[Asperger's syndrome, little teachers: special skills].
BACKGROUND
Asperger's syndrome (AS) is characterised by its effects on reciprocal social interaction, verbal and non-verbal communication, difficulty in accepting changes, inflexible thinking and reduced fields of interest, but also by the presentation of special skills.


METHODS
On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Hans Asperger, we briefly review the history of this researcher and offer a short description of the clinical features of the condition, including social interaction, communication, limited concerns and interests, routines and inflexibility, which are key points when it comes to reaching a diagnosis. Later, we also focus on Savant syndrome, which is a very common subgroup within AS and which is characterised by the patient's outstanding ability is certain special skills, such as hypermnesia, hyperlexia and hypercalculia, in mental feats concerning the perpetual calendar and in several branches of the arts, such as drawing, painting, sculpture and music. We discuss several famous cases of savants and explain some of the theories about its pathophysiology.


CONCLUSIONS
Having special skills is a distinguishing mark of AS and identifying and facilitating them would provide us with a potential tool with which to accomplish suitable job opportunities.
Etchepareborda
M C
MC
Laboratorio para el estudio de las Funciones Superiores (LAFUN), Buenos Aires, Argentina. mce@interar.com.ar
Díaz-Lucero
A
A
Pascuale
M J
MJ
Abad-Mas
L
L
Ruiz-Andrés
R
R
D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001317:Austria; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D009462:Neurology / Q000266:history*; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D012919:Social Behavior; D014705:Verbal Behavior