The discovery of Asperger Syndrome (AS) dates back to 1944. Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger described the syndrome when he was treating four boys with similar symptoms. But his writings remained relatively unknown until 1981. At that time, English doctor Lorna Wing published case studies with children who displayed the same signs.

Still, it wasn’t until 1992 that AS became an official diagnosis in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Two years later, it became an official diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).

Asperger Syndrome is a developmental disorder. People with AS don’t have cognitive or language deficits. (If they do, they’re diagnosed with autism.) But they do have a difficult time interacting, communicating and connecting with others. They’re unable to pick up on social cues and express their emotions.

Often, they also reside on either extreme of the spectrum: Either they’re very orderly and “become unglued if things don’t go their way” or their days are in disarray, and they have a lot of difficulty with daily responsibilities, said Valerie Gaus, Ph.D, psychologist and author of Living Well on the Spectrum: How to Use Your Strengths to Meet the Challenges of Asperger Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adult Asperger Syndrome.

The social deficits can get people with AS into trouble, Gaus said. That’s because of their “lack of understanding of the unwritten rules of social engagement.” Gaus noted that she’s heard of several scenarios where people with AS have gotten pulled over by police officers, and they just didn’t know how to behave and seemed suspicious or belligerent.

Clients with AS usually come to Gaus for one of two reasons: to help them with their social interactions (either to get along better with their spouse, co-workers or family or find a romantic partner or friends); or to get organized and effectively manage their time.

Gaus doesn’t view Asperger Syndrome as a disease. Instead, she believes it’s a “unique way of processing information” that creates not just vulnerabilities but “strengths that can help you succeed in life.” For instance, a person with AS might be “a very systematic thinker,” which makes it difficult to “interface with humans,” but also makes them a winning engineer, she said.

So when she works with clients, Gaus’s goal isn’t to eliminate AS, because this has made the person who they are, she said. Rather, it’s “to identify which Asperger’s symptoms are causing [the person] stress and to help them come up with solutions to overcome them.”