Figure 1: Discovery criteria for aspie by Attwood and Gray

A qualitative advantage in social interaction, as manifested by a majority of the following:

peer relationships characterized by absolute loyalty and impeccable dependability

free of sexist, "age-ist", or culturalist biases; ability to regard others at "face value"

speaking one’s mind irrespective of social context or adherence to personal beliefs

ability to pursue personal theory or perspective despite conflicting evidence

seeking an audience or friends capable of: enthusiasm for unique interests and topics;

consideration of details; spending time discussing a topic that may not be of primary interest

listening without continual judgement or assumption

interested primarily in significant contributions to conversation; preferring to avoid

"ritualistic small talk" or socially trivial statements and superficial conversation

seeking sincere, positive, genuine friends with an unassuming sense of humor

Fluent in "Aspergerese", a social language characterized by at least three of the following:

a determination to seek the truth

conversation free of hidden meaning or agenda

advanced vocabulary and interest in words

fascination with word-based humor, such as puns

advanced use of pictorial metaphor

Cognitive skills characterized by at least four of the following:

strong preference for detail over gestalt

original, often unique perspective in problem solving

exceptional memory and/or recall of details often forgotten or disregarded by others, for

example: names, dates, schedules, routines

avid perseverance in gathering and cataloging information on a topic of interest

persistence of thought

encyclopedic or "CD ROM" knowledge of one or more topics

knowledge of routines and a focused desire to maintain order and accuracy

clarity of values/decision making unaltered by political or financial factors

Additional possible features:

acute sensitivity to specific sensory experiences and stimuli, for example:

hearing, touch, vision, and/or smell

strength in individual sports and games, particularly those involving

endurance or visual accuracy, including rowing, swimming, bowling, chess

"social unsung hero" with trusting optimism: frequent victim of social

weaknesses of others, while steadfast in the belief of the possibility of genuine

friendship

increased probability over general population of attending university after high school

(5) often take care of others outside the range of typical development