Giftedness and Asperger's Syndrome: A New Agenda for Education.

The principal looked around the table in bewilderment, the file of 9-year-old Jason open in front of her. The math teacher has proclaimed this child a genius: he understands ideas that others won't get for years. No wonder he has trouble talking to the other kids...he’s just way beyond them. The English teacher thinks it's something different-Jason seems bright in math, but in English he's nowhere. She's not always really sure he knows the meaning of all those words he uses-she's not sure he should have been grade skipped. You know if you went in the hall and asked Jason's classmates, they'd have a diagnosis: geek, dweeb. Jason's parents simply look confused. They've come here for help, but it seems like a futile effort. Now the special education teacher pipes up: Jason isn't gifted, he's got Asperger's Syndrome. What's the problem with this scenario? The gifted education teacher wasn't invited to the meeting... Across the country, around the world, this scene is repeated. A relatively new category in the continuum of behavior disorders, Asperger's Syndrome (AS) is both compelling and alarming to educators in gifted education. What does it mean to be gifted with Asperger's? It's a question that gifted educators must learn to answer, to ensure proper programming for children who are gifted, children who are Asperger's, and children who are both. What is Asperger's Syndrome? Asperger's Syndrome is one of a number of pervasive developmental disorders, a group of disorders that includes autism. Early on Asperger's Syndrome was referred to as "high functioning autism." Now AS is recognized as a disorder separate from autism, although the primary difference between the two is level of mental functioning: while autistic children tend to also have lower than average measured intelligence, children with Asperger's Syndrome have average or above measured intelligence.