Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's

by John Elder Robison

And Asperger’s is turning out to be surprisingly common: A February 2007 report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 1 person in 150 has Asperger’s or some other autistic spectrum disorder. That’s almost two million people in the United States alone.

Asperger’s is not a disease. It’s a way of being. There is no cure, nor is there a need for one. There is, however, a need for knowledge and adaptation on the part of Aspergian kids and their families and friends.

Even at five, I was beginning to understand the world of things better than the world of people.

Caring—or pretending to care—about other people is a learned behavior.