Autism sounds like truly a bad thing, truly a disease or bad health condition. But some of what the psychology profession considers to be in the autism "range", like Asperger's, instead sounds an awful lot to me like someone who's just smart and intellectual, and actually has a better/higher-functioning mind, than the average person. This would seem to be borne out by the fact that these "conditions" are more prevalent in scientists, engineers and their children. From my perspective, yes, people who have a much more powerful mind, greater analytical abilities, people who can think visually, three-dimensionally, hyper-logically, etc. are going to sound/look/act strange to people who don't do these things and don't have these abilities. But that doesn't mean it's bad. Or rather, it doesn't mean the "strange" person has something wrong or non-ideal about them -- it may be the "normal" person who's defective or non-ideal.
I understand, I think, what you're saying - that a lot of what is perceived as "wrong" with a person with Asperger's is simply a matter of differing perspective and differing levels/types of comprehension.
In some ways, I agree. I think a lot of the quirks in these cases aren't problems, just differences. However, that doesn't explain all of it.
For instance, what about the problems that many on the autism spectrum have with various types of sensory integration? It is often not simply a dislike of loud noises or certain textures of foods, but a physiological response to them, and one that can't always be re-trained.
Or, taking it one step further, I've heard from several people who have or whose children have Turette's Syndrome that it shares so many symptoms and similarities with Asperger's that it feels like it should be on the autism spectrum, itself - though it's currently not.
Sensory processing issues, tics, stimming, etc. can often be controlled to an extent, but not overcome.
Should a healthy brain that just works a bit differently still have these issues? Should it be able to adapt and cope with them? Should a more highly functional brain be more flexible in this regard, or less? I honestly don't know. Maybe our flexibility can be attributed more to our lack of perception rather than an abundance of it.
