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A Social Mine Field
Understanding Asperger's Syndrome
By Andrew Inches
Then there are the quirky eccentric behaviors. Aspies become fascinated with small elements of daily life. It can easily turn into an obsessive quality. Some children with Asperger's become fixated on train schedules or airplanes. They'll collect everything they can find on the subject. 
Kirsten's mind is filled with facts about animals. "[Her classmates] call her "The Little Professor,'" says Williams. "She knows any fact anyone wants to know about animals. She also knows the gestational periods of a wide variety of animals as well as what the young of the various species are called."
Getting the right education for Kirsten has been a lot of work. Williams has had to wrestle for the right resources. Dr. Prichard notes the biggest challenge for a parent is "finding a place where someone allows them to learn and thrive and grow even though they are really impaired."
"I can't even tell you the frustration I've met as a parent," says Williams. "People have no idea what it's like to get these kids the education they need."
Kirsten currently attends a charter school – a school dedicated to children with learning disabilities. Her parents drive her two hours a day, but Williams says it's worth it. Her previous elementary school wasn't giving Kirsten the services she needed. Although Kirsten's IQ was only five points below the gifted level and she could read on par with kids nearly twice her age, she could barely write a sentence. Short-term memory problems caused her to suffer with math.
Her elementary school's solution was to give her 20 minutes of "pull-out" services (removing her from the classroom for remedial studies) each day to catch up. It wasn't nearly enough to help. Kirsten continued to drown in her current educational system.
Now Kirsten is in a smaller, contained environment with teachers who are able to give her more attention. Although she still has her struggles with math, Kirsten can now write a five-sentence paragraph, which is a huge improvement. She even finds homework tolerable. "I just want someone to help my kid be successful and I don't want her to fall through the cracks," says Williams.