People with milder forms of autism struggle as adults

Post Reply New Topic

And what are you trying to say about them?



I provided data about myself as a counterpoint to people theorizing that growing up without a diagnosis makes you more likely to be able to do all of these things.



Given the extremely high numbers of unemployed diagnosed autistics, it is nearly a statistical impossibility to have a large population of undiagnosed successful autistics. You may as well be looking for unicorns. This doesn't mean there isn't a population of successful autistics who are diagnosed and undiagnosed, but the likelihood of "no diagnosis" correlating to "success" strikes me as extremely low, since many of the problems that contribute to unemployment are things that are going to happen regardless of diagnosis.



The numbers I quoted are from here: http://www.angelfire.com/amiga/aut/employment.html

As for the link I quoted, it said exactly that:



And here is the Norwegian study referenced:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21713590





What the hell are you talking about? I mentioned the CEO of Jet Blue because he has ADHD. I haven't changed my definitions.



All I saw you mention was ADHD, and how your sister is "giving up on life."

Christ, you're so keen on telling me what I really mean and what I must be thinking, why don't you just have a conversation with yourself? Might be more productive for both of us.

I think the reason is that in Norway, at last, they give the AS diagnosis to a lot of kids and youth with an 70-85 IQ because it's regarded as "kinder" and "less stigmatizing" as well as a way to get more resources in school.

I think that is just a stereotype. I think that it's a link between IQ and social skills.

It's clear to me, now.


TheSunAlsoRises

I'll give that one big duh.

TheSunAlsoRises

I presume you'd agree that providing data about yourself doesn't takes much away from the validity of that theory.

Well, the only support for the theory was people providing data about themselves or this guy they know.

So I don't see how it has much validity.

I read that it's actually often harder for those who get by in the early years without a diagnosis (school), and by the time they hit "adulthood" (end of high school and what that brings), there's possibly an accumulation of academic failures and definitely no provisions in place.... Enter diagnosis and...it all being too late, so enter stacking boxes or a government pension.

Taken from the Autism Foundation in my state.

This says the baseline rate for employed AS people is 12%. It doesn't say much about the actual rate. We would need to wait until this current generation of children are grown up.

They often do yeah, as they are too 'normal' to be given adequate support, yet have too many problems to function with the rest of the people in society. I feel they (we) often 'slip through the net' and people don't immediately see they (we) have such problems and therefore can or do not sympathise with us or, more importantly, help us. This is my experience anyway.

I so often wish I was way more profound so my difficulties were obvious. I know it seems harsh, but I feel if I have autism, why can't it be the kind that people will help with? It seems a particularly unfair balance for mildly autistic people, and I struggle way too much with the sorts of things the vast majority of people see as no problem at all (especially with work and finding / keeping jobs. I can't seem to be able to do it at all. Also organising all my finances is very difficult too and my parents do almost all of that for me). I really feel lost as a person sometimes.

Last edited by rabbitears on 30 Mar 2012, 5:32 am, edited 2 times in total.

We need to wait for what, precisely?

Also, your "baseline rate" and "actual rate" comments are splitting hairs. If what you have been proposing could possibly be true, it would be reflected in existing data. We wouldn't have to wait for yet another generation to grow up in order to know for sure that being autistic does not generally bode well for one's outcomes, because that information is available now, across numerous studies with empirical data. Yes, a lot of people have gone undiagnosed, but there is no particular reason to assume their life trajectories are going to be different just because they were not diagnosed. The "they were taught they couldn't do anything" explanation is bunk at best - it's grasping at straws.

If you can support yourself, that's great. More power to you. You don't have to validate that by trying to prove that a majority of autistic people are in a similar position. Odds are that they aren't, and it is much better to take a realistic stance and acknowledge that fact.

No one said anything about the majority. The amount is unknown. We would have to wait until children being diagnosed now, or within the last ten years, are of employment age to have a good idea about the actual number. And that wouldn't necessarily say much about the actual number in the past.

The current statistical samples are large enough that it would be deeply surprising to anyone who understands statistics and how they apply to human populations if the complete population of autistic adults was measurably better off than the currently measurable population. Which is why I said you were grasping at straws.