@L. Spiro : Thanks, now I know this is to have Asperger .

In french, it's a rare case in which wee can say both (avoir/être Asperger). I use "être" (everybody concerned naturally does in fact) because I don't feel this is something I have, this is me. (Je suis Asperger or Je suis autiste Asperger or casually Je suis Aspie, not J'ai Asperger or J'ai le syndrome d'Asperger, except in medical context)

Yes, people don't know it exists, this is the problem . In my country at least, this is the problem. Ask somenone in the street what is Asperger syndrome, they will very probably don't know. Ask someone in the street what is autism, they will very probably answer it's a disease in which you absolutely can't communicate except by knocking your head against a wall. Or you can give the 1000 first decimals of Pi. They don't know this is a spectrum

People should know AS exists, yes. To help Aspies integration in society. ( Since, my country is a democracy. Maybe not yours ? ).Because it's not just the label "mental disorder", too easy.
But people don't have to knwow who has it. This is private, as it is a medical condition.
I talk about adults.

It's like you want to refuse AS exists, .... what makes you incomfortable with this subject ? Because about the myths and legends that are spread on Aspies ? Those why so much people want to be aspies ? And why some others are jealous ? What a confusion...

(NB What makes me incomfortable, for instance, these are topics where people talk about genius, in fact meaning very intelligent people. The point of

A funny indice : what is the power of the genie in the story of Aladdin. Why this name, finally ?

??????????????

Merci belle calligraphie, mais ça n'a aucun sens pour moi. En anglais, ça donne ... ?

In all the countries where I have worked I have never met a single
person ever anywhere in-person who I would even remotely consider being
Aspergers. And I am living in Japan, where the chances for having
Aspergers in the IT field is highest. None. Not in school, not ever
anywhere in my life.

Nobody knows (except clairvoyant psychiatrists, of course. And Harry Potter. Because they have the faculty to play the doctor at sight. Fabulous isn't ?)
You would be surprised ! Especially by aspergirls ! They are fantastic actresses ! A majority of them even don't know they actually are Aspies, so much their mimicry is sophisticated ( I'm so jealous .... )

@TheChubu : Glad I didn't offend you, I just gave my point of view, as I have been myself diagnosed in a specialized service , without flourish

EDIT : Wow ..... just 25 modifications (maybe best ever since GameDev's creation , I just try to be as accurate as possible)

Whoa, I can't backspace some things because the quotes disappear for some reason.

This offends me! How dare you criticize our wonderful forum bugs!

Bug? It's a feature. I'm offends me that you consider it a bug.

No problem.

While it's true that some people use vague mental disorders to explain their social awkwardness or apathy toward life, I think we should cut those people a little slack. I don't know if you've realized this yet, but it's really hard to be a functioning member of society and prefer to be alone at the same time. I can't speak for other countries, but in America, especially for people around my age, it feels like your self worth must be measured 60% in whether or not you have a boyfriend/girlfriend right now, 30% in how many friends you have, and 10% other. When your values differ, and you always say "No, I've got some reading to do" when your friends ask you to go to the movies with them, or you leave parties early because you prefer being alone, people start to think that maybe something's wrong with you. If you don't like to party, you're weird. Everyone likes to party. If you'd rather do some solitary activity than have a conversation with someone, you're weird. Everyone wants to talk to a friend.

Since people (in America, at least) are so close to unanimous in holding the opinion that you must be as sociable as possible at all times, people who hold opposing values can be verbally slaughtered with no remorse. Everyone around you is going to tell you that you need to change immediately. If it's not your girlfriend, it's your best friend. If it's not your best friend, it's your mother or father or sister or brother. Because you prefer being alone, something's wrong with you. So, sometimes you start to believe it. You aren't looking for an excuse when you start thinking things like "Oh, maybe I'm some kind of autistic." You're just trying to understand yourself and why you're so different from everyone else. When the concept of "Well, this is just the way I am; I'm not weird, I'm just different" is taken away because everyone around you makes that seem impossible, it's easy to start thinking you've got a mental problem.

Yes, some people aren't even that socially awkward--they're just annoying assholes with no decorum, and they want an excuse. But sometimes it's not a lack of social skills, or an abundance of asshole-ness. Sometimes, you just don't consider mass social activity to be the most important part of your life, and you want to know why, and you end up thinking maybe you've got problems.

While I agree with you in principle, you don't need a medical degree to diagnose a broken leg if the bone is sticking out.

When it comes to developmental disorders (and also, for similar reasons, mental illness), I'm not sure that analogy holds.

Mental disorders are tend to be more of a spectrum than a binary affair (unlike a bone, which is generally broken or not), and even mental health professionals may have difficulty in diagnosing them (i.e. antisocial personality disorder, which actively attempts to avoid diagnosis)...

My point was that, at some point on the continuum, it becomes really obvious that something is amiss. (e.g. "the bone sticking out") The whole "you're not a doctor so STFU" argument is ridiculous at that point.

And by the way, I could probably quote large sections of the DSM IV off the top of my head... I DO know a little about these things. ;-)

BPD + Low Latent Inhibition here, which is frequent in people within the autistic spectrum(I'm not autistic, but I can say a thing or two about LLI).Actually it's almost impossible to have only one isolated mental disorder.If something is even slightly off in your brain, a whole lot of issues would manifest.But anyway, software engineering seems like the perfect job for me.Working around too many people in a flashy/noisy enviroment feels like the sounds and visuals are drilling theirselves into my brain and I get tired very quickly and after I get drained too much I become irritated and outbursts of rage follow.Maybe the reason most "different" people pick technical jobs like programming is, because they were never socially accepted in school and instead were inclined to learning math/science/whatever and reading books.Maybe you guys could share if you match this.What were your early years like?

I was socially accepted. I was shy and I wasn't popular though. I was even okay with girls (I was attractive for girls, I always blew it with them because of my shyness).

So I was a perfectly average kid, I was just interested in science and creating stuff, and I also always enjoyed being alone too. After some time to this day, I enjoy being alone more, so apart from job, pretty much the only person I'm socializing with is my girlfriend and on some forums sometimes.

I enjoy my lonely and engaging hobbies and being with my girlfriend much more than "hanging out".

That's pretty much it.

I have a funny anecdote, while we're on the topic. Not too long ago, my father tried to convince me that I have Aspergers, due to my extreme antisocial tendencies, to the point of despising everyone that doesn't earn my respect, reluctance to be in others' company, and proficiency in my field. I know for sure that I have many a disorder; depression is crippling some days, and maintaining a tight schedule is how I keep moving forwards. But I doubt highly that I have Aspergers.

The point of this anecdote is that some people claim illness so that they can get special treatment in one way or another, some people are quick to misdiagnose people that don't behave like they do, and some people are openly accepting to any amateur diagnosis that relieves them of responsibility. This goes for both the people diagnosed, and those around them. A lot of parents are willing to believe that their children have these disorders both because it absolves them of any fault in the outcome ("He has a disorder, he was going to turn out this way, no matter what!"), and it relieves them of their duty ("No, I won't tell him to stop biting people in the store. He has a disorder, you know."). With this in mind, a lot of people gain the mentality that a disorder governs their life because others push it on them.