What's Asperger syndrome?

Orphanet: Asperger syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, generally considered to be an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and is characterized by difficulties in social-emotional reciprocity, deficits in non-verbal communication and developing understanding and maintaining relationships, restricted patterns of behavior and interests, and hyper and hypo-reactivity to sensory experiences. The exact prevalence is unknown due to a lack of consistent criteria to clearly distinguish AS from ASD. ASD has an incidence in the general population of approximately 1/68. AS is not considered to be a rare disease. Males seem to be more frequently affected than females with a ratio of 2:1.

How talented people with Asperger’s are locked out of the career system

TheConversation: Imagine you heard someone described as “being paralysed by shyness”. Shyness is a characteristic we all have, but taken to excess it becomes a disability, hence “paralysing”. The person becomes disabled by an inbuilt disposition that cannot be seen or touched, exactly as it is for those with Asperger’s syndrome. It is where disability and diversity come to overlap. “Neurodiversity” is the blanket term describing differences in how people think, see the world around them and process information. Autism, including Asperger’s syndrome (as well as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and Tourette’s) are all neurodiverse conditions protected under the Equality Act 2010. Neurodiverse individuals are outnumbered by neurotypicals, and about one in 200 people have Asperger’s syndrome.