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Deus_ex_machina
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11 Dec 2007, 3:15 am

Dark_Red_Beloved wrote:
Quote:
Dark_Red_Beloved wrote:

To make a long story short,there are so many degrees and finely shaded subtleties--in any human being!It's just that a autistic child with more severe symptoms( where students' knowledge may start) tends to be more noticeable than a Aspie walking down the street.

Deus_ex_machina wrote:
I actually think this is wrong, I think that those little differences aren't all it's about but instead symptoms of the underlying cause.


Good point,Deus_ex_machina.When speaking of the autism spectrum,small differences between individuals aren't the only thing to consider. Symptoms of an underlying cause are equally important to consider. However,those small differences we see may be expressions of the underlying cause. That's my perspective anyway...Can you tell me a little more about what you were driving at?I've never looked at the autism spectrum that way before.


Well what you were describing seemed more like different personalities, common variations in behaviour. But Autism is more than that, there's sensory issues, muscle jerking, and other things that go right down to the nerves and your brain. Obviously the cause isn't known yet, but genetics has something to do with it. You're right that Autism is a Spectrum, and just as you described, but it would be more accurate to say that it doesn't include NTs otherwise that would imply that NTs could be diagnosed with Autism if their personality traits were extreme enough but that isn't really true. An NT might be mistaken for one, or even be seen as a perfect example of one but that wouldn't make them any more of an Autie/Aspie anymore than I could become an NT simply by glossing my quirks over with NT behaviour. The cause will always be there no matter what you do, it can only be supressed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome


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Dark_Red_Beloved
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11 Dec 2007, 2:32 pm

Deus_ex_machina wrote:
Dark_Red_Beloved wrote:
Quote:
Dark_Red_Beloved wrote:

To make a long story short,there are so many degrees and finely shaded subtleties--in any human being!It's just that a autistic child with more severe symptoms( where students' knowledge may start) tends to be more noticeable than a Aspie walking down the street.

Deus_ex_machina wrote:
I actually think this is wrong, I think that those little differences aren't all it's about but instead symptoms of the underlying cause.


Good point,Deus_ex_machina.When speaking of the autism spectrum,small differences between individuals aren't the only thing to consider. Symptoms of an underlying cause are equally important to consider. However,those small differences we see may be expressions of the underlying cause. That's my perspective anyway...Can you tell me a little more about what you were driving at?I've never looked at the autism spectrum that way before.


Well what you were describing seemed more like different personalities, common variations in behaviour. But Autism is more than that, there's sensory issues, muscle jerking, and other things that go right down to the nerves and your brain. Obviously the cause isn't known yet, but genetics has something to do with it. You're right that Autism is a Spectrum, and just as you described, but it would be more accurate to say that it doesn't include NTs otherwise that would imply that NTs could be diagnosed with Autism if their personality traits were extreme enough but that isn't really true. An NT might be mistaken for one, or even be seen as a perfect example of one but that wouldn't make them any more of an Autie/Aspie anymore than I could become an NT simply by glossing my quirks over with NT behaviour. The cause will always be there no matter what you do, it can only be supressed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asperger_syndrome


If I've somehow implied that people on the spectrum and NTs are exactly the same I apologize.That was not my intent. What I meant was this: Those of us on the spectrum could be on the wrong planet,but that doesn't neccessarily mean we're in the wrong galaxy.(at least I hope I'm not.Some days it can feel that way) :lol:



mcsquared
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14 Dec 2007, 10:56 pm

Izzie07 wrote:
So just a little background on me/the course. I am an undergraduate at this big research institution. So I recently applied to give the course and I have been approved! I am going to finalize my syllabus in the next 3 months and then offer the course in Spring 2008.


How amazing to be teaching a class as an undergraduate!
Check out these classes for some possible readings though think they're more geared toward technology people and you don't mention what department this is in--psychology? pre-med?
http://courses.media.mit.edu/2007spring/mas962/
http://home.cc.gatech.edu/autism/33