(mildly) autistic but not "gifted"due to other disorder

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Hi everyone,

Maybe this is a bit of a weird question but are there people out here who are on the spectrum but who "just" have an average IQ (and a learning disorder in my case)? I also have this condition called dyspraxia (or DCD), which is a developmental & learning disorder that affects my gross and fine motor skills, coordination, orientation, balance and spatial awareness among other things. Unfortunately it also means that I'm really slow at processing information. Sometimes I'm a bit jealous of the high IQ Aspie's or savant(-like) people who are gifted in some way, like for example being extremely good at maths, IT, engineering, art, music, ... I don't have anything I excel at, rather on the contrary...
I just suck at almost everything If I had a kind of gift, there would be something positive about my autism diagnosis, but know there just isn't anything good about it... Only that I'm more empathetic than most people (but often unable to show it ) maybe...

BlackStar

I don't really have any special talents either. I think that is just a common stereotype among autistics that they have a gift at something. Yes there are some out there who have a special talent and those stand out.

I don't have a high IQ either. I feel very envious of those who do because I feel like they can just coast through school academics-wise while I struggle so much with certains subjects because of NLD. I do have a special talent in editing papers, but even that comes with a hindrance, as my reading comprehension ability is below average.

I think the high IQ thing/special talent is just a stereotype. Like you, I have an average IQ and don't have any savant-like abilities. The truth is most autistic people do not. I have also felt jealous of my autistic peers who have higher IQs than I do. I also get annoyed because people sometimes assume I have a special talent when they learn I'm autistic.

I know exactly how you feel, Blackstar. I have dispraxia too and it's hard to tell sometimes what causes me more difficulty, the autism or dyspraxia. Plus autism and dysprixa have things in common that overlap each other. Now I've been in private school for autistic students my whole time in school and the majority as far as I know are not gifted. Some might be really good at math and or things like programming (which I'm hopeless at), but I'm not aware of there being many super geniuses. My guess is those types are in other schools anyways. And likewise in my years here, I have not come across any super geniuses that I'm aware of. The aspie genius thing is mostly a stereotype.

I have an above-average long-term memory that the NTs around me never fail to be "amazed" at. I can remember facts and figures almost permanently, and can rattle off long reams of dialogue from movies and TV shows that I've seen only a couple of times, and in some instances, once. I wouldn't call myself gifted or a savant. My verbal IQ is 134 and I have a very high vocabulary and excellent ability to write, but my reading comprehension and speed are average at best, and my nonverbal IQ/spatial awareness is only 94, so I struggle a lot with puzzles, 3D shapes on paper, navigating, etc.

I believe that everyone has a special talent (or gift). Some are quite hidden and may take a lifetime to find, but they are there, somewhere inside each of us. The key is to embrace whatever it may be when you find out what it is.

As for high IQs, that can be a whole other can of worms. All an IQ test says is that one might have a particular set of mental tools when faced with a particular set of challenges (such as in the test itself). However, one must be careful to not misunderstand that a higher IQ number does not always mean a better way of life. Some of the most miserable people I have met had IQs above 130 (usually they are constantly striving to prove that they are smarter/better than others like it is a contest), yet some of the happiest people that I have met had IQs that were closer to average, or even below average. To me, the happier people are better off than the miserable ones, as they are content on who they are, regardless on where they are on the IQ scale.