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A Social Mine Field
Understanding Asperger's Syndrome
By Andrew Inches
Kirsten Williams of Orlando, Fla., is a remarkably bright 10-year-old girl. She reads on an 11th grade level, has an IQ of 125 and she knows that octopi are the world's smartest mollusk. In the second grade, Kirsten's favorite book was a 1928 Rudyard Kipling book titled Selected Prose and Poetry of Rudyard Kipling. Not exactly common second grade fare.
As bright as she is, Kirsten is struggling. She has a lot of trouble making friends. For a smart kid with plenty of children in her school and on her street, it shouldn't be that difficult. But for Kirsten, it's excruciating.
"She doesn't know how to relate to them," explains Kirsten's mother, Jamie Williams.
Kirsten doesn't suffer from shyness, a lack of self-confidence, or some kind of intellectual barrier. Instead, it's a neurological disorder that is responsible for her social awkwardness. She suffers from Asperger's syndrome.
Kirsten's own efforts to make friends betray her. "She has a skewed perspective on how you have friends," says Williams. "She has to constantly give them things or do things for them." Despite Kirsten's best efforts, her actions only seem to alienate her peers. Conversational skills elude her. "She talks about things that are inappropriate – that are of a sexual nature or bad language – to try to fit in."
Being a female with Asperger's syndrome is a rarity. There are significantly more boys than girls diagnosed with Asperger's. There doesn't seem to be much explanation as to why. Whatever the reason, Kirsten's struggle with Asperger's has also meant struggles for her family.