Superior fluid intelligence in children with Asperger's

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Yeah, they thought that I might have NLD, too. However, my IQ profile was the opposite. I hit the "ceiling" as you put it on all of the visual spatial tests. I did really well on two of the verbal sections, but I did really bad on the "comparisons" of words section. I also was in like the 25th percentile for math. I guess that means that NLD is out for me. The paper work that they are sending to the university is for HFA/Autism. It was SO weird to see that, however. It was the first time that I ever saw anyone use the description for AS to describe me and my learning style. I guess I will be really shocked if the psychiatrist doesn't also think that I have some manner of ASD.

Thanks for sharing your story, by the way. It is interesting to see how everyone has gone about getting their various diagnosis for things.

My son has been diagnosed with NLD but also says crosses over into Aspergers... I think to be honest like many professional who do not specialize they need to realize we do not fit into a set of tick boxes. We are as varied as those not on the autism spectrum and as I like to see it we are all able and have various challenges in life, often caused by society itself... but as like anyone we have many strengths and weaknesses does not everyone, but our type of intelligent I feel not fully understood, how we sense, think etc... if embraced differently feel would make a huge difference to many of us... to me its more about understanding self, our labels are to help professionals understand us!

That's interesting. I happen to have high fluid intelligence and visual/spatial reasoning ability. My greatest strength seems to be on the intuitive end, not in the details. This goes against the stereotype of being so detail oriented that we don't see the forest for the trees.

Ah...whipstitches...welcome to the "know it all b***h" club.

A new member So thats what its called I grew up thinking everyone was stupid and I wasn't even educated, the school system just never worked for me. I have the same problem of just knowing some things its obvious to me often quite quickly and could not understand why others have to go into long winded processes!

I now realize since have some test done partly because I am dyslexic I seethings differently the overall picture, view the whole process of things easily and also apparently have extremely fast processing skills and fluid reasoning, making it easy for me to process information quickly... I sometime feel like my minds is always on full power, the hard part is turning it off, it seems to over think, analyze, process everything and work out all the pitfalls etc... yes I am one of those individuals who always seems to have something to say, has an answer, but my problem at times is expressing it as others expect

Great discussion, and one that particularly interests me since the study of intellectual creativity is one of my obsessions. The Tokyo study is suggestive, but would have to be expanded to a larger population. That doesn't seem likely to happen because, as we know, the stereotypes about autistic intelligence dominate the thinking of researchers.

I've been exploring the idea that there's a place where autistic thinking, intellectual giftedness, and even Bipolar disorder seem to converge. Pattern recognition, fluid intelligence, what Kay Jamison calls "dendritic" thinking. Combine them with an obsessive attention to detail (analysis), and you may have a population that is unusually capable of creative thinking.

But, all the evidence is merely suggetive. Is society likely to give a damn? Is anyone likely to pursue such a possibility or take an interest in how such people should be educated, and how they might use their skills? I don't think so.

So its not my thought!
Children with autism 'have supercharged brains'

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: Children who develop autism have "supercharged" brains that are so clever and sensitive that they make everyday experiences utterly overwhelming, new research claims.

According to a theory developed by Swiss neuroscientists, the condition is not caused by a brain deficiency but by a system overload which causes the world to seem frightening and overly intense.

Husband and wife team Kamila and Henry Markram, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, believe the idea could explain the erratic nature of the condition. "Our hypothesis is that autistic people perceive, feel and remember too much," Kamila Markram told the latest issue of New Scientist magazine.

Faced with this "intense world," autistic infants withdrew, with serious consequences for their social and linguistic development, she added.

Repetitive behaviours such as rocking and head-banging, meanwhile, can be seen as an attempt to bring order and predictability to a "blaring world."

Most of the theories surrounding autism involve the idea of an underperforming brain, but the Markrams believe the opposite is true with the brain being "supercharged."

Their research, which included studying their own son, who is borderline autistic, is backed up by one of the most replicated findings in autism which is abnormal brain growth.

At birth, the brains of autistic children are small or normal sized, but grow unusually quickly. By the age of two to three, when the symptoms of autism occur, their brain volume is roughly 10 per cent larger than average.

The Markrams believe that autistic children suffer from "hypermemory" which locks them into certain compulsive routines and that develops their savant skills.

"They build very strong memories," said Kamila Markram. "So strong that you establish a routine that you can't undo: you are stuck on a track."

Their theory chimes with the depiction of an autistic savant in the film, Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. It also rings true with anecdotal evidence from autistic people.

"When I was younger, the school bell was like a dentist's drill hitting a nerve," said Temple Grandin, an animal scientist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins well known for being autistic. "I think it's difficult for people to imagine a reality where sounds hurt your ears and a fluorescent light is like a discotheque."
(Source: Daily Telegraph, September 18, 2008)

Just another mass of overgeneralizations that will either fade away or become one more stereotype. Not all autistics are alike. Not all autistics are alike. Not all autistics are alike. What will it take to get through the heads of so-called scientists, that the most you can do about any group is generalize?

It's wonderful that autism and Asperger's have become so popular that we now have our very own "theory of the week."

I so agree and continual to tell others almost daily that we are as deserve and different on the autism spectrum as those that are not on the autism spectrum and I so agree so-called scientists need to realize about any group of individuals can only generalize and with any parent what works for there child may not work for the next.

As The National Autism Society say I feel should always be "nothing about us without us"!
But have to admit from time to time do tend to play of some articles like 'have supercharged brains' have to amuse ourselves sometimes

You have to start someplace, however. Generalizations do help uncover the "nature" of a problem. Obviously no two people with the same cancer have the same experience, for example. A lot of research into different peoples different reactions helps, however!! It helps form a "picture" of the possible effects of "that" particular cancer. I sort of feel like autism research is really pretty similar. I have depression an anxiety. There are lots of stereotypes about those things too. I don't fit most of them "exactly", but some of the stuff is true. It is just like everything else in the world.... there are ALWAYS going to be stupid people, uneducated people, mean people, etc... who just don't get it and want to make generalizations that are sometime hurtful. You don't have to be autistic for people to make generalizations about you!! It does suck, however.

Yes...not a nice term at all - but one i am sure many of us women with an ASD have had thrown our way. Zooming ahead with asociational thought processes and systematic readings of situations and things - called smartypants and know it all's, and inside, feeling as if there were great deficits and chunks of knowledge and awareness missing. that's how it has been for me.