AS Character on Boston Legal

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It was revealed on last night's episode of Boston Legal that Jerry Esperson (Christian Clemenson), the character who had been nicknamed "Hands" and was last seen threatening to slit Shirley Schmidt (Candace Bergen)'s throat, was diagnosed with Asperger's. His character was constantly passed over for partner at Crane, Poole and Schmidt because of poor interpersonal skills, although his confidential file also made reference to his brilliance as a lawyer and his value to the firm. Jerry's symptoms of Asperger's included difficulty making eye contact, having his hands constantly sitting on his thighs, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the law. Although this last was clearly credited as an asset, it was also used as a diagnostic criteria.
I thought it was fairly well handled. Christian Clemenson did not portray Jerry as feeble-minded or psychotic, just a highly intelligent man needing sone work on his social skills. Alan Shore (James Spader) was particularly sympathetic to his plight, having crashed the partners' meeting at the firm to make an eloquent case for making Jerry a partner. He was also Jerry's lawyer at trial and, with his usual skill, kept Jerry out of jail (the list of charges against Jerry were quite extensive and rather ridiculous). He showed genuine respect for Jerry and gave it his all to help him at considerable risk to his own position at Crane, Poole and Schmidt.
Has anyone else seen this? What do you think?
Overall, Boston Legal is one of my favorite shows on TV. David E. Kelley has created another winner. The scripts are literate and funny; the acting is excellent, especially William Shatner who,as Denny Crane, has finally created another character every bit as memorable as Captain Kirk. James Spader as Alan Shore is letter-perfect: obviously brilliant and not afraid to fight for what he believes in, even if Denny or Shirley Schmidt disagree with his choices.

When Part One came out, I posted the plot on the TV forum, having spotted poor "Hands" (his firm really screwed him over for 15 years!) as AS right away. Yes. They handled it well.

A friend I was watching it with commented that Eleanor fromThe Practice would snap him right up without hesitation.

*sigh* I don't like how the representation of AS in entertainment always seems to imply that our social difficulties/frustrations will lead us to violent behavior

u mean they said the character had it? or just the traits?
would you please give me the episode number, so i can check when it airs in norway..

Alan Shore--based on a comment Jerry made about his father's similar behavior traits--talked to several psychiatrists who, based on the entries in his confidential file, diagnosed him as having AS.
The episode number is 02x12: the title is "Helping 'Hands'" and is part of a story cycle that began when Alan was helping a woman who had massive credit card problems. The parallel story cycle involves a rich man, played by Michael J. Fox, who is dying of cancer and attempted to buy his way into an investigative new drug (IND) trial.
There seem to be a trend toward violent behavior by many of the NT characters on the show. One of the lawyers, in attempting to rescue an abused child, accidentally/on purpose chops off three fingers on a priest's hand. Another character, played by Betty White, kills another character when she realizes he enjoys killing (he'd already dispatched his mother and a suspicious neighbor). In an upcoming episode, she apparently kills yet again--reasons unknown. So I don't think it's so much stereotyping AS as it is David Kelley's favorite deus ex machina.
It's also interesting that BL has been pegged by many critics and fan as a comedy. It certainly has a lot of comedic aspects; the dialogue is at time laugh your a-- off funny.
But yeah, it's always discouraging to see apparent caricatures of characters who are neurologically atypical. I can't tell you how tired I am of depictions of pot smokers as empty-headed and lazy, or the stereotypical tics and behaviors practiced by actors portraying people with AD(H)D. All I can say is, things seem to be improving. I was really impressed by the developing relationship between Alan and Jerry on BL. I hope the writers will keep going with it.