Cosplayer Kuro Akagi posted a four-page manga about Asperger syndrome on Twitter on Sunday. Asperger syndrome is an autism spectrum disorder, and the manga reflects Akagi's own experiences as a child. Akagi said she hopes the manga helps educate people who are unfamiliar with Asperger's and support people worrying about the disorder.

In the manga, a girl named Aspe-chan demonstrates some basic challenges of Asperger syndrome. She lists traits of people with Asperger's as the inability to understand detailed nuance, tendency toward obsessive behavior, and inability to cope when unexpected things happen.

Because Aspe-chan doens't understand fine nuance, she has trouble when she receives unclear instructions. In particular, she has trouble with words such as "a little," "that," "over there," "properly," and "suitably." She can't understand what her boss tells her to do at her part-time job, and he gets angry with her for having to explain. Aspe-chan likes precise explanations, and she can do her work when she receives a specific request.

In elementary school, Aspe-chan has problems because she takes words at face value. Her teacher gets angry with her, and she doesn't understand why. Her teacher yells at her to go home if she has no motivation. Aspe-chan thinks her teacher is literally telling her to go home, so she starts to leave. Her teacher then gets angry at her again for trying to leave.

Aspe-chan is sad because she gets bullied for not being "normal". She starts to wonder if she is a bad child and thinks about what "normal" really means . Rather than worry about what she is unable to do, Aspe-chan decides to focus on utilizing her special traits as someone with Asperger's. For example, people with Asperger syndrome may have a strong ability to concentrate on certain subjects and good memory.

Akagi's Twitter post has been retweeted more than 6,200 times. Many people are praising the manga online for being easy to understand and clearly explaining problems that people with Asperger syndrome face.

Yū Yūki and Sō 's Comical Psychosomatic Medicine manga , which details various mental illnesses and conditions, has also discussed Asperger syndrome.

[Via Yaraon!]