Common Myths About Asperger's Syndrome

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Rain_Bird
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18 Oct 2009, 8:05 am

I wrote a short article regarding some of the myths and facts about Asperger's Syndrome. It's just a short list, but it could be useful in explaining to people who are ignorant about Asperger's.

Here's the link if anyone is interested:
12 Common Myths About Asperger's Syndrome



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18 Oct 2009, 1:29 pm

The only glaring error is your last "myth" pertaining to vaccines. The world jury is still very much out on this issue and there is no predominant school of thought (outside the AS community) that has completely eliminated vaccines as a potential cause of spectrum-related disorders.
Otherwise your list seems fine :D .



buryuntime
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18 Oct 2009, 2:11 pm

Wrong. You can technically be of any intelligance above 70 I thought. Meaning, you can also be of below average intelligence.



Wikan
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18 Oct 2009, 2:15 pm

Regarding the empathy. I think we are able to show empathy even in the extreme excess if we have been in the same situation.
The problem is lack sympathy.



oppositedirection
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18 Oct 2009, 3:58 pm

Nice list, lots of useful bites of information.

Perhaps you could modify the one about vaccines to state that current evidence suggests it is false, rather than stating it is false. A quick look at the history of science and it's every changing theories makes this a far safer move!

The statement on disease seems a bit empty without some definition of disease. Also, as someone who has studied some of the latest developments at developing a philosophical definition of disease, it's fairly agreed upon that something like AS would be a disease.

Finally, in relation to empathy, it's more my experience that I only have empathy towards certain people than just difficulty expressing it, although I might just be a psychopath also...


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EngishForAliens
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18 Oct 2009, 4:13 pm

buryuntime wrote:
Wrong. You can technically be of any intelligance above 70 I thought. Meaning, you can also be of below average intelligence.


I thought it had to be average. i.e 100+



TPE2
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18 Oct 2009, 4:44 pm

EngishForAliens wrote:
buryuntime wrote:
Wrong. You can technically be of any intelligance above 70 I thought. Meaning, you can also be of below average intelligence.


I thought it had to be average. i.e 100+


"Average" is not "100+"; "average" is something in the range [100-x,100+x]. It is a debatable question if "average" is between 70 and 130, or 80 and 120, or 85 and 115...

What the DSM says is "no clinically significant delay in cognitive development", what is usually interpreted as "absence of mental retardation", i.e. IQ>70.

Should be noted that other criteria allow a diagnosis of AS with mental retardation - I think that 20% of the Aspies-acording-to-Gillberg are in the mental retardation range; and even according to the DSM, AS is compatible with MR if the MR only becomes evident after early childhood.



buryuntime
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18 Oct 2009, 5:32 pm

EngishForAliens wrote:
buryuntime wrote:
Wrong. You can technically be of any intelligance above 70 I thought. Meaning, you can also be of below average intelligence.


I thought it had to be average. i.e 100+

100 isn't the cut off for average intelligence.



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18 Oct 2009, 6:09 pm

For all the varied posts on what "average" intelligence is... it is clear NO ONE really has that answer.