What do you think about the NAS description of AS/autism?

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Sora
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14 Mar 2008, 2:54 pm

The one on their website?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can read it here: Asperger syndrome: what is it?
There is also a separate description of classical autism. Which is here: Autism: what is it?

Do you think it sounds too... extreme? (You can answer on one or both descriptions, whatever you want to!)

Someone (NT) said so. I don't think so at all, I fit most of what the two sheets say and I showed it to several people to tell them something about AS and autism, because I thought the description was informative and short, didn't sound overly negative or positive, but instead just descriptive. I like that.
Being somewhere on the spectrum yourself, what's your opinion on this matter?



ebec11
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14 Mar 2008, 3:01 pm

I think that there should be a clear indication that each person has a different mixture of symptoms, and that you can look somewhat social and still have Aspergers.
However it's pretty good still :D

Just by the way, I didn't read the classical Autism article. I'll give a comment later :D



EvilKimEvil
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14 Mar 2008, 3:13 pm

I think it presents a one-sided view of AS. It focuses on the receptive side, suggesting that the main symptom of AS is an inability to understand social interaction:

Quote:
People with Asperger syndrome sometimes find it difficult to express themselves emotionally and socially. For example, they may:

-have difficulty understanding gestures, facial expressions or tone of voice
-have difficulty knowing when to start or end a conversation and choosing topics to talk about
-use complex words and phrases but may not fully understand what they mean
-be very literal in what they say and can have difficulty understanding jokes, metaphor and sarcasm. For example, a person with Asperger syndrome may be confused by the phrase 'That's cool' when people use it to say something is good.

In order to help a person with Asperger syndrome understand you, keep your sentences short - be clear and concise.


This is not true of me. I understand other people's nonverbal communication; I have trouble communicating nonverbally in a way that others understand. My posture, expressions, etc are misleading. I understand sarcasm, but other people usually can't tell when I'm being sarcastic because I don't get the tone right.

I don't use complex words and phrases without understanding what they mean. Is this really a common AS thing? I thought that a lot of us had large vocabularies. I know I do. I frequently hear NTs use complex words and phrases in a manner that indicates they do not understand the meaning.

And the last sentence is just plain condescending. It makes us sound like idiots.

The rest of the article is similar to the above excerpt. It suggests that everything about AS is caused by an inability to understand something, or an inability to think a certain way (we're unable to imagine what other people might know?). AS is a collection of cognitive deficits according to this article. This is not how I experience it. Not at all.



2ukenkerl
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14 Mar 2008, 9:26 pm

I guess I can agree with it also. Some things ARE implying incorrect beliefs though. I understand every word I use, for example. HECK, some I can compare with several languages and show how they might have evolved.



Danielismyname
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14 Mar 2008, 9:58 pm

It looks ok to me.

Quote:
Because Asperger syndrome varies widely from person to person,...


Quote:
The word 'spectrum' is used because, while all people with autism share three main areas of difficulty, their condition will affect them in very different ways. Some are able to live relatively 'everyday' lives; others will require a lifetime of specialist support.



CockneyRebel
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14 Mar 2008, 10:04 pm

It seems a bit extreme to me, as well. I have a great social life, and I love to be with people.


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Sora
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15 Mar 2008, 8:36 am

Thanks so far! As said, every opinion is welcome. I struggled to find a source that I saw fit to be shown around for quite some days, so now I'm curious what all kind of people from WP thinks about this. I showed few other NTs too already and they agreed with it unlike that one NT.

There's one thing I dislike about the article myself, and that is that AS is very much linked to anxiety, but since I know it's true for many other autistic people although not like that for me, I figured it was correct that the articles mentions it.



KingdomOfRats
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15 Mar 2008, 1:05 pm

Am do not understand a lot of the stuff both Autism and AS have mentioned,but from a classical autism view,it includes some obvious bits but misses out a lot,also aspies could meet classic autism by their description for example,as they can have learning disabilities and speech problems to.

But they are better written on the NAS site than what they used to be,it shows the NAS are getting better.


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