why are people with aspergers generally very smart?

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why are people with aspergers generally very smart?

i know its said there are all levels of intelligence with aspergers, but the reality seems to be that for people to have aspergers they are highly intelligent. i sure notice the brainpower here on the forums.

is this because if someone has aspergers and is less intelligent they are forced to learn to fit in better socially? i was only diagnosed recently; i wonder if i'd been less intelligent growing up (and still having aspergers) that i would have found ways to fit in better?

My thoughts....

1. The condition favors exercising the mind. We do everything cognitively. If we didn't we'd be mistaken for traditional autistic people.

2. Our tendency to fixate and obsess means we spend a lot of time LEARNING about what fascinates us. This stimulates intellectual development.

Maybe, yes. I often wondered in school that I like better what I learn from the teachers or at home studying an interesting subject than what I actually get through socialization.

Close your eyes.

Notice how after a while your other senses start to pick up on things you would never usually notice like traffic in the street or the buzzing of a lawnmower 200 yards away?

That is why, NTs spend so much time trying to to boost their ego and spend so much time on one-upmanship and trying to put everyone down that they never actually close their eyes and take in everything.

As a rule we are generally very focused on one idea rather than trying to do everything at once like a good little human clone is supposed to do, and when our interests intersect with our focus...there is nothing we cannot do.

I recently did one of those bovine scat IQ tests online, whereas everyone else barely made it to 120, I managed a score of 130+ even with having a severe problem with maths...our ability to focus is second to none.

However, they excel in social situations so it all balances out.

I was in my mid thirties when a friend said to me one day that I had never been a child. That was a real revelation to me and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that they were right. Perhaps the problem is that as children with AS we are mentally far ahead of our physical age and also far ahead of those around us of the same age. That difference between physical and mental age may well exacerbate the social issues associated with growing up. (As an aside, I might comment that we also have a spiritual age as well, and that complicates things even more. I wrote an unpublished paper on these "ages" years ago.)

Then too, those of us with AS tend to think more logically then even most NT adults, and that creates even more difficulty. This was the cause of most of my run-ins with my teachers in grade school and high school. I was always questioning the textbooks - they were often wrong, or biased. Too, I was always questioning the school rules and regulations and pointing out their unfairness, discrimination, irrationality, etc. The bottom line is that being AS and above average intelligence is a combination that makes for a difficult childhood. (Oh, how I would have longed to be home schooled!) So would being less intelligent have made things better socially? Maybe, but if AS was still present, then I would have to hazard a guess that it wouldn't help much, if at all.

I think a quote from Uncle Albert best sums it up:

“I am not smart. When there is a problem, I just spend longer time than other people.” –Albert Einstein

i haven't really noticed any brain power here. my IQ is average. it's not the intelligence that makes things difficult, it's the lack of it IMO. people with skills make money and have decent lives. normal people like me don't. i would say it's the lack of social skills and sensory problems that create the biggest barriers.

Because we spent more time making sandcastles than playing at sand castle making.

I'm not that clever, and I don't have any special interests. The only special interest I have is practically over people and social cues. It's like I'm an Aspie, but my special interest over people and the social world is the neurotypical side of me coming onto the surface, I don't know. I wish I was clever, and got As and Bs on my exams and was more able to sit and study factual topics for hours and not let other people worry me, and not want to get involved in other people's lives. But unfortunately, I'm not like that, and I never will be.

I've read that many psychiatrists believe that those with ADHD and autism are capable of genius, regardless of IQ level.

The explanation is that these brains aren't *programmed*, and are people on the spectrum or with ADHD are independent thinkers.

I kind of agree with it.

At the same time ,it seems that so many diagnosed with ADHD struggle throughout most of their life...not sure if having a *genius* idea or revelation at age 50 or so makes it all worth it.

I never struggled as much as I see so many people with ADHD struggle academically. Had the diagnosis in school but never really fit in with them all that well.

As far as people on the spectrum, I very much agree that they are independent thinkers. I suppose this coupled with average or even slightly above average intelligence could make for a very bright individual who may be be capable of learning more than an NT with the same IQ score.

But most on the spectrum are lacking in other areas. I lack a lot of common sense, not just socially. I don't think I'm very practical by nature.

I agree not much brain power shows on these forums although sometimes i feel a bit stupid when trying to follow allong with that person who has a pic of himself surfing. (i know the pictures of most forum users but their names i don't know).

Spiritual age sounds very logical to me, i have thought about it many times since there is a clear difference between me and most of my friends in this regard. I think having a non-typical childhood led me to non typical experiences/information which resulted in having a feeling of having different ages for different traits. my spiritual age is certainly higher then that of my peers meditation is something that is not even considered seriously for one second. At the same time my maturity can both feel 10 years lower or higher depending on the situation. I don't act childish but i still have some traits that fit more onto the image of a child or young teen.

I think i am a reasonably smart person but at the same time i am a really slow thinker It takes me so much time to reach a conclusion and when i do i can't convey the idea to other people. Because they can't set aside their rigid thinking and also because my communication skills aren't the best and i only partly think in words. The other part i cant even place in a box. Its a combination of pictures and something very vague. I came across a post once that said if everyone had the same amount of information on a problem they would likely reach a very similar conclusion. I think this is true, and because aspies tend to absorb a lot of information they might seem more intelligent when infact they are just more educated. Open mindednes requires a combination of having good information and being in a logical state of mind. I can't even bring up topics like aliens or the future of the planet with most people because the above two criteria are not met. Previous attempts have taught me to keep these interests to books and the internet. Even though the chances are pretty big that there is life on another planet people will ridicule it and you.

I am never satisfied with my understanding of something unless i know every tiny aspect of it. This is something i hear more often on wp. I was ridiculed a lot for this when i was younger. Most answers to a question don't really explain anything. Take perspective drawing for instance, most people would read some pages in a book about perspective drawing and say they understand. Its about lines and viewpoints etc. But when they are asked to make a perspective drawing they cannot do it.
I would often say i did not understand things even though my understanding was equal or better then my peers. So i understood it by their criteria but not by mine.

Society is conditioning people to say that they understand everything. When in reality they never really do understand. If you say you don't understand instructions or whatever there is a higher chance people will respond negatively. If you are not that smart its easier for you to just say you understand everything so people wont find out and ridicule you. People are afraid that others will think they are dumb, that is where this bad habit of saying you understand everything comes from. But by doing that you are keeping yourself dumb for eternity.

Its funny when you think about how non explaining most answers really are, i think its like that because conversations would get a lot harder otherwise.

When something captures my interest I tend to spend lots of time researching every aspect of it. I over-analyze, think about the details, and just generally spend hours and hours thinking whatever the interest is through. Even if it is something that I am only interested in for a week my intensity on the subject is probably considered unusual. I really need to learn everything about the subject when I am interested in it.

So if someone hits upon a subject that I have studied before then I will have lots to say just because I've put lots of time into it. I don't know how that translates to general intelligence though... try talking to me about biology or sports or something and I'll look like a fool.

People with aspergers are not more intelligent than the average population IMO. They merely seem to enjoy thinking more than the typical NT. I witness just as many instances of flawed logic and flawed thinking with aspies as I do with NTs.

Simple: because if you don't seem smart, they diagnose you with regular autism instead.