Rain Man and the spectrum

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The guy on the bottom video seems to have much more severe autism than the other two kids. I've seen other videos of the bottom kid. He self-injures himself. He has no verbal speech. He only communicates in simple terms on his AAC device.

The other two kids are able to speak and to be social to a certain extent. They communicate with those around them; whereas the bottom person has to be prompted to communicate with others. It's possible that their intellectual disability causes more problems than their autism.

The kid in "this is autism" seems similar in functioning to the "other two" kids, though I'm still not sure about his intellectual level.

Based upon the prevailing definition of "cognitive impairment," you don't seem to have "cognitive impairment." Often, when "cognitive impairment" is referenced, it is applied to people with intellectual disabilities.

I sense that many of your problems are more of a physical/neurological nature, rather than a cognitive nature per se. Your dyspraxia is neurological, which leads to physical difficulty with speaking. Perhaps, your academic difficulties are a matter of "executive functioning" difficulties, rather than cognitive difficulties. Your ability to learn and benefit from your learning appears to be relatively unimpaired.

Cognitive impairment, to me, involves a decreased ability to benefit from what you've learned, and an inability to adjust to your environment. I feel your difficulties in your environment are neurological, rather than cognitive. You adjust as much as your neurology enables you to adjust.

I wonder what your dad would say about this. I'm sure he researched autism extensively.

Let me correct myself a bit.

In most contexts that I have encountered, a "cognitive deficit" is another way of saying "intellectual disability."

However, something like a deficit in executive function is also seen as being a "cognitive deficit." But in is of a "neuropsychological" nature, rather than anything having to do with intellectual ability.

Your "slowness" in things such as typing is purely a function of physical deficits, yet has nothing to do with your "speed" of thinking.

It really comes down to the tests I take and what they show. I have perceptual problems as far as cognition goes. But a lot of it is neurological as well of course. And it gets confusing as to which is which and what is what. It's like in a Rain Man clip I watched where they guy was able to calculate numbers so fast and the brother said, he's a genius, he should be working for nasa or whatever. But then he failed in practical application of numbers.

But like with my speed of typing. A lot of that is pauses to get my thoughts in order. A post like this can take a long time. Not just because of how slowly my fingers move on the key board. But because I have to pause every few words before being able to continue mentally. But that's anecdotal. It's really the testing that determines where I'm at.

Don't knock anecdote. Anecdote is very important in determining many psychological diagnoses these days. Many times, in determining autism in very young children, the observation of a child's play is an important component of the assessment.

Your anecdotal representation of why you are slow makes me understand the reasons for your slowness better. It just takes some time to gather your thoughts.

I'm a fast typist....but sometimes it takes me a while to compose a post. Sometimes, I have difficulty in organizing my thoughts.

I would class him as a severe/high-functioning case. He basically needed support with almost everything he did, but at the same time he was actually very intelligent when it came to certain tasks.