Answer, but No Cure, for a Social Disorder That Isolates Many discusses Asperger’s syndrome and high-functioning autism:
They are what autism researchers call “mind blind.” Lacking the ability to read cues like body language to intuit what other people are thinking, they have profound difficulty navigating basic social interactions. The diagnosis is reordering their lives. Some have become newly determined to learn how to compensate.They are filling up scarce classes that teach skills like how close to stand next to someone at a party, or how to tell when people are angry even when they are smiling.
Many Aspies, as they call themselves, and their families find it reassuring to know that they have a condition — even though there’s no cure.