Aspergers Genius? + Other Questions?

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A lot of factors make it possible for Autistics to complete degrees and get good jobs.

The easy answer would be to say executive functioning BUT in many cases it's not true and in other cases it's just a piece of a much larger puzzle(no pun intended).

Three main factors are (1) how does Autism present (along with any co-morbids) itself in the individual (2) support systems (across society) and (3) learning and capitalizing on your individual strengths.

ASD, as a clinical disorder, based on severity.

Classic Autism----------------------------High Functioning Autism|

ASD representation in society.

Classic Autism---------------------------------------------Broad Autism Phenotype

*There is overlap. The reports that children are being 'cured' or never had Autism MIGHT be erroneous. They may be simply moving along the TRUE spectrum.

TheSunAlsoRises

I don't feel like a genius, though everyone keeps telling me I am. I feel like it puts too much pressure on me to be something I don't want to be. Teachers kept encouraging me to do better cause I'm "smart". And frankly, I don't feel smart at all. I make so many mistakes, mistakes that most people with common sense don't make. And I become childish when I'm not the winner. It's soooooo annoying and something I'm working on. I don't listen to other people's opinion's because I THINK I'm smarter than everyone. I have trouble accepting my limitations and that others are clearly smarter than me. It's kind of pathetic actually, but people keep telling you you're smart and amazing and a "genius" and you start to believe the hype, I guess. I just want to be a normal person. I really don't care if I'm dumb or not because the burden of being a "genius" is too much for me.

I agree. I get the same thing. I wish people would stop thinking that being "smart" means you're smart at everything. Yes, I know lots of obscure words; yes, I can put together a block-design puzzle faster than 99.5% of the population. That doesn't mean that I can do everything else at that level. In fact, there are many things that I can do only as well as an average five-year-old child. "Smart" doesn't mean "good at everything", and I'm tired of being thought of as lazy when I can't do something I'm not good at.

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Last edited by qsPyro on 11 Aug 2012, 9:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

It doesn't really matter what the task is for me although if it interests me the quality of my work is that much better.
The best way I can describe it is terms of a computer my mind seems to have superior memory to others
but my processor is slower than most others. I would say I am a 486 surrounded by modern pentiums.
Let's say there was a contest to rebuild a car I would lose because I would take almost twice as long
but I would create a better end product.
If I try to go any faster I start to lose sync between my mind and body just like a computer crashing!
Here are some work related examples:
RPM (rings per minute) doing cashier work my best is 25-26 while most of my peers do 29-34.
Doing stock my best is 16-25 cases an hour while my peers do 50-65.

Last edited by nolan1971 on 05 Aug 2012, 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Last edited by qsPyro on 11 Aug 2012, 9:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

Why? Same reason they think we're unemotional robots who can snap and go on a killing spree all of a sudden. Most people want to be told what to think in a nice concise little package rather than having to think through the topic. In the current age of computers it would take a person about 5 minutes to get on the internet and learn enough about AS to have an accurate understanding of it, but they would rather get their knowledge from some tabloid that features lady gaga's newest meat dress on the cover.

I haven't seen much HFA/LFA hate, don't know where you're seeing it.

i've been shoved into the "genius" box by professionals and relatives alike. apparently, once in that box, you forfeit the right to be fallibly human. it's aggravating when i see a professional for autism-related issues and they seem hungrily preoccupied with me being some "extreme statistical rarity" according to some ridiculous anthropogenic construct derived from horrifically flawed reasoning. i've never really understood iq. i mean, how can we move to quantify an intelligence we haven't even consensually qualified? it would be like discussing the value of "54" without anyone ever first establishing what 54 is, or what it means in relation to anything else. and then we'd have to wonder if we even can consensually qualify something that has generally proven itself incapable of being standardized (unless we're going to suggest its progenitive influences "neurology" and "environment" are static, which is a fairly absurd claim to make). in any event, i agree with some of the other posters. i feel like people focus so singularly on my scattered strengths, they forget my often crippling weaknesses and expect a unilateral perfection. it's frustrating - which is exactly why insist on the term "twice exceptional" as opposed to just "gifted" or "smart"' (if a person insists on saying one or the other). i feel like it allows people to realize my weaknesses and strengths coexist without upgrading one or downplaying another.

In my third year of Infants school in the mid 1970s, when I was 6 years of age, I was tested to find out "why I wasn't making friends" or happily complying with set schoolwork assignments. As we all know, schools and ed psychs hadn't heard of AS in the 1970s.

My class teacher told my parents that I'd achieved a standardized test score on the level of a 15 year old, and I'd been sent back to class as there was "obviously nothing wrong". I continued to be driven out of my mind with boredom and have no friends in the school (although I had teenage and adult friends).

The downside of such a result was unbelievable pressure. My parents and the teacher became increasingly angry because this supposed "potential" wasn't mirrored in the quality of my schoolwork. Mother wrung her hands in despair because my self-chosen assignments at home were of significantly higher quality. Father said I couldn't really be "gifted" because certain areas of my classwork were rather poor. Teacher attempted with increasing alacrity to kick my butt into producing good schoolwork, and only succeeded in making me dislike her.

Nowadays, parents, teachers or both would contact organizations on the child's behalf to seek advice as to how such a child might best be educated. But in the 1970s, the attitude was that a high IQ = high school grades, and that if these weren't happening, then the child must be just lazy or naughty and should be disciplined to make him/her comply.

It wasn't as bad for me but yes, I can relate. I felt crushed by high expectations. I have a higher than normal IQ and my brother has an astronomical IQ to the point of being smart even for a MENSA member. I remember where I was hoping to get hit by a car or violently sick just so I wouldn't have to worry about what I got on a math test. I got 66% on one test and literally thought my life was over. If my mother's yelling didn't hurt my fathers spanking certainly would. It was so frustrating trying to explain that I really was trying and just could not focus no matter how hard I punished myself (think the Simpsons episode where Bart is in danger of failing). If it was known I had AS, school would have been much easier to cope with (well, outside of the bullying of course).

Back then, it seemed that nobody understood why I wasn't getting straight A's although I somehow still managed to barely make the honor roll.

There's no such thing as emotional intelligence. That's absurd.

and this



These pretty well sum up my life so far. The second pretty well sums up the end of my last job.

I've emailed academics working in the field of psychometric research about "emotional intelligence" and basically they laugh their heads off.

You are right, there is no such thing as emotional intelligence. It's a construct invented by a popular author to sell books, and make NT's with average IQ's feel good about themselves.

How about "social skills"?

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Last edited by qsPyro on 11 Aug 2012, 9:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

To Esperanza
For me in order to be successful in a job it would have to be moderate to low pace and stress.
The best job I ever did was a small hardware store called NHD hardware.
It only had 2 registers and was about the size of an average ACE hardware.
I did everything except management:keys,paint,glass,stock and cashier and it was never stressful!
I did not have to interact with alot of customers and the boss was very relaxed about expectations.
The problem is I can't find any work with that type of atmosphere. I am stsrting to believe they
don't exist anymore!