AS and sensory overload

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Most people with AS are of normal or higher level intelligence, including quite a few geniuses.

I am wondering about this. I'm postulating that those with a higher IQ are better able to deal with sensory information (because they have more brain power) so they don't experience as powerful sensory overloads as do those with a lower IQ. It sounds logical but I can't find any research about this.

I'm not sure that this would hold true for HFAs though, even if it does for Aspies - it seems that nearly all HFAs are strongly affected by sensory overload regardless of their level of IQ. Curious.

in my customary fashin i will begin by disagreeing.
i find this approach lends to the sophist method and encourages dialogue
whether i officially agree is inconsequential.
and i owe you, nice work again, transcribing the new chum interview for our reading pleasure.

i would think that those with 'more brain power' would be more prone to sensory information overload because of the complexity of their brain.
it has been established to a degree of certainty that a peron with AS has a single minded focus 'obsession' with whatever interrests them.
given that, what if they found that they were very interrested in two or three different 'obsessions' at one time.

how would their mind react to the idea of multitasking?

given their ability to learn, how would their thoughts organize themselves within the structure of their mind?
even if the task is simple and singular in nature, wouldn't they still be susceptible to sensory overlaod?
do to the rapid speed at which their mind works. and in contrast to the slower mode at which a mind operates for the average thinker.

Ask neuroman. does he tire easily. what causes overload, if any, to occur.

i am but a simple man with few opinions and interrests, so i cannot speak for the mentally superior among us. All i can offer is a few smart sounding words.

OMG not true.
Intelligence gives resources to manange sensory overload. Doesn't reduce it.
Your question was re-traumatizing (half joking)

ugh.
microfiber!

I think the reason for the IQ gap is probably because the sensory/cognitive/perceptual differences in LFAs are so severe, extreme, and/or in critical places that an IQ test requires a much more diffuse, coordinated, and smooth focus than their sensitive nervous systems will allow. They just can't juggle it all. Even if they have the capacity to solve the specific problems on an IQ test, they still might have extreme difficulty communicating the answers amidst all the neural bombardment. I suspect Aspies and HFAs have considerably less interference and so are able to spread out their focus enough to take the IQ test. And perhaps because they still have capacity for a targeted focus as well, along with whatever other reasons can exist within the brain, they tend to kick a** at IQ tests.

In short, I don't think the higher intelligence of Aspies makes them more able to deal with sensory overload than LFAs, but that it's the other way around - the inability of LFAs to deal with sensory overload (because they have more of it) makes it harder for them to score well on IQ tests.

I don't know how others feel, I can just offer a personal view. For me, the issue of sensory overload isn't a problem in a test situation. It's usually quiet- even when in college in lecture classes the exams were quiet. True this makes me very vulnerable to the slightest sound, but it's usually a brief one, like a cough, a pencil dropped, or a chair moved. Something like this for a brief duration is very distracting, but it's gone, and I'm able to get back to the test hand.

What an IQ test actually measures is a whole different discussion, I think taken carefully they can show strengths and weaknesses in SOME aspects of thought, but by no means all of them. I do well on tests b/c I read faster than most, visualize well, and one of my greatest strengths is "figuring stuff out", a catch-all category that basically means knowing the bogus choice or two, and making a good guess.

I think most tests I've taken show how well I take exams, and are not too indicative of any actual intelligence. I think and do a lot of things that aren't very smart, and often too. I tend to jump to conclusions, and while I'm often right, I've been spectacularly wrong with horrible results before.

I agree with GhostsInTheWallPaper, that's bang on, in an exam situation an Aspie has a major advantage, (based only on pesonal experience), the higher than average smarts have a chance to show through without excess interference. If I were forced to take an IQ test in a highly stimulating environment like the mall food court, forget it. I may not even answer one question. But an exam room, with low stimuli, motivation (for me, to do well), and entertainment (I find most exams fun) make a perfect environment to do well.

That's why I think it's not really useful, it's not real-world. I may have a higher than average IQ on an exam but 100% of people that meet me would agree I'm a social and cultural ret*d.

I would think maybe severe sensory problems can interfere with accurate IQ testing/measurement. But this is as far as I'd postulate. I doubt there's a correlation any further than that.

Well, I don't know why you'd think this, but I disagree. It seems like a pretty arrogant assumption. I really dislike this categorizing of the autism spectrum where low-functioning = low IQ and aspie= genius or high IQ, with HFA falling in between.

I do find, however, that certain irritating sensory stimuli can prevent me from doing as well on a task or test or game or mental exercise as I would have otherwise. There are several games that I play where my competition has remarked that their best chance of winning is if my kids are running around making noise and commotion, because otherwise I tend to win....

I disagree, since I believe in multiple intelligence, and the senses are also in another part of the brain. I don't think it could really affect that other part that sensory overload occurs because the senses are separated from the parts of the brain that affect the traits of the 'typical' smart person (memory, high vocabulary, etc.). It may affect intelligence, but I think it's very unlikely, but there may be a slight chance of that occuring because it could be that the parts of the brain that contain sensory overload (sense, smell, touch, etc.) could be bigger, and therefore affect those key things of the 'typical' intelligent person.