A diagnosis of Aspergers is a challenging one to make, and it requires an expert or more than one.. But it is not a “black mark” by any means, unless it is so severe to the point of autism-like symptoms (Aspergers is identified as an Autism spectrum disorder, but it doesn’t usually manifest in the same way)
Also, Aspergers is very often associated with high or very high intelligence, so stigma associated with it is a big ??? to me. The diagnosis is made as a function of evidence.
In the case of Aspergers, there is a distinct lack of socialization and obliviousness to social cues that will have been there before any diagnosis, as is the exclusionary focus of interest onto one thing or idea. Social stigma follows from the behavior more than from a rumored diagnosis of what is often a high function disorder.
Aspergers does, however, often have associations with other diagnoses for other issues, co-morbid with it, variously ADHD, Depression, OCD, and other psychological challenges. Maybe this is what was circulated.
I write this as the parent of a child diagnosed several years ago with Aspergers. Though my child certainly has had to overcome challenges in socialization, my child is Baruch Hashem healthy, doing extremely well in school, and has begun to develop relationships and friendships, and figured out workarounds to social cues utilizing intelligence rather than the more common intuition.
Rumor is a horrible thing in a school no matter what it is about, but as far as Aspergers is concerned, people like Lincoln, Einstein, Alexander Graham Bell, Newton, Jefferson, and Edison all displayed symptoms and were likely affected by the disorder, so the person affected is in good company.