The "dumb" one?

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A good number of us Aspies have average to superior intelligence. Are social abilities, facial expressions, and "flakiness" may give others the impression that we are not that bright. Growing up, were you called an idiot/moron or told you were stupid? If so, are you still the "dumb" one?

I do think someone may interpret a person with ASD as less intelligent since someone with ASD may not reciprocate that he or she understands what is being said (due to not interacting socially in a NT manner). It could also be that a person who is more quiet is perceived as less intelligent, but this is may not always be the case.

Yes, very much so by a lot of kids in elementary school (and even a little bit in high school). Now, not so much because the people I surround myself with (mix of neurologies) know I have my strengths and that I'm not that afraid to show them. There will always be people who will consider me as "dumb" or "stupid", but I say forget them - if they're going to judge me and decide not to look past the social faux pas I make, then they probably aren't the people worth talking to.

Yes, I had to put up with this in both grade school and high school. Once I was done with high school I was of legal age, and made it clear to my parents that I was not going to continue being in the abusive school system by going on to college. I had had more than enough abuse to last several life times, and being legally adult, I was legally allowed to say "NO!" to any more school based abuse by refusing any more schooling. It definitely affected my learning. I was so turned off of school by that time, that I had no idea what I would have been interested in studying in college anyway. My parents were well aware how I felt, and knew they couldn't force me to continue my schooling at that point, so there was no problem with it then. There was no way of getting out of high school, though. They gave me enough grief over my grades. Dropping out was not an option. I should have been home schooled, but there is no way they would ever have done it.

I think I would have benefited by going to some type of vocational college after a few years off, but I didn't think of it until a few years ago, and now it's too late to do me any good.--Due to health problems I am now disabled and unable to work.

I'm certainly not dumb. But due to me taking stuff literally sometimes, as well as being unaware of how to make social interaction properly, I may appear to be less bright to others.

Ick, dumb... just came from a conversation where someone abused the word dumb for other than intelligence! This person happens to be autistic CX (it wasn't from facial expressions, just not knowing something he knew).

I have been told that although not because of social abilities.

People who got to know me or were exposed to me regularly knew I was intelligent. Before Jr. High, I was actually considered something of a prodigy. When I became a teenager, my social limitations became more apparant and things started to change. I began keeping to myself, neglecting my studies and essentially "clocked out" of life to escape into my special interests. I also took up smoking pot, a habit I am still trying to kick as it socially inhibits me even more. All of these factors combined apparantly gave off the impression that I was stupid. I was shocked to find that students I hadn't gotten to know well had this presumption, and they seemed shocked in turn when they realized I was actually a great deal smarter than they were. (This is not just my perception of events, this was vocalized to me on several occasions.)

So yes, I think some people will view Aspies as "dumb" or "stupid", even if they're not. It's nothing more than a stereotype though, and a very inaccurate one at that. But that doesn't change the fact that we have a serious mental disability that often confuses people and makes them uncomfortable. I don't blame NTs for this, they don't understand what we go through and have their own limitations themselves. The real problem is a lack of awareness. People see someone with a social disability and they immediately compare them to someone with mental retardation. It needs to be understood that there are many shades of mental disabilities, and many times having one does not make a person less intelligent.

I have often had my intelligence underestimated. I grew up being told I was smart enough to do all the schoolwork and get straight A's, but I was also constantly called stupid because I couldn't do all the schoolwork and got more like Cs, Ds, and Fs.

Depends on the context or environment. In general, yes I am called stupid and treated like an idiot, in academic circles not so much.

Despite my grade average I always feel like the dumb one though, especially when working in groups, even if I did just get 97% on a physics paper, 96% on a geology paper before that and 100 % on another test prior to that.

When doing group work it is difficult for me to get people to understand my thinking or my ideas. One minute the group is discussing ideas amongst themselves and agreeing with each other, then I contribute and all of a sudden its silence with a bunch of blank faces staring back at me. Someone then says "we don't see how that relates/that doesn't make sense/you are stupid/it's just her mental illness" and then they go back to discussing ideas and agreeing with each other again.

Therefore I now save my ideas for my written work, as with my assignments above. Often better to keep ones thoughts to ones self in social situations most of the time!

Excuse any bad grammar I am trying to ignore a migraine and failing abysmally today...

People have always tended to imagine that I'm much smarter than I actually am.

I'm pretty sure I was oblivious to what most other people thought of me. Although people often feel the need to point out that I'm smart, I take this is a sign that how I appear is at odds with my abilities. I do find it hard when people present me to others as an expert in certain things, I can't perform in those settings.

Jason

Yes, I was considered "dumb" in the sense of lacking intelligence even though I was a straight-A student. As I recall, the "explanation" was that I was interested in things no one cared about anyway, so the good grades didn't count. I was also considered "dumb" in the sense of not talking, yet I was good at public speaking and acting. That was just "showing off."

I was also perceived as an untrustworthy juvenile far, far into adulthood. Even today I often see shock on the faces of people who have known me all my life when they step up close and realize I am not only an adult, but an old adult. At least they're quiet for a minute as they struggle with their past perceptions.

Until I was in middle school, I was in the 'slow' class and even had to do remedial work. I was held back a grade, and it actually took me a long time to learn the months and number of days (I eventually remembered it as 'the exceptions are 4,6,9, and 11, along with february', plus other mnemonic devices. The rhyme '30 days hath...' puts the months out of order and is annoying.).

One would almost certainly conclude from my speech that I have below-average intelligence. However, I am able to communicate far more effectively in writing.

I was called eccentric more than anything else. Or nerdy. I don't really remember being called those kinds of names, but I'm sure I was. I think, even if people aren't saying it, that I'm the odd one out in most of the friendship groups I've associated with. The one I'm in now treats me like I'm some kind of freak most of the time. They keep accusing me of causing problems lately because they thought I was verbally attacking them when I wasn't. I try to be funny/goofy and I end up doing something wrong.

I had this problem sometimes. I think it's due to unintentionally not responding to social cues and maybe providing information out of context. In all honesty, some people just like to bully people who are different.

Oh yes, sometimes even now this happens.

Many people now have a tendency to think my IQ is below-normal, even my family.