Autism and Abstract Reasoning

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I thought it was 145 (3+ standard deviations from typical). I don't know what the actual number was and my mother lost all my school paperwork after never actually giving it to me after I first moved out.

I think it may be possible that as an adult I might score in the gifted range rather than genius range, but I do think I would tend to score fairly high overall, and probably with less score scatter that may be seen in others.

Those two scores are probably not an accurate comparison because they weren't both part of the same overall testing package.

I think Xfiles geek had a good point about the NVLD association and Asperger's. There is often lesions in the right hemisphere among individuals with NVLD, which is also a way to screen it. One would expect that those good at visual-spatial stuff might be more right brained than left brained. But on the other hand I have heard that non-dominance in hemispheres can cause language problems, so the neutrality of dominance could also be associated with some forms of ASD, and non-verbal individuals would likely do better on non-verbal tests of abstract reasoning.

I think that non-verbal thinking is the way my brain naturally works, but I have learned a lot of verbal skills in school, so I score high on verbal tests too, more so comprehension than eggspression. I hate writing essays. My field of study is chemistry, verry merry berry visual, concrete, hands-on science.

http://psychology.about.com/od/psycholo ... -score.htm

I found a source here that is not well referenced, and appears to provide an opinion. I suppose it may vary depending on who one might ask.

Paul Coojiman's who designs IQ tests, with one of the highest reported IQ's, related genius intelligence as something that could not be measured by standard IQ tests, and suggested that it was almost always associated with Asperger's syndrome. I think he provided a good summary on Asperger's 1944 paper but some of his other ideas on his website are not mainstream and definitely not politically correct.

I posted a video recently in which a researcher talked about how NT brains tend to process language in the left and right hemisphere, while autistic brains tend to process language in the right hemisphere. I wouldn't be surprised if NVLD brains processed primarily in the left hemisphere.

non dominance is a good point, that's something l've seen suggested about both people with ADHD and some left handed people too.

l used to think l had NVLD and sometimes still wonder, l am crap with a lot of activity that's associated with the right side of the brain. But l actually think l could either be right brain dominant or maybe non dominant, something l'm actually considering only now that l've read this lol.

ln any case l would say whatever has happened to my brain has resulted in "Halfsperger Syndrome".

There is one individual I have had long discussions with in another area of the internet that believes that the core issues associated with autism creating all the other issues are executive functioning difficulties and sensory processing issues instead of social communication difficulties being the core issue.

However, the sensory integration problems are common among individuals diagnosed with ADHD, that have not been diagnosed with an ASD, and of course executive functioning difficulties are a key issue associated with ADHD. Now that the DSM5 is going to allow co-morbid diagnosis, it will be interesting as the sensory integration problems are associated with both diagnoses. Perhaps ADHD symptoms are present among most individuals with sensory integration problems on the spectrum already, but I don't think any researcher has looked at that. And it is also interesting that NLVD also closely overlaps with ADHD, per the link below:

http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/6546

If a person has NLVD characteristics and are diagnosed with ADHD, they are really close to being on the spectrum, and I suspect that there are still many people diagnosed with ADHD with the NLVD characteristics that are not diagnosed currently with an ASD because of the current technical exclusion from co-morbid diagnosis of ADHD and ASD, that is soon to be allowed under DSM5 standards.

I suppose that change in itself could result in a significant number of new ASD diagnoses. I think another issue considered in ADHD and Asperger's are communication between the hemispheres. As I recollect that issue was noted in a brain study of individuals with Aspergers Syndrome. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a potential issue with NVLD as well, although right hemisphere brain lesions are already a specific brain issue with NVLD.

My sister is diagnosed with Asperger's and has the right hemisphere lesions, and also problems with dyscalculia common in NLVD. I on the other hand have had an MRI and do not have that issue or any difficulty with math, but I was diagnosed with hyperactivity as an infant, had a verbal hyperlexic type delay in childhood and had a motor development delay, whereas my sister did not have those issues. None of her teachers ever suggested she might have NLVD, but I'm not sure if that was even a term when she was in school, as the terms ADHD, Asperger's and Hyperlexia did not exist then:). My pediatrician was not concerned at all and just told my mother I would talk and walk when I got ready to. I've done a lot of walking but not that much talking.

Better to walk the walk than talk the talk.

I'm still trying to figure out how to do that on the internet.

That could make sense I think, particularly considered the associations with right hemisphere brain lesions.

Just walk on your keyboard then push the submit button.

Interesting.

I really wish I had access to my test scores.

I think it also varies from test to test. One source I've found places "genius" IQ at 130 on the WAIS (which is where I thought "gifted" was) and I see another source that it maxes out at 150. Other places I've seen gifted at 130 (2 standard deviations above typical) and genius at 145 (3+). I guess it depends on everything from the test being administered to the expressed opinion of the person administering the test.

I don't have a lot of trust for IQ scores in general because in my case having a particular score only served to make things harder for me (especially as I was constantly treated as if I could just figure things out on my own and didn't need help by both parents and teachers).

This page seems to indicate that genius is no longer in use: http://www.assessmentpsychology.com/iqc ... ations.htm and puts it formerly at 140 or over, at least for older versions of the WAIS, I suppose.

This could be true for some people, but not for me. In my case, the core issues were lack of, delayed, reduced social and communication development. I don't have a lot of ef issues, less than the majority of people on wp. As a kid, I had high ef and inhibition with high rrb at the same time, so I don't think that ef problems can be the cause of the autistic rigidity that I had then and have now at less severe levels. I have sensory issues. Besides hyper and hypo sensitive, my sensory processing seems to follow enhanced perceptual funcitoning model. Perception is my strength, and I don't understand when other people say that the world is chaotic or confusing to them. I find the physical world orderly and makesensical, but I lack a social module. Other people say the same about me, that I am missing the social module. Kanner's descriptions of autistic children are more consistent with social and communication being core issues. Aloof, uncommunicative children with atypical language development. I think that the person is trying to spin autism into something it wasn't from the its identification.

It seems to go both ways.

Shortly after I was dxd with aspergers a lady friend told us about how she was working as a nanny for an autistic kid back home in another city. So it occurred to me that I might have insight into how this kid would think (since I was just told that I was on the same spectrum as the kid). So I said "tell me about his autistic kid". She did- and the kid not only deviated from the norm far more than I do- but deviated in opposite ways than I (so if anything I would probably be LESS able to relate to him than the average NT). The main difference was the boys inablity to grasp anything absract (like numbers). Im better with abstract concepts than with carpentry tools.

Like someone said above- you see both types here on WP. But the ability to think abstractly does not preclude taking things literally. So folks here are very brilliant abstract thinkers, but also take things too literally.

.........which is one of the reasons I suspect some of the issues associated with autism/Aspergers/NVLD are being caused by different etiologies, but have a similar presentation.

For instance, a person like me, who relies on language much more than the average person, and a person who relies on "picture thinking" much more than the average person, might each have issues interpreting body language, but for different reasons.

It might explain why there's so much "diversity" on the "spectrum.