History UsefulNotes / AspergerSyndrome

Treatment of AS varies throughout Hollywood. The most common portrayal seems to be that of the awkward "little professor." Other possible portrayals of adults with Asperger's include Matthew from ''Series/NewsRadio'' and [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Reverend Jim]] from ''Series/{{Taxi}}''. AS will often be stereotyped, with anyone who has it being shown as a textbook case. AS is unfortunately still in the Hollywood stage where, when a character has it, it will be [[{{Flanderization}} his defining characteristic or even his full personality]]. There probably never will be a Hollywood film with a "100 %" accurate depiction of AS - because it really does vary from person to person. There are certain films that attempt to depict how a person with Asperger's Syndrome would go about finding love: ''Film/MozartAndTheWhale'' is about a male and female Aspie who meet each other, and ''Film/{{Adam}}'' has an orphaned Aspie young man find himself falling for the new tenant in his apartment. More recently, a 2010 remake of the TV series ''Series/{{Parenthood}}'' features a child with Asperger's, luckily presented in a stereotypical yet kind portrayal (tics, need for schedule structure, and a particular enhanced/hyperfocused hearing ability).

** This one's definitely wrong; while an odd or [[BlackComedy dark]] sense of humour is common, plenty of people with Asperger's aren't afraid to make jokes about themselves. This one most likely came about because people with Asperger's may simply not get a joke, especially situational ones, and thus not laugh. As noted, many Aspies have an unusually strong sense of compassion for others, and thus may find humor [[ComedicSociopathy based on random cruelty]] or [[ButtMonkey characters' gratuitous suffering]] [[DudeNotFunny upsetting rather than amusing]]. Also, while ''some'' Aspies may have difficulties [[DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm understanding sarcasm]], and find [[{{Irony}} irony]] an even tougher beast, others will not only understand sarcasm and/or irony, but range from occasional DeadpanSnarker to TheSnarkKnight. It very much depends on the person. Often the sense of humour is very dry, or depends on peculiar word-play only understood by the individual--see the Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} article on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duclod_Man Duclod Man]] for some good examples.

Ah, Asperger Syndrome. Also known as 'Asperger's Syndrome', 'Aspergers', 'AS' and an upcoming favorite, 'UsefulNotes/HighFunctioningAutism'. If you've spent any time on the Internet, you will have run into someone claiming that s/he has this condition and you're now wondering what it really means, or if it means anything at all. Well, we here at Wiki/TVTropes aim to fix you up with that info.

* '''Gaze Avoidance'''. Like most people in the autistic spectrum (as well as some social anxiety disorders), there are often troubles maintaining eye contact; it can actually feel uncomfortable or even painful. Because of this, since the non-verbal components of social interaction - body language and facial expressions - are largely learned visually, many with AS tend to have uncoordinated body language themselves (this can often tend to make people feel that they seem "[[UncannyValley creepy]]"), as well as an inability to correctly interpret the body language of others, often mistakenly described as a sort of "body language blindness" but more accurately described as a sort of "body language ''dyslexia''" instead. Conversely, those aware that they are not meeting gazes, and becoming concerned that they may seem insincere may focus their gaze on someone for too long in a way that might make the other person feel uncomfortable.\\

Of course, some people with AS do learn body language and emoting by studying actors in TV/film/theater and acting out their emotions. Compensating like this is terribly exhausting, as they're essentially giving a live stage performance any time they're talking to someone, and it can also lead to people sensitive to body language consciously or unconsciously realizing that the "aspie" is acting (as opposed to being natural), which is the sort of thing that in many people would be a danger sign. As a result, the "aspie" can come off as "[[UncannyValley creepy]]" even if they've theoretically solved their aforementioned body language problem.

Back in the days before Asperger's Syndrome and autism were known disorders, those who fell into the autism spectrum were often mistaken for sociopaths due to lack of outward emotions/displaying inappropriate emotions (e.g. John Elder Robison was chided for smiling when he heard of the death of another child when in fact he was relieved that it hadn't been ''him'' that died). This can obviously create a bit of a problem; humans [[LonersAreFreaks are easily put off by]] [[UncannyValley weird asocial behavior]] and may think "sociopath" instead of "Aspergers."\\

* '''Self-inflated InsufferableGenius[=/=][[DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery Asperger's as an excuse for bad behaviour]]'''. There's no real connection whatsoever, and may have just been borne out of [[{{GIFT}} people over the Internet]] using Asperger's Syndrome as an excuse to be a {{jerkass}} or a KnowNothingKnowItAll. Part of the reason AS is a popular self-diagnosis is because Asperger's is linked (particularly in pop culture) with IdiotSavant characters who are brilliant but lack social skills. Such individuals are often the first to latch onto postmortem conjectural psychology calling various famous people like UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein autistic. They arrogantly believe that not only should having AS free them from judgement for being socially inept, but also pin them as '''genius-tier masters of their field'''. This is particularly infuriating for people who really do have AS, since as this practice continues they find it harder to explain ''accidentally'' offending somebody without being seen as liars, or worse as trying to make an excuse for bad behaviour. Most genuine Aspies don't see Aspergers as a 'Get Out Of JerkAss Free' card, just an explanation. [[hottip:*:This is often reversed too: people without AS tend to see Aspies as being jerks or badly-behaved simply because they don't understand why the Aspie is acting that way and/or don't know how to deal with it.]]\\

* '''[[TheRainman Social disability means talent in a particular field]]'''. One of the most popular misconceptions on Asperger's Syndrome, made worse by how [[WordOfGod Hans Asperger himself]] described these people as "Little Professors". While a persistent obsession with any particular subject that leads to lots of study and practice in that subject may help in getting really good at it, people with AS are otherwise generally no more or less talented in anything than anyone else could become with that much study. How famous geniuses (supposedly) had Asperger's (e.g. UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein) adds to the problem, and this of course attracts antisocial people to self-diagnose themselves with Asperger's, causing the syndrome as a whole to be associated with...

![[center:Characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome]]

![[center:Myths about Asperger's Syndrome]]

![[center:Treatment of Asperger's in Culture and Society]]

![[center:Resources for People with Asperger's]]

** It's been called a "social skills learning disability", and for good reason: People with AS (often referred to as "Aspies" within their common community)and other sorts of autism have difficulty learning the non-verbal parts of social interaction, whether that's making small talk, dating etiquette, or just looking someone in the eye. Like anyone with a learning disability, people with AS can learn social skills - but it takes them a great deal of time and effort, and may always be difficult to do and imperfect in execution. For those wondering, this is the thing that causes most people on the Internet to self-diagnose, as it's usually the most visible symptom of AS. However, there are many factors to this problem with social interaction.

Treatment of AS varies throughout Hollywood. The most common portrayal seems to be that of the awkward "little professor." Other possible portrayals of adults with Asperger's include Matthew from ''Series/NewsRadio'' and [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Reverend Jim]] from ''Series/{{Taxi}}''. AS will often be stereotyped, with anyone who has it being shown as a textbook case. AS is unfortunately still in the Hollywood stage where, when a character has it, it will be [[{{Flanderization}} his defining characteristic or even his full personality]]. There probably never will be a Hollywood film with a "100 %" accurate depiction of AS - because it really does vary from person to person. There are certain films that attempt to depict how a person with Asperger's Syndrome would go about finding love: ''MozartAndTheWhale'' is about a male and female Aspie who meet each other, and ''Film/{{Adam}}'' has an orphaned Aspie young man find himself falling for the new tenant in his apartment. More recently, a 2010 remake of the TV series ''Series/{{Parenthood}}'' features a child with Asperger's, luckily presented in a stereotypical yet kind portrayal (tics, need for schedule structure, and a particular enhanced/hyperfocused hearing ability).