Spergers were first identified in the 1940s by Australian Primatologist Hans Asperger for whom the species is named. Asperger studied a group of what were thought to be human children with marked behavioural differences. He placed them with other similar children and with normal children and observed their behaviour. He found that the Aspies consistently preferred company with their own kind and usually rejected the normal children. Because of this, he categorized them as a separate species with their own scientific name.