Can we drop the D?

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Tonight I was reading an article titled Heavenly Creatures in a New Zealand magazine (The Listener) about the creator of Pokemon Go and I was delighted to notice that the D word wasn't used at all:

The concept was the brainchild of Satoshi Tajiri, who confirmed in 2011 that he sits on the autistic spectrum. Popular media articles about autism may have led you to believe that people who are autistic do not understand how other people work, but Tajiri has clearly tapped into something that, even if it has roots in his own autistic obsessionality, is shared with millions of others. Like many video games, Pokemon Go takes advantage of at least two basic psychological processes - one behavioural and one biological. First, like many things we learn to do, playing the game is reinforcing: there is a reward for climbing a hill to catch an elusive Gloom. You feel you have achieved something, and the game supplies noises and words to signal your achievement."



Another source describes him in a blog, also not using the D word:

Like everyone else, autistic people have their own special interests and passions. I’m sure most of you are familiar with the product Pokemon. Created in 1996, it’s creator, Satoshi Tajiri, came up with the idea from his childhood hobby of collecting bugs. Tajiri was also an avid video game player in high school. His constant play would ultimately pay off. The Pokemon game series has sold more than 200 million copies. Only the Super Mario game franchise has sold more.

To create and work at this concept, Tajiri had to have a brilliant mind, right? Well he does. *Tajiri has a form of autism called asperger syndrome. Because he is autistic, Tajiri’s mind is much different in comparison to our average human brain. Our brains process about 13 to 30 cycles of brain wave energy per second. Individuals with autism far surpass that. Their brains can process up to 250,000 cycles of brain wave energy per second. Quite remarkable, eh?

I wonder if he has read the brilliant book "The Reason I Jump" which was written by a 13 year old Japanese boy on the spectrum. It's a very inspiring book and vibrant proof that the AS difference can equate with remarkable talent.

Oops, my mistake. That was meant for a different thread, about the relevance of IQ to achievement. It is irrelevant here, sorry for any confusion.

To someone with moderate to severe autism, it is disabling. Not being able to communicate, especially if experiencing discomfort or pain and "going medieval" at the drop of a hat (sometimes literally for me) doesn't especially jive well in the real world. This is why the D is in the definition.

By the way, up in these parts, dropping the D means the same as going #2.

All the geniuses I know don't take IQ tests and are not members of Mensa, the World Genius Directory, or other high IQ societies. They don't have time to do these things, as they are too busy inventing, discovering, and creating things.

I think it is a disorder. Though Since this isn't necissarly offtopic I Think all the labels are stupid and it should just be ASD not Asperger's ASD Level 1 ASD Level 2 etc.

It's only a disorder if it is causing significant difficulty in your day to day life.
If it isn't causing any difficulty, why would you even get a diagnosis for it?

If you are functioning at a high enough level there is no 'D'.
programmers and mathematicians are AS without the D

I wonder what people do at meetings of high IQ societies?

You guys really just need to stop pretending. It is depressing, maybe even heart wrenching to have to look deep inside and see all your defects, our defects, I know so many of you want to believe you are not in an unfair situation. I was there, I know what it feels like to think others are what's wrong, that society has been persecuting supposedly special individuals and we thought we were ahead of our peers but they saw how slow we really were and what annoying repetitive creeps we would be. It is frightening and gives great anxiety to our very existence, we may even feel suicidal at times when we confront it, but learning to confront it together and look for some hope will keep us alive. Put aside your pride and really look at it from a rational and logical point of view, just try. Stop romanticizing autism. It is a disorder, and part of it for some of you is the inability to realize that, a lack of self awareness. Every day you continue to push this is another day progress is set back, another day added to potential suffering, another day added to the journey to a better society. Please.....just stop, I'm begging you, all of you, and for those who understand me, pass it on. As for the rest, you've wasted decades being on the wrong side of history. It breaks my heart it has to be this way. Please stop.

I think progress is made when one accepts one's deficits and learns ways to work with them. Denying them and blaming the nt world is a waste of energy.