The Face of Asperger's

Lately, I have found myself amazed by the number of people who seem surprised at Turkey's Asperger's diagnosis.  It's as if he doesn't fit the mild of what they are expecting, and sadly it seems they are expecting someone of a lesser intelligence.  I have heard time and time again "but he's so smart", "but he has a brilliant command of language", "but talking to him is like talking to an adult".

Let me set the record straight; Asperger's Syndrome is NOT an intellectual disorder. (I know I've said this before on here.)  If it was, would it be nicknamed "the little professor syndrome"?  This is not to say that Asperger's doesn't affect people through all the intellect levels.

A quick Google search on Asperger's will lead you to two of the leading voices on Asperger's in the US right now; John Robison and Temple Grandin.  Both on the spectrum and both brilliant in their own ways.

Another quick Google search and you can find list after list of people known to or have thought to have had Asperger's in history; and we're talking some amazing people here - Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Mozart, Emily Dickinson, Bobby Fisher, Bob Dylan, Al Gore, Dan Aykyrod.  The TV character Dr. Temprence "Bones" Brennan is said have Asperger's, yet it has never been said on the show.  Again another list of brilliant people real and frictional.

These are just some of the faces of Asperger's, and it's a crowd of people I am happy to associate my son with.