Right hemisphere dysfunction & Aspergers

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I know that unofficially (not sure about studies?) some psychologists/psychiatrist expect someone with AS to score low on the picture arrangement subtest because this subtest also relies on the ability to understand social stories/sequences and be able to perceive the big picture quickly (understand all that's on a card, instead of focussing on one detail). Both areas that are supposedly impaired in autistic people, including those with AS.

My lowest subtest score was Picture Arrangement- it was about 3 standard deviations below my average verbal subtest score. I actually got the "trial" one wrong- the one that is supposed to be really easy and just give you the idea of how to do it. I had been looking at the color of the cars and sequencing based on that, rather than paying attention to the duck or whatever it was that was crossing the road. Apparently the test designers didn't make the coloring of the cars consistent with the sequence of the cards. After I got that one wrong though, I got the idea of what I was supposed to be looking for and did better, although I still did relatively poorly.

I think they've taken the Picture Arrangement out of the new version of the WISC/WAIS though.

The coprus collosal provides the main connection between the left and right side of the brain. If it is the case that this area is difficient in ASD, it maybe the communication between the hemispheres that is the main problem.

The impression I got was that an autistic mind was more capable of isolating left and right brain hemisphere functions. One hemisphere could, in effect, go off on its own for long periods of time without the other hemisphere providing much/any feedback. I don't know if this is at all related to AS obsessions, but it wouldn't surprise me.

I have to be careful here, because I may be dangerously close to talking out my rear...

Would it be considered right brain dysfunction if a person is very right brained and hardly uses their left side but at the same time doesn't have that much of a good spatial awareness?

Isn't the whole "left-brain-does-this" / "right-brain-does-that" thing a great oversimplification? Different parts of the brain do different things in different people.

The brain can be split up into further sections than just the left & right. What is so interesting about the left and right hemispheres is that they can act independantly of one another. They are in essence two different brains. An example of this is in a corpus callosotomy where some or all of the link between the two is severed usually to stop seizures.

I have read about tests on animals and humans where all of the corpus callosum has been cut and sensory input tested on the two hemispheres. It was found anything learnt on one side would not get through to the other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateraliza ... n_function