does this kid have Asperger's Syndrome?

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There's this kid whose dad sometimes brings him to the office, between 6-8 years old, who spends his time at the office talking to random office workers. The interesting part about the kid is that he'll find someone to talk to and talk to them for long periods of time. The kid's victims usually stand motionless, staring at him, amused at the fact that the kid doesn't run out of things to say. He likes to talk, but seems to have a hard time understanding social cues: he continues with his monologues even after people bid him farewell. I've also noticed that the kid doesn't really talk "to" people, he seems to talk "at" people. A lot of coworkers have commented that the kid is very funny and intelligent. The kid looks normal, healthy, and doesn't have any type of odd gait, nervous mannerism or speech impediment. Given that he talks so much and seems to miss social cues, do you think he has AS?

You can't really diagnose a kid on occasional observations. He may just be a talkative kid who happened to be particularly excitable about his subjects. If he doesn't have any clinically significant problems, he may just be a friendly idiosyncratic talkative kid. Kids at that age often yammer on about stuff endlessly. They haven't yet learned the give and take of conversation. Unless there's a real block there, I wouldn't jump to conclusions. I think there's a danger of looking too hard for AS, and taking perfectly normal behaviours under scrutiny and seeing what isn't there.

The child you describe sounds very like my son, who's a similar age, and will also metaphorically pin complete strangers to the wall and talk at them at great length.

My son also flaps his hands a lot while talking though, and if very excited will bang his head, sometimes on the person he's talking to!

This other child may be AS, or maybe not. He'd need to do more than talk people to scrap for a dx, but it's definately aspie/gifted behaviour.

Could be likely- disregarding the limited information based on the circumstances.

Sounds a lot like me when I was a kid- I'd go up to people in the office, talk at them or ask them questions (never both at the same time!)- and this went on until I was about 14; when I was younger I'd just sit in a stranger's lap or give them an item or take something from them such as a pen etc without any achknowledgmeant of their existance.

It reminds me a lot of the fictional scenario cooked up from 'The Complete Guide to Aspergers Syndrome' (a bit long so I'll just give you the idea):

'...She smiled at him, and was about the suggest that he went into the garden to join Alicia and her friends when he said, 'Alicia's birthday present is one of those special dolls that my mum says every girl wants, and she chose it, but what I really wanted to get her was some batteries. ...Batteries are really useful. What batteries do you have in your remote controllers?'...Aicia's mother felt exhausted too, listening to a lecture that lasted about ten minutes. Despite her subtle signals of needing to be somewhere else, and eventually saying 'I must go and get the party food ready,' he continued to talk, following her into the kitchen. She noticed that when he talked, he rarely looked at her and his vocabulary was very unusual for an eight year old boy...he spoke very eloquently, although he didn't seem to want to listen...'

I don't know if he does or not. Sounds like a cool kid, though. He could one day be a great leader.

He could have William's Syndrome. We can't really diagnose from this, though what he does is typical of a lot of us.

I was thinking of that, too, except that kids with Williams Syndrome tend to make people feel comfortable rather than pinned to the wall. From the Williams Syndrome Association website:

"Individuals with Williams syndrome have a very endearing personality. They have a unique strength in their expressive language skills, and are extremely polite. They are typically unafraid of strangers and show a greater interest in contact with adults than with their peers."

I've been fascinated by Williams Syndrome for years. I identify with the lack of spatial skills (though mine are getting better) and with the musical ability. But I don't have any of the other markers.

This thread would be a "proper" diagnosis of ADHD, in which the parents would be at the mercy of the drug companies.

in my view he sounds like the kind of kid i like to hang out with.
he certainly sounds as if he has some presentations of AS as can be seen in some people.

does he have AS? well.....a thourough dignostic evaluation can suss that out.

He could also be just impulsive, clinically impulsive or within the range of what's normal and thus miss the obvious cues.

Or he could be trying to be annoying on purpose.

Or he could be spoiled.

Or he could be bored.

Or he could be highly intelligent and not be treated like a kid.

Or he could just react out of character in these situations because it's not that typical to bring a kid to work.

Or a combination of all and several more factors.

I wouldn't consider AS as a first, because it's a very uncommon disorder.