American Normal: The Hidden World of Asperger Syndrome [Paperback]

Asperger's has never been clearly defined, bordering autism on one side and high intelligence and verbal eccentricity on the other. The disease is a kind of cultural lightning rod. First, it's a condition onto which we project the very real and well-founded fears of social isolation inherent in mental illness. But also attached to it is a kind of admiration and envy and (among those who suffer from Asperger's) a kind of elitism, a sense of being one of the elect, in a world mainly peopled by neurotypicals.

Asperger and I.- Little Professors.- The Last Puritan.- Rain Men.- Diagnosing Jefferson.- Autibiographies.- The Poetics of Medicine.

From the reviews:

Osborne uses his considerable journalistic talents to interview a number of well-known & and some not-so-well-known people diagnosed with an enigmatic disorder known as Aspergers Syndrome. & Recommended for readers at all levels. (K. M. Dillon, Choice Middletown, February, 2003)

In the US, Aspergers Syndrome - a psychiatric disorder & has become a rallying point for a diverse and often incompatible range of interests. While the UK isnt showing any signs of jumping on the Aspergers bandwagon & books and articles on the subject makes it hard to ignore. Osbornes better than most because it takes the opposite tack, making the similarities between Aspergers sufferers and unaffected people bigger than the differences. & This is an accessible book thats enjoyable and informative & . (Emma Thomas, Focus, November, 2003)

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extrasAsperger's Syndrome is a growing phenomenon or at least a growing fashion in psychology. Annual diagnoses of the condition have increased 300 percent over the last 10 years. This books seeks to find out why.