A nonlinear, dynamic systems model is applied to the difficulties with diagnosing high-functioning Asperger’s syndrome. These patients are often misdiagnosed as having narcissistic personality disorders, leading to analytic techniques that focus on intrapsychic conflict as the primary etiological factor. It is suggested that what appear descriptively to be narcissistic defenses are really desperate attempts to compensate for developmental disparities that include difficulties with mentalization. Three case examples are used to illustrate this point. Once one realizes that dispositional aberrations, more than intrapsychic conflicts, are leading to these compensatory attempts, an analytic technique can be used that is more helpful.