does aspergers mean no development?

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Do you think being diagnosed with aspergers means you are not able to develop and learn skills or is there just a delay? I like to think that I am able to learn new things but just go about it a different way, sometimes I feel like I've forgotten how to do certain tasks but then surprise myself.

Its the brain wiring... Its not no development. You can use another part of the brain to compensate for the "not wired" part of the brain.

Last edited by pree10shun on 29 Aug 2011, 10:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I've read before that a pervasive developmental disorder is not really a delay because delays mean that you will eventually catch up. People with PDDs develop DIFFERENTLY than NT (so, not delayed as they never become NT). I think very few people on the planet have NO development. I think it is a developmental disorder and not a developmental delay because we are not "behind", so to speak--we develop on a parallel path that is distinct from NT (even though all people with ASDs are also individuals and somehow different from each other as well).

Very well-put, lily.

Autism does not mean you can't learn. Even the most obviously, extremely autistic person can learn things.

Stupid fallacy. I wish people would stop spreading that idea around.

This reminds me - when I was still seeing my first psychiatrist, I floated the idea of me being on the spectrum to him. His answer was an unequivocal no, and one of the reasons he gave me was that I was able to show development over time.

Now, I laugh about it

I agree, everyone is capable of showing some development over their life. If you have a developmental disability, you tend to always lag somewhat behind people who are not, but you can catch up to the extent that the lag isn't as noticeable, or in some cases, almost indistinguishable at first glance. The majority of people are not static creatures.

You'd have to be in a coma to be static...

The atypical development is more than just lag, IMO; it's more like... just a different thinking style. Yeah, the end result is that you lag behind in some areas, but it's not going to be identical to a younger NT. For example, a 12-year-old autistic may be able to accomplish the tasks expected of a 3-year-old NT, but that doesn't mean he socializes like a 3-year-old NT does...

Of course it doesn't mean no development, if that were the case we'd all be in the same state we were in as newborns.

AS does not mean you are incapable of learning.

I may not have developed as much as my high school and older neurotypical friends, but people on this thread have said that you can still change and catch up in development later in life. My friends that i went to high school with have gotten married, have kids, have graduated at four year colleges, have gotten good jobs, good social skills, and I'm still living at home (Which is not bad because I have awesome parents and I don't want kids or get married). However there is still time for you to catch up to your neurotypical peers (if you have any). I may not be as developed as my friends at 26, but i could just as developed or even more (in some areas) at 40. Remember, life is a 24 hours of Le Mans grand prix that covers many miles, not a Top Fuel drag race that's over in more than 3 seconds. Take it one day at a time.

^^BRILLIANT

Thanks Lily.

This post just blew me away.

I can have developed my excessive ToM with another part of the brain than whats normal, which would mean that I after all lack the normal part, which would suspend all my posts about Aspies having no problems with ToM.

This takes place #1. among all the reasons why I happen to have an overdeveloped ToM.

See, I keep learning

http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content ... 1594.short

This quote says enough

Me too.
When I started school at 4 years old, I (apparently) was so frightened of school that I misbehaved and did not want to play with the other children for just the first 2 weeks of school life. I then got some help, but the teachers were so pleased with me because I was getting better each year, throwing less and less tantrums and becoming more and more self-aware and being more and more able to use social interaction better and get along with the other children (which I could do anyway, but I got better and better at it). I was behind on maths and science all through school, and I never will be good at maths, but even a lot of NTs have some intellectual weakness.

Tanks!







Which on the first sight leads me to think that aspies must be less cognitive due to "less matter in fronto-striatal region", which doesnt match the fact that I read people and situations more than NTs. Maybe the grey matter somehow disturbs the cognitivism?

"Impaired"... hmm I guess its meant that there is less activity, but if I have the stated differences they are in many senses the opposite of impaired. Maybe a high sensorimotor gating can refer to more interruptions in the sensorimotor?



One of my hypotheses (short version) is that the differences causes me to control my moves more than whats normal, being more cognitive about what Im doing (and what other people are doing and what else is going on), which restricts my reactions because new ways (coincidenses) are learned cognitively and dont happen without me being aware of it, but of course I wasnt brain-scanned yet and so I dont know if I match the above brain structure.