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Common Myths about AS

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hale_bopp
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20 Jul 2008, 5:54 am

I'm going to publish the myths on my site with myth and the name of the person who said it underneith.

The site won't be uploaded to the net for a while, so If you don't want your quotes included, please PM me or post here. More quotes are welcome, also.



ericksonlk
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20 Jul 2008, 6:15 am

sluice wrote:
That we only care about our obsessions. Obsessions are great way to escape, but
I love new ideas and things too.


I HATE my obsessions! I feel that are something that must be done, no matter why, and I'll loose a lot of time and effort to do it, by the end I figure out that those behaviors are nonsense.


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hale_bopp
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20 Jul 2008, 6:45 am

I won't be using all the quotes, several have been repeated, I'll quote everyone that says them. Does anyone have a problem if your name on your quote links to your WP profile?



ryry85
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20 Jul 2008, 7:39 am

slowmutant wrote:
hale_bopp wrote:
Second would be Aspergers people lack empathy.


But some of us really do lack empathy. Be honest!


yeah i do, hahaha.



ryry85
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20 Jul 2008, 7:44 am

Dhp wrote:
Another one.

Aspies have a normal to above normal IQ.

Let me debate this before you slice me like the Black Knight in The Holy Grail. First, it is impossible to determine a true IQ score for an aspie (quoth Dr. Rosen, a psychaiatrist who tested me, and Dr. Anne Pesacov, a psychologist who specializes in Asperger's syndrome). Why? Because every aspie has peaks and valleys; i.e. some scores are high and some are low on different sub tests. The IQ is just the average of all of those subtests. So is it truly accurate? No. This would render that above statement kinda true, but mostly false. It depends on the area of interest, and skill. I can be wrong, but so far, I seem to be right.

so is the average IQ score of the AS individual above or below the average NT score. im sure NTs have peaks and valleys too!



2ukenkerl
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20 Jul 2008, 8:52 am

ryry85 wrote:
Dhp wrote:
Another one.

Aspies have a normal to above normal IQ.

Let me debate this before you slice me like the Black Knight in The Holy Grail. First, it is impossible to determine a true IQ score for an aspie (quoth Dr. Rosen, a psychaiatrist who tested me, and Dr. Anne Pesacov, a psychologist who specializes in Asperger's syndrome). Why? Because every aspie has peaks and valleys; i.e. some scores are high and some are low on different sub tests. The IQ is just the average of all of those subtests. So is it truly accurate? No. This would render that above statement kinda true, but mostly false. It depends on the area of interest, and skill. I can be wrong, but so far, I seem to be right.

so is the average IQ score of the AS individual above or below the average NT score. im sure NTs have peaks and valleys too!


NTs DO have peaks and valleys as well. Still, the valleys don't have to be below normal. ALSO, a normal IQ test only tests 3-4 areas, and they are ALL useful. 2-3 DO to a degree feed off one another and do support the other.



SIXLUCY
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20 Jul 2008, 9:11 am

Well my IQ test wasnt normal. While I scored very superior (above average) in some areas - others areas were below average and borderline.

Though that was a neuropsychology quotient IQ test.



anbuend
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20 Jul 2008, 9:28 am

slowmutant wrote:
Do you present these as myths or pseudo-myths? From my observations, this isn't an issue of black-and-white truth here. There are many subtleties. Some AS individuals, are indeed cold and callous, with all the empathy of a spider. Many are completely consumed by their obessions and either don't give a damn about others or hold them in bitter contempt.


The point of something being a myth isn't that it applies to nobody, just that it doesn't apply to everyone.

For instance, it's a myth that women aren't good at math. The fact that some women are not good at math does not make this a pseudo-myth. It's a myth because it doesn't apply to all, or even most women.


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Juniperberrygirl
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20 Jul 2008, 11:05 am

The biggest conflicting myths that I have had a problem with are the assumptions that:

A) I have AS thus I must have no brain (despite evidence to the contrary before telling some people). Sometimes I have known people for months, when I told them they almost instantly started talking slower and stopped asking my opinion.

B) I have gotten a Degree (the first in my family) so I must have great social skills. :wall: I'm able to absorb, retain and understand a lot of information at a time. This does not mean I have time or energy to expend on social focus all the time. I have passable social skills some of the time and it requires a lot of energy with strangers (even for a short time).

Another one is the myth that we all like tinned or other fish i.e. tuna :eew: eugh.

About the empathy thing, I have empathy/sympathy with others and can get really upset over the problems of others (even strangers). I don't think that others understand my expression of my empathy. For example, my neighbor has a a problem that will eventually (in years) cause her not to feel her hands or feet very much, I was sad about it but she (to my Mum) said that it would be slowed if she were to keep her hands warm. I then got her hand warmers for her pockets and she was really confused. Was she confused because I didn't show my concern? Or is this really an action created by empathy/sympathy in my nature?

Perhaps there are others who could clarify this for me? Please pm. Thanks.



anbuend
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20 Jul 2008, 11:16 am

2ukenkerl wrote:
ryry85 wrote:
Dhp wrote:
Another one.

Aspies have a normal to above normal IQ.

Let me debate this before you slice me like the Black Knight in The Holy Grail. First, it is impossible to determine a true IQ score for an aspie (quoth Dr. Rosen, a psychaiatrist who tested me, and Dr. Anne Pesacov, a psychologist who specializes in Asperger's syndrome). Why? Because every aspie has peaks and valleys; i.e. some scores are high and some are low on different sub tests. The IQ is just the average of all of those subtests. So is it truly accurate? No. This would render that above statement kinda true, but mostly false. It depends on the area of interest, and skill. I can be wrong, but so far, I seem to be right.

so is the average IQ score of the AS individual above or below the average NT score. im sure NTs have peaks and valleys too!


NTs DO have peaks and valleys as well. Still, the valleys don't have to be below normal. ALSO, a normal IQ test only tests 3-4 areas, and they are ALL useful. 2-3 DO to a degree feed off one another and do support the other.


Actually, it's more like, NTs do have peaks and valleys, but their peaks and valleys are so much taken as the norm, that standardized tests are built to make those peaks and valleys look like a completely flat straight line.


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20 Jul 2008, 2:52 pm

anbuend wrote:
2ukenkerl wrote:
ryry85 wrote:
Dhp wrote:
Another one.

Aspies have a normal to above normal IQ.

Let me debate this before you slice me like the Black Knight in The Holy Grail. First, it is impossible to determine a true IQ score for an aspie (quoth Dr. Rosen, a psychaiatrist who tested me, and Dr. Anne Pesacov, a psychologist who specializes in Asperger's syndrome). Why? Because every aspie has peaks and valleys; i.e. some scores are high and some are low on different sub tests. The IQ is just the average of all of those subtests. So is it truly accurate? No. This would render that above statement kinda true, but mostly false. It depends on the area of interest, and skill. I can be wrong, but so far, I seem to be right.

so is the average IQ score of the AS individual above or below the average NT score. im sure NTs have peaks and valleys too!


NTs DO have peaks and valleys as well. Still, the valleys don't have to be below normal. ALSO, a normal IQ test only tests 3-4 areas, and they are ALL useful. 2-3 DO to a degree feed off one another and do support the other.


Standardized tests were designed by and for NT's.
How can we expect to fit into their categories?
The brilliance on this board is evident everywhere.



Last edited by MsTriste on 20 Jul 2008, 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

2ukenkerl
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20 Jul 2008, 4:00 pm

MsTriste wrote:
anbuend wrote:
2ukenkerl wrote:
ryry85 wrote:
Dhp wrote:
Another one.

Aspies have a normal to above normal IQ.

Let me debate this before you slice me like the Black Knight in The Holy Grail. First, it is impossible to determine a true IQ score for an aspie (quoth Dr. Rosen, a psychaiatrist who tested me, and Dr. Anne Pesacov, a psychologist who specializes in Asperger's syndrome). Why? Because every aspie has peaks and valleys; i.e. some scores are high and some are low on different sub tests. The IQ is just the average of all of those subtests. So is it truly accurate? No. This would render that above statement kinda true, but mostly false. It depends on the area of interest, and skill. I can be wrong, but so far, I seem to be right.

so is the average IQ score of the AS individual above or below the average NT score. im sure NTs have peaks and valleys too!


NTs DO have peaks and valleys as well. Still, the valleys don't have to be below normal. ALSO, a normal IQ test only tests 3-4 areas, and they are ALL useful. 2-3 DO to a degree feed off one another and do support the other.


Standardized tests were designed by and for NT's.
How can we expect to fit into their categories?
The brilliance on this board is evident everywhere.


Actually, it's more like, NTs do have peaks and valleys, but their peaks and valleys are so much taken as the norm, that standardized tests are built to make those peaks and valleys look like a completely flat straight line.


They might TEND to be narrower hills and valley, but they ARE there.



Amik
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20 Jul 2008, 4:22 pm

Here are some myths I bump into frequently:

- Aspies/auties are just naughty brats who haven't been raised the right way.
- It's the parents fault that their children are autistic.
- Asperger's syndrome is "just another made up disease".
- Because a lot of people have been diagnosed with some autism spectrum disorder recently, they can't be real conditions, people are just trying to excuse bad behavior by calling it a disease.
- People with autism cannot be creative.
- All aspies have a very high IQ.
- Everyone with ASD is a genius at something.
- People with ASD can never make eye contact.
- Our obsessive interests are always about something really unusual and uncommon, like train schedules.
- Our social skills will improve automatically if we just socialize a lot.

People also take many symptoms and assume that they are equally true for everyone on the spectrum. Stereotypes like that are myths too, although some individuals may fit the stereotype.



anbuend
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20 Jul 2008, 6:03 pm

couple more myths if nobody's gotten to them yet:

- Autistic people can be neatly divided into high-functioning and low-functioning in a meaningful way.

- Autistic people's abilities are constant, they never wax and wane, and if they appear to wax and wane it's either because the person is always able to do things just sometimes "playing dumb" (or otherwise manipulating), or they are never able to do things and just "appear like they are".


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20 Jul 2008, 6:07 pm

Danielismyname wrote:
People with Asperger's lack empathy [to varying degrees]; it's not a myth, it's a fact.


This is "true" in many cases but only technically. It needs to be qualified. People get angry when they hear this because they confuse empathy with sympathy. I am very sympathetic - if a person tells me something horrible has happened or something, I will feel sorry for them -- but I am not very empathetic - meaning I don't automatically know how other people are feeling.

Empathy as psychologists seem to define it is automatically knowing how someone else feels.
Sympathy is caring about other people's problems and emotions.

earthmonkey wrote:
Hm, yeah, well I am rather good at putting myself in the shoes of another person, whether I've had that same experience or not, and will instantly and deeply feel the emotions that someone around me is feeling, often to a much higher degree than the other people in the room who are mostly NT.

And don't interpret this to mean that I'm only "mildly" aspie or some such, or that I've trained for this. I am disabled and have many difficulties because of being autistic, and others have often interpreted me as aloof, and I've been described as treating people like objects, though that certainly isn't what was going through my mind or my intentions or perceptions.

While many autistics aren't as good at reading the body language and otherwise sensing other people's emotions or states of mind, often in these cases instead the individual needs to be told the situation (such as in, if you don't understand that Mary's body language means she's sad, then if someone tells you that she's lost someone close to her then you'll understand she's sad and empathize).


Thanks earthmonkey, I feel a lot less alone in my emotionyness now.


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Last edited by Aurore on 20 Jul 2008, 6:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

ericksonlk
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20 Jul 2008, 6:23 pm

Aurore wrote:
Danielismyname wrote:
People with Asperger's lack empathy [to varying degrees]; it's not a myth, it's a fact.


This is "true" but only technically. It needs to be qualified. People get angry when they hear this because they confuse empathy with sympathy. I am very sympathetic - if a person tells me something horrible has happened or something, I will feel sorry for them -- but I am not very empathetic - meaning I don't automatically know how other people are feeling.


Exactly! I can imagine how I should feel something, but can't imagine how someone feels it. In the beginning of this year, the father of a colleague died... I knew that she was suffering and that the old man was in great pain. I said that his death was "good news"... I couldn't realize that she could possibly prefer all the suffering ...


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