I was thinking of a young man I know. He has Aspergers Syndrome. He makes smile and laugh with his brilliance. I think probably because I can identify with him on some level and also because I have a quirky, crazy smart 10 yo daughter who is a bit on the rigid side. It’s funny because I was thinking about the brains of these children today and wondering the similarities of their thinking with those of gifted kids. Are they any different? Are all geniuses really Asperger’s? If so, then should it really be a “disorder?” Oddly enough, my daughter asked the same question at dinner—“do children with Aspergers use the same part of the brain as gifted kids (which she is).” I am reminded about a conversation with the mom of a child Aspergers. She said her son has an “old soul.” I looked and found some characteristics from Steve Gunn:

The key signs of an old soul
· Giving and caring often putting others first
· Had a difficult romantic life often with much pain and disappointment
· More than likely had a soulmate relationship
· Things just seem to happen to you and around you, often becoming very dramatic through the seemingly extreme reactions of others
· Events repeat themselves
· Have trouble connecting with your family
· Somehow know you’re different
· Have some psychic intuition and ‘just knowing’ things
· Find that you have deeper emotions and passions than most people
· People have extreme reactions to you – some just adore you and some seem to really dislike you yet you behave the same to everyone
· Have an inner creative passion
· Suffer lots of jealousy
· Often perceived wrongly
· Feel your don’t have much free will, like your life is being controlled by some outside force
· Often feel ‘stuck’ like events just keep on happening to you time after time

I think that children with Aspergers have many of these traits. I also feel they relate more to adults than other kids. Researchers have just scratched the surface on this. Guess it’s time to keep digging.