myth that kids on the spectrum are ‘locked up’

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This is from Interview: Henry and Kamila Markram about The Intense World Theory for Autism, which is currently the second main article listed on our board.

“ . . . those that succeed to free their locked up genius can help free the next generation . . . ” (answer 5)

“The Intense World Theory predicts that all autistic children have exceptional talents that are locked up. . . ” (answer 6)

“ . . . In fact the Intense World Theory predicts that severely autistic people that cannot speak or interact at all have locked up abilities even greater than savants. . . ” (answer 9)

Oh, my goodness, they take a potentially very good theory and then add all this junk to it.

Jeez, maybe they can fly?

And why not? Why is this junk? Why doesn't it follow from the theory?

Okay, good question, fair question, and I would say that just because a person feels the world more intensely does not mean he or she has special talents. Why can't he or she just feel the world more intensely?

I'm on the spectrum, sometimes attracted to both intense activities and processing time such as long walks. I like both the feeling of being filled with ideas, sensations, experiences, etc, and then kind of the reviewing them. Doesn't mean that I automatically have some special talent such as music (doesn't mean I don't).

I have been a writer almost all my adult life and even some as a kid. I think I'm pretty good. At several different times I have made serious attempts, primarily with screenwriting, to make money with writing. Haven't yet made a living with writing (of course a lot of luck factors and external factors).

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 14 Jan 2012, 3:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Autism is not a life sentence.

I think the autism = genius model is detrimental. I'm not a genius or even the slightest bit "gifted."

I think it has to do with Hollywood and the perception that "mental illness" grants "special abilities" on those afflicted.

Dumbth!!

In fact, I think the positives of being on the spectrum outweigh the negatives.

(depends on what day of the week you ask me! )

And if we could improve society so that more people could easily and casually accept people who are different, for whatever reason, this would be even more clearly the case.

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 14 Jan 2012, 4:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Being "locked-in" is one of the predictions of the Intense World Theory, but this theory, like every other theory about autism, is overgeneralized. It has some workable parts, e.g. hyper-processing, hyper-connectivity, hyper-plasticity, but these ideas are overgeneralized by the researchers, who see the autistic behaviors, but lack the context, or embodied simulation, for understanding those behaviors. In the papers about the theory, the researchers said that autism was a progressively worsening neurological disorder. They only said that to fit the theory, not reality, because the theory predicts that hyper-processing in microcircuits becomes increasingly hyper and leads to "locking-in" of the microcircuit, such that the autistic person is "locked-in" to a set of repetitive behaviors, from which it becomes increasingly difficult to escape. For a severely autistic person, the researchers assumed that this would happen in early childhood, and their goal is to prevent or reverse this "locking-in" somehow, such that the child can escape the "lock-in", and the special abilities can be "unlocked". However, it is uncertain to me that there would be any special abilities if the brain connectivity or minicolumn structure that caused the "lock-in" was not there. Anyway, I think that the Intense World Theory should be explored further, and this statement is just a speculation from the researchers.

The "Rain Man" effect...

Well, I dunno: people don't always know where their own abilities are unusual or special. I remember that it struck me when reading "Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome," Luke Jackson, that he said that he had no special abilities. Huh? A thirteen-year-old who can write a book for general consumption (he aimed it at other teens, but it's quite good for anyone) would have, in my opinion, a pretty special ability! I wonder what he's doing now? Anybody know? He should be in his late twenties, I think.

Oh, I have something special, a very high IQ, even though it probably only means that I was good at taking IQ tests when I was a kid: never have been able to do anything else with it.

Read the article. They actually agree with you.



I think you are just nit picking here. Here they are talking about severe autism and actually being positive about it saying they have hidden abilities. I think that the article becomes too positive though.
And anyway I have had communication/intellectual issues and have felt trapped inside myself because I couldn't speak or share with other people. So, to me the whole 'locked up' theory rings true.

I don't see whats so BS about this; Autistic people, especially the more severe ones tend to have a lot more cognitive abilities than they appear to have due to communication problems.

I believe in human potential and human growth. We as people on the spectrum can do all kinds of things. Now, I think growth usually happens in a series of medium steps with feedback. Occasionally with big steps, just not on any kind of set schedule.

If we tell parents that a different child is inside their child, the parent is going to be motivated to do all kinds of abrupt, dramatic treatment attempts, most of which will probably be detrimental to their child.