Are you too smart?

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We do this thread once a week. The real question is "Why do certain subsets of Aspies feel the need to keep pointing out how smart they are?" I have a theory that involves low self-esteem and overcompensating for the other difficulties that AS bring, but am curious to hear others.

I'm not sure that was the intent of the opening post. They were frustrated with their therapist for saying he was too smart to be autistic.

I agree, I was rather commenting on what the thread had since become. Obviously this "therapist" has no basis for his comments, and I would be led to disbelieve his or her credentials.

Yeah. I noticed it was drifting.

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Last edited by Zen on 05 Jan 2011, 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I thought the cuttoff minimum intelligence for AS is 125. In my opinion you can't really ever be too smart, And there will always be someone smarter than you.

There is no such thing. IQ plays no role whatsoever in the diagnosis of AS. Where does everyone get these ideas?

Your shrink is obviously either not that smart or not very experienced with ASD, and certainly doesn't have experience with Aspergers.

As others mentioned an average IQ is a minimum to "qualify" as Aspergers, in other words most have an IQ higher then average, and quite a few would pass the Mensa test with "flying colours". You could have an IQ of 200 and qualify for ASD. You could have a handful of masters degrees and qualify for ASD.

In other words none of the reasons you mentioned "disqualify" you for a ASD diagnosis.

In fact I am wondering if he has any idea what Autism and/or Aspergers is ... and I am being nice right now.

One suggestion: get a new shrink.

In the words of Stephen Hawking, "People who boast about their I.Q. are losers".

I agree with many, the I.Q. doesn't mean nothing. The thing that defines your intelligence is its use. You can have a normal or even a low I.Q. but if you are a hard worker and do great things, then you are intelligent although you don't have a mensa I.Q.

I say it being a person who was recently scored in the 98 percentile (130 to 140 I think) in a test made by a psychologist, you can have a I.Q. over 9000 (just joking XD) but if you don't use it correctly you will not be intelligent.

In my opinion, a fool is someone who do stupid things and a intelligent person is someone who do smart things, without considering his or her I.Q. .

I think you're probably right, and I have noticed this in other threads too (and perhaps been guilty of it as well, though it was to say that I am not really that smart... ). It's demoralizing to read about how great someone is and how much success they've had, unless it's in some sort of context that makes the information relevant. Perhaps it's just Aspie literalness: when people see themselves being asked how smart they are they just answer, without thinking that it comes off as boasting?

+1, I am above this magical "1%" number myself and it will never be enough for me, give me an additional 40 points and better concentration and I'll be golden.

I thought it had to be above 70 or 75 for AS.

Only in areas that are relivant to my intrests. I have learning disiblites in math and that's held me back so much but what really held me back was people telling me I couldn't never fully my goals they way I wanted to becasue of it. Algebra is one of my best subjects but I could never memorise basic arethemitic. I have trouble reading because it hurts my eyes. When I had my IQ tested, it came back really low. In the 70's. When it comes to my special intrests, yes I am smart but it dosen't matter because I will probably never be able to apply them to anything because of the math and reading dificulty.

It did in my dx. All my past official IQ tests--taken at ages 14, 17 and 25--were considered as part of my pretty comprehensive evaluation that I got around age 28 in the late 90's. And yes, at the time, I was told that for an dx for AS, they were looking for an IQ of 120 or higher. Also, I've spoken to a number of other Aspies who had to take IQ tests as part of their evaluations as well. If his is no longer, then things have clearly changed. But I would assume that is where people "get these ideas."

@ScottyN: I agree that there's always someone smarter than you. However, I come from a family of "fragile geniuses" and after two breakdowns myself, I often find myself questioning if being super smart in the ways you can quantify via IQ tests isn't potentially a detriment to being a stable, functional and successful person in life.

But how do you know if someone is smarter than you? It's highly subjective. One person could be an expert with training in one field, an MD for instance. You would call him smart because he's a doctor. If he has a specialty you might think of him as being even more advanced because of the additional education. Then you take him to play tennis and since he never played, he isn't very good at it. Then, you bring in someone who has had tennis lessons since early childhood who is nearly a pro. He is smart when it comes to playing tennis but lousy at diagnosing patients and performing surgery.
You might give them both IQ tests. What if they both did badly? Would you say they are both dumb?