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Originally Posted by Tim 
Its called NLVD. Non verbal learning disorder.
The biggest difference is the non verbal such as facial expressions, sarcasm, and some hand gestures.
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Deficiencies in non-verbal communication skills is one aspect of Asperger's Syndrome. They process everything quite literally, without reference to non-verbal cues, intonation, or any other context clues that we pick up on naturally and without thinking about it.
"Real nice" can mean one thing when spoken in a cheerful, light tone and a smile. It can mean something entirely different when spoken in a harsh tone, a frown, and a head gesture. To him, they both mean the same thing.
Sarcasm is lost on him, as is most idiomatic speech. While Asperger's Syndrome is considered a language capable form of autism, it certainly is not a full language capability.
On the bright side, he is very bright, as are most others with the Syndrome. He can be taught, "That is not appropriate" or "a smile on the face means..." and he retains the information like a vault. He does exceptionally well in math and science, he just lags significantly behind his peers in social skills. He'd make a perfect pilot.
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