Does your Autism account for most of your intelligence?

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We don't know how the brain works, and surely there's no evidence that it does or doesn't account for it.. What do you people think?

I honestly think it was my hard work that accounted for most of my achievements in life and coping skills.. When I was full blown Autistic with no medication I was a complete failure but this is just my story..

No. Autistic people have a wide range of IQs. Those with high-functioning ASD only need to have a "normal" IQ to be considered high-functioning.

Most of the people in my family are more intelligent than average, and quite a few are brilliant. I'm guessing it's just genetics and good luck in my case.

I think probably your hard work was probably responsible for your achievements, or mostly so, plus natural intelligence. Savantism is not supposed to be that common, and even if you had savantism or just regular smarts, it was your hard work that put your natural talents to good use. I've known some very smart people that never got anywhere because they had so many issues they didn't know how to achieve success. I've seen news articles about autistic savants that could do amazing things, but still required lifelong, extensive support--the savant skill didn't prevent them from needing a lot of help in the rest of their life. Keep in mind, too, that some autistic people have below average intelligence--there's a wide range of IQ on the spectrum.

I'm guessing that the meds are helping with other issues that prevented your success, like anxiety, depression, or difficulty with focus/attention.

When I was 12 years old. I got officially tested with an IQ of 154. That said. I've taken several of those online IQ tests and have scored anywhere from 90, all the way up to 185. And a lot of that has to do with what kind of mood I was in. If you ask me. I think that a lot of my intelligence skills have stemmed from the fact that I had to use cognitive thinking in handling social interaction, so my brain got a workout, and the more I failed at social interaction, the harder I worked at it. Just like a muscle, if you work it, It gets stronger. That's my take on it.

Before I ever knew I had AS. I pretty much keeped beating the social horse until someone finally told me that the horse is dead.

Maybe some aspects

It gives me an edge on my creativity/imagination skills that I would likely not have otherwise.

I think intelligence and abilities exist in spite of autism, not because of it. I do not believe autism gives one special abilities. Or if it does, it's in the way someone being blind has heightened hearing. Actual autism is a neurological impairment and a disability.

I do think that my hyperfocus and attention to detail are caused by autism. It can give the impression of extra intelligence. I don't think I personally know any person in real life that notices details like I do.

The ability to notice small details can be useful in many applications, and the ability to hyperfocus (when used correctly) allows me to work longer and harder than many people.

I would say these are sort of like extra abilities. Unfortunately, I don't exactly have control over them. For instance, I can't always tell which details are important, and which should be ignored. So I may spend too much time worrying about things which don't matter. I also tend to get "lost" when I focus on something, and spend entirely too much time engaged in that activity.

There are robust findings in literature of autistic people being better at some cognitive tasks than neurotypical people.

Nope. My knowledge was forged through the fires of nurture not nature.

I think with a lot of autistic people, there are certain areas in which they excel, but in some cases here's why. I know a paraplegic who excels when it comes to feats of upper body strength. I know of a blind person who excels at tuning pianos. I know of a person with no arms who does amazing drawings using their feet.

I agree 100%. That is the truth.

I see, you are saying that the areas of excellence are areas in which they exceed others only because they need to use those abilities to compensate for other areas which are deficient.

I think in some cases that may be true, but I do believe that because of the specific differences in the brain, autistic people do excel in some areas. Not to make up for other disabilities, but as a direct result of these brain differences.

Now, the important question is whether the extra abilities exceed the disabilities. I think in many people the answer is no. I know that my attention to detail is not to compensate for any disability I have, but simply a natural result of the brain differences I possess. It has both good and bad qualities. To actually make good use out of it, I would have to reduce the negative effects that it has, so that the good outweighs the bad. My perfectionism is both good and bad. So are my intense interests and focus.

Obviously, someone with more severe autism is going to have enough disabilities that any extra abilities they possess may not be able to be used to their full potential. I'm only mildly autistic, so I hope that in time I can eliminate the negatives and use my different abilities to make my life more enjoyable. I really have no idea if I'm going to be able to accomplish this, however.

It is true that autistic people are better at some tasks than neurotypicals, but I think they are deficient in many ways, too.

I think intelligence and autism are correlated. In university I run into far more people with autistic traits than I do elsewhere. Probably around 10% of my profs are at least BAP, possibly on the spectrum. (One I know for sure is autistic, because he told me so.)

Now, with any one individual, it's impossible to tease apart the factors that made them who they are. But statistically, people with above-average IQs are more likely to have autistic traits.

Plus, if you look at descriptions of the typical temperament traits of gifted people, a lot of them overlap with autism. Look at this page on overexcitabilities. Psychomotor OE is obviously hyperactivity, Sensual OE is sensory hypersensitivity, Intellectual OE overlaps a lot with intense interests and hyperfocusing, and Emotional OE is similar to the heightened emotional reactivity a lot of autistics have. The only one not overlapping with an autistic trait is Imaginational OE. (Incidentally, I recognize Sensual, Intellectual, Imaginational and Emotional OE in myself.)

I agree so much with this. And yes, these abilities are very much a double-edged sword. I can keep going long after others have given up, but I'll forgot to take care of myself to the point where I end up burning out if I carry on for too long. I also can't distinguish between important and unimportant details, which fuels my anxiety, and I need to remind myself to zoom out or my focus will be permanently on macro.

I'm hoping that I can overcome the difficulties I'm having with this through therapy. Obviously, there have got to be some good methods to deal with the negative aspects, so that we can use the positives to our advantage. Other aspies have managed to do it, so it is possible.