Stop with the Autism Supremacy!

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They are not my premises they are the research of others. Most current statistics are based on mental retardation, lower than normal rates does not necessarily indicate severe mental retardation in these individuals, and as stated before IQ is only one measure of human intelligence. Many children with lower IQ's may enhance their potential with interventional treatments, in the future as stated in the quote below from the source that quoted the statistics.


http://www.bbbautism.com/aso_008_wkshp.htm




Those specific figures do not include diagnoses of Aspergers as stated in the previous post a diagnosis of Aspergers requires no cognitive delay, including language delays.

In the other post on Communication advocacy I presented an article about a young man who had no verbal abilities at all that went on to gain a 3.7 average in highschool, because he was allowed an intervention and adaptation to overcome his verbal disability.

Chances are his IQ would have been measured low as well, before he gained the adaptation of speech. A low IQ in an autistic individual is no guarantee they won't achieve with intelligence other than verbal intelligence that is measured by IQ tests.

The stereotype of genius in aspergers goes in the opposite direction, and is one promoted by the few notable individuals that have been identified as possibly having aspergers considered to have genius intelligence. There are hundreds of thousands of people with aspergers, though, much more than a handful of people identified as having genius intelligence.

I think most people with Autism have their own type of intelligence that in some cases is different than the norm. IQ doesn't necessarily, fully measure it.

If asperger's is considered a form of autism not including them in a figure about autism is manipulation of figures. You will have to qualify low-functioning or give in.

Those figures did not measure aspergers they measured autism the disorder and PDD NOS the disorder. There is a specific disorder called autism that is separate from aspergers; it is in the DSMIV. Pevervasive developmental disorders and autism spectrum and autistic disorders are used interchangeable to mean the same thing, but it doesn't change the fact that their is a disorder called autism separately diagnosed from Aspergers. And in addition three other disorders PDD NOS, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, and Retts Disorder.

There is no disorder called called LFA or HFA they are both subgroupings of the specific DSMIV disorder Autism. There is no consistent definition for HFA other than normal or higher levels of IQ. Within those numbers given for Autism the disorder, 20% of that disorder might be considered HFA, but that is a determination a psychiatrist would need to make. There are no real firm numbers for HFA, other than these IQ averages.

Then why mention statistics about autism at all when clearly this is excluding a huge number of people who have what is called a form of autism? It's is this sort of piddle which makes it easy for people to take advantage of the situation and make up whatever they want. The fact is that professional diagnoses cannot be made as people are so adamant on calling autism complete retardation at certain times and only social difficulties at other times. it all stinks of manipulation, a lack of actual knowledge and an unprofessional attitude and approach.

Maybe because Autism was the original diagnoses and then Asperger's was then a separate diagnoses and now it's all merging as an Autism Spectrum.

HFA and LFA are subclinical psychological terms that do not apply to Aspergers. Aspergers is considered the mildest disorder on the Autism Spectrum.

It is clear that people with Aspergers have normal to higher levels of intelligence as measured by IQ tests; cognitive delay is not part of an Aspergers diagnosis.

What might not be clear is the number of people with Autism Disorder and PDD NOS that measure at lower than normal averages for IQ. The individual in the post preceding my first post, mentioned mental delays in relationship to genius in Autism, as a given that genius was present with mental delays.

Here is another source that indicates a percentage 70% of at least mild cognitive delay in the total number of cases of Autism other than Aspergers, and indicates the number of people diagnosed Aspergers in the US is around 450,000. Aspergers is a rarer condition in the general population than Autism disorder.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html



I clarified in my first post that mental delays were not part of Aspergers, but they are indeed part of Autism Disorder, and in some cases PDD NOS. Apparently some are not aware of the statistics on IQ as provided by research on autism.

It is also supporting evidence that supports the fact that early intervention in autism disorder is a valuable tool, in allowing some children to gain improved levels of communication skills to fulfill their potential. To be clear here that's not in reference to Aspergers, since communication delays are not part of that specific disorder.

I don't see any manipulation on the part of the researchers; the research was about cases of Autism disorder and PDD NOS where there were issues with cognitive development. There would be no reason for the researchers to talk about cognitive delays in context with Aspergers, because it is not part of that disorder.

Asperger's Syndrome is considered synonymous with "HFA" by many. Also, characterizing it as "mild" by default is misleading and inaccurate. Some people diagnosed with AS have it as severely as anyone diagnosed with PDD-NOS or autism, also characterized as HFA. In fact, quite a few do.



You mentioned above that people with AS might measure a slightly higher average IQ than the general population - this is possibly not the case. The one study I've seen shows a slightly lower average IQ.;



Something I came across not too long ago was a paper that critiqued the assumption that IQs for autistic children were really as low as measured. There was apparently very little (practically none) empirical data supporting this assumption. Further, it's been demonstrated that while non-verbal autistics may score very low on verbal, they tend to score in a typical spread on performance. There's further evidence that indicates that IQ tests are unreliable indicators of intelligence or potential for autistic people in general.

Yes, and this is what aghogday can't accept. He's going on pure evidence he hears without any form of sceptical outlook. More to the point any form of communication skill people have overmerited in intelligence tests.

Maybe you didn't catch it or I didn't make it clear enough, but I have expressed that opinion already in the quote below; full context from my previous post that included my opinion on this below also:

A low IQ in an autistic individual is no guarantee they won't achieve with intelligence other than verbal intelligence that is measured by IQ tests

Some psychologists use HFA as a subclinical term to describe people with the specific disorder of Autism that have normal levels of intelligence as opposed to those that don't. This is the context I am referring to in my post you quoted.

I have heard people here suggest that the subclinical term HFA in context to Autism disorder is the same thing as Aspergers.

From the diagnostic context where it is used to describe those of normal intelligence with Autism Disorder, a language delay is often part of "HFA", so the subclinical term HFA and Aspergers is different in this context.

In a general context many people refer to Aspergers as a high functioning form of Autism. However as you mention later in reference to "mild by default" it is a bit of a misnomer, because some of these people with normal intelligence that are noted or described as high functioning are still disabled by the condition in their functioning capacity.

I wasn't suggesting in the my post that Aspergers is a mild disorder by default, only as I state in my post you quote, that Aspergers is considered the mildest disorder on the Autism Spectrum; I haven't seen any evidence to counter that assertion.

That's interesting about the Asperger average IQ's, I haven't seen any specific information on averages. From a statistical standpoint the averages, whatever they are, would possibly be inflated, because Aspergers by default is a condition that requires at least normal (not average) levels of intelligence, so those with lower than normal intelligence would not be included in the averages for Aspergers.

If you could find the study again and provide a link, I would like to read it; they may be taking the factor that below normal intelligence numbers are not included in average intelligence scores for Aspergers.

The research I provided, as presented, on the IQ's, states the statistics are old, It does stand to reason though that IQ measured in those that are non-verbal would be lower because IQ tests measure that ability as part of the score.

Further research needs to be done now that early intervention and devices that accommodate communication are being successfully used by Autistic people that may have been measured at an earlier point with lower IQ.

As I quote again in the previous post, I agree a low IQ in an autistic individual is no guarantee they won't achieve with intelligence other than verbal intelligence that is measured by IQ tests.

No matter how you slice it, all of them, Blonds, Left Handed, 50% have an IQ of 100 or less.

Autism is close to the curve, even before the less verbal, non verbal are considered. Interventions and communication devices are bringing it even closer to the normal curve.

75% percent of people think they are in the top 25%.

I've never had difficulty discussing things with aghogday in the past. Generally speaking, we've gotten along well in discussions (I think!) even when we disagree.



I do not know if this difference is quite that profound, and since the language delay itself is not required for a diagnosis of autism, and that most people diagnosed with AS and PDD-NOS meet the criteria under the same category due to communication difficulties or unusual play, I don't really agree that the dividing line is all that sharp.

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to say there is no difference between having a language delay and not having one - just that the criteria themselves don't require it, and someone who might otherwise be diagnosed as AS probably fits the autism criteria via one of the other three criteria in that category.



I don't really think it is a separate disorder from autism (nor, for that matter, do I think PDD-NOS represents a separate disorder or cluster of disorders from autism or AS). But even within that category, you can find a lot of research and discussion about how difficult it is to find a strong distinction between AS and HFA (autism). This lack of a definitive border is one of the reasons all diagnoses are being collapsed into ASD in the DSM-V.

As far as it goes, people who are pretty severe can be diagnosed with AS (and some of them are later rediagnosed with autism). I can immediately think of at least three on this forum who fit this. At least two more who were diagnosed with AS and rediagnosed with PDD-NOS. While it seems the idealized visualization of AS is that people diagnosed with it are milder than people diagnosed with autism, what happens is that both overlap a lot in the "HFA" category and most people diagnosed with AS could be diagnosed with autism as I understand it, or at least diagnosed with PDD-NOS because they fit the autism criteria, but may not have available history to support the autism diagnosis itself.



Callista posted the name of the study and its findings in one of the "Aspies are geniuses" threads. I will try to dig it up for you, as I think it is an interesting bit of information. For the IQ test.

For the one regarding the assumption that most LFA are intellectually delayed, I should be able to dig that up right about now:

http://foa.sagepub.com/content/21/2/66.abstract

The PDF with the full study is free.



Right, but this doesn't necessarily mean lower intelligence. People assumed Carly Fleischmann was in the intellectually delayed range, but when she was able to communicate, it became clear she was much more intelligent than they suspected. Using IQ tests designed for verbal neurotypicals cannot possibly provide realistic IQ scores for nonverbal autistic individuals, and is even problematic with verbal autistic individuals.



Sadly, there's really not much research supporting the idea that nonverbal/"low-functioning" = 80% likely to be intellectually delayed. A lot of it, apparently, was taken at face value from IQ test results. So much science about autism is like this, too, going all the way back to Kanner and Asperger.

I mean look at Stephen Hawking. He is the smartest man in the world but if his IQ were based on his ability to verbally communicate without his augmented communication device, he would be considered a ret*d.

This R word thing is getting out of hand. People are so insecure about the slightest hint they might be in some stereotypical idea of others considered akin to an R word they instead infuse the idea of negativity about people with cognitive impairment. Since when does anyone else deserve to be looked down on compared to oneself? It is truly inconsiderate when people with cognitive differences can understand what you say.

This idle usage and point downs as if it's ok is wrong headed.

We have the medical establishment to blame because they refuse to give up using the R word. By definition the medical establishment defines mental retardation as any kind of language impairment or delay. So the medical establishment finds it perfectly acceptable to diagnose someone with Autism as mentally ret*d or impaired.

Just remember people with cognitive impairment should be respected as well. Referring to people as the R-word is highly disrespectful and people are people first and not labels. Another reasons why I don't like to be called Autistic is it's using that disorder word in place of who I actually am over that of a disorder label.