in monotone. Therefore,
they are often among the less popular at school but are often wonderful young people.