I just finished reading a highly engrossing book called Diagnosing Jefferson - Evidence of a Condition that Guided His Beliefs, and Personal Associations by Norm Ledgin. The book makes the case that Thomas Jefferson -- Founding Father, 3rd president of the United States, and principal author of the Declaration of Independence -- suffered from a condition known as Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's Syndrome is a developmental disorder closely tied to autism and characterized by higher than average intellectual ability coupled with impaired social skills and restrictive, repetitive patterns of activities and interest. Ledgin contends that Jefferson exhibited a bevy of characteristics that unequivocally placed him on the autism-Asperger's continuum: As a law student at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, he frequently studied 15 hours a day. He spoke four languages and learned to read Latin, Greek, Italian, French, and Spanish.  He had a remarkable memo...

Do you picture loners as being antisocial, self-absorbed, and in a world of their own? New research from Wellesley College dispels that common stereotype and suggests loners can actually be loyal friends and quite amicable when you get to know them. What happens is that people tend to misconstrue their reticent ways for snobbiness, rudeness, or lack of social skills. While some of these people might very well be shy or self-centered not all loners should be characterized as such. Studies show that loners tend to have a much lower need for social acceptance than their more gregarious counterparts. They're perfectly content staying in with a good book than spending the night out on the town -- and they don't apologize for it. Loners still like to make friends, but they tend to maintain only a couple of close friendships. If they could have a universal motto, it would be "depth, not breadth." Thus, they have relatively high standards for friendship, but once th...