How do problems change in adolescence and adulthood?
I don’t think we have great studies on individuals with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism in later life, though we are hearing more about people with Asperger syndrome in college. Some of these kids are very good at school. If you get the hang of school, the expectations are a lot clearer than they are in the work world. I chatted recently with one mother about her son with Asperger syndrome. He did fine at a good university undergrad. But then he had several jobs where he could not understand the social expectations. At his firm, he had to work in teams. He did not realize the politics among his team members, so he would step on other people’s toes without realizing it. His reviews repeatedly said, “You are arrogant and act as if you’re the only who knows anything,” but he really didn’t get what was going on. It’s also complicated to maintain long-term intimate relationships. You have to be able to read somebody’s nonverbal cues. How is a diagnosis made? Diagnosis has to i
