Is giftedness more prevalent among Aspies?

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1. Is the rate of giftedness higher among those diagnosed with AS higher than the general population?
2. If the above is true is it because A) gifted people are often misdiagnosed with AS B) The AS diagnosis excludes groups of people who cannot be gifted, naturally raising the rates C) There is a direct connection D) a mixture of the above or E) other?
3. Is the converse, the rates of AS diagnosis being higher among gifted people, true?

Autistic's generally have depressed psychometric scores on WISC / WAIS IQ tests , though they score much higher on Raven's Progressive Matrices 50 points roughly. This has been one indicator of true autistic intellect.

Hmmm

I am not officially diagnosed with either giftedness or an ASD but as I have traits of both I am exploring the possibility. Aside from the social stuff I have a range of skills. One of my particular skills is an ability to get A grades academically and at University level study without really trying to get A grades (ie they just seem to happen even though I don't revise for exams for example). I can also be fairly creative if I am feeling that way inclined (some days I am in more of a creative mood, others more of an intellectual mood, others I may just want to goof around be neither) but it has made me wonder if I may be somewhat gifted. I am also highly sensitive both emotionally and physically. I was told by psychologists when I was young that I was morally and intellectually advanced for my age but emotionally immature (asynchronous development).

Now I wonder were my social problems caused by an ASD or because, although I was the same chronological age as my peers, I was not at the same stage of development, therefore misunderstandings would often crop up between myself and others.

I can however have trouble reading people socially but I do not know why this is. Am I just not paying enough attention? Is my social anxiety making me me doubt my interpretation of their non verbal signals (could I lack confidence in myself in that way) or is it an inability to be able to read them and could it be possible Asperger's disorder?

As for my repetitive interests and routines are they a form of stereotypy brought on as a result of years of isolation from social anxiety or were they there in a particularly dominant form before that. I know there were some present in childhood...but how dominant, intense or frequent they were I cannot remember.

Could I have both and ASD and a certain level of giftedness? Or is it neither?

Questions, questions so many questions.

To answer your questions, I think that the two can be present together but as to whether the rates are higher amongst those with an ASD than amongst the general population I cannot tell as I think both Asperger's and giftedness can be seriously under diagnosed or misdiagnosed by professionals. It is entirely possible that many gifted people are misdiagnosed as having an ASD when they may not and vice versa. This makes answering your questions with any accuracy very hard.

I think more studies are needed to answer the questions you have asked.

Gifted in hand flapping, I noticed. And video games.

I am not a gifted Aspie.

I asking specifically about AS, not ASDs in general. I don't care if they are really the same thing, the percieved difference is important to the question.

I think people can use the terms ASD and Aspergers interchangeably as Aspergers is seen as being on the Autism Spectrum.

Last edited by bumble on 04 Dec 2011, 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Maybe. Except social giftedness perhaps. Or emotional giftedness.

I suspect giftedness is mistaken for autism in certain cases, not rarely. There was an article on it.. I can't find the original but this I think is a reply http://www.sengifted.org/articles_couns ... rder.shtml You could probably find the original if you tried.

I assume the latter is a joke, but I actually am weirdly "gifted" at video games, haha. If someone who has played a video game regularly for years teaches me how to play it, I can usually beat them with just a few days practice, sometimes even faster. Is this a common spectrum trait? Interesting to think about what the neurological reason is for this.

Neither am I.

I don't know about 3, but my understanding is that on average, people diagnosed with AS tend to score slightly lower than NTs on IQ tests, and that there is not a higher rate of giftedness. I think that many people would prefer to believe there is, however.

The AS diagnosis does not exclude people who cannot be gifted. It excludes people with intellectual disabilities. Sort of as a corollary, it is my understanding that there is little to no empirical evidence supporting a high rate of intellectual disability among people diagnosed with autism.

I've heard the opposite: The average score for those diagnosed with AS is 102, while the general average for males is 99 and females is 100, though genius level IQ is more common among males.

I'll see if I can find the study again, but Callista linked research several months ago that directly contradicts this.

Also, you know the first IQ test I ever took that I remember taking had a scoring formula that meant a woman's score would be 10 points lower than a man's score for the same number of correct answers? I wonder if that was a typical practice in IQ test design at some point.

I believe the thing that I saw saying that the average IQ was 102 was more recent than several months ago, I'm not sure. I saw it from another poster and they were actually using it say that people with AS are not more intelligent and the reason for it being higher was simply because people of low IQ are excluded from AS. The thing about the woman's IQ test is interesting, and the thing I saw comparing male and female intelligence was from some article, I think it was in Discover, it was from a few years ago.

Jeebus Crikey, and I assume given your age this was in the last 30 years?

Anyhoo, IQ tests and ASD's don't mix, never have - people with ASD's could use a test more tailored to their unique form of thinking.