Differences between giftedness and Asperger

Post Reply New Topic

I found an interesting link discussing the differences between giftedness and Asperger:

Link

And here's a link to the book they're citing:

Book

I wonder what you guys think, and whether it's true that some gifted people are misdiagnosed as aspies.

That's a very good article. It describes a lot of truths.

That's interesting. I was tested and labeled a "gifted child" when I was in Grade 2 or 3. My special interests aren't that "weird", I don't think. And I derive joy from them and like to share them. I have had one sided conversations like the article suggests, but musical theatre has a subculture that I've shared with.

And the article says that gifted children will see and be aware that they're different, while AS children will not.

It makes me wonder if I'm AS or just gifted. Gifted wouldn't explain the sensory stuff or the stimming. Also, I'm an adult, not a child, so I've had time to adapt, I guess.

I can't get to this article at work, but it has been suggested that my son is not AS, but gifted. He is very aware that he is different. Thanks for sharing. I can't wait to get home and check it out.

I dislike the rather back and white view. It's like, we note people with similar traits, we give them a label, and we assume the label represents a thing. But maybe it doesn't. Maybe Asperger's and gifted aren't really two different things, but overlapping sections of a single multidimensional continuum.

And it's unfortunate that one is labeled as a disorder, and the other as something good, and yet, people with each have their plusses and their challenges.

I don't know if I would have qualified for a diagnosis of either autism or Asperger's (as they are diagnosed in the present) when I was young. But, if not, to say I was "just" gifted because of lacking certain autistic traits is to ignore the social difficulties, and the aloneness, and the things I just was not able to do, the inability to understand others, the inability to fit in. If using labels, gifted ain't the right one. Intelligence may be a gift, but not those other things sure weren't.

And that's why many prefer the term Asperger's syndrome to Asperger's disorder. Because it's not just a disorder. It's got it's other side too. And the word syndrome lets those be part of the picture.

AS and giftedness are two different things. One can have AS and be gifted as well. I do see Savantism and AS mixed up a lot. A Savant is someone with general impairment but with very specific areas they excel. They have a big point spread in IQ subsets, but a Savant pattern is distinct from an AS pattern. Someday genetic testing may be able to provide more difinitive answers in individuals where it's unclear.

I can't see the link, maybe it's been removed or disabled? I'll try to google it later.

My two sons with AS are also gifted and highly gifted. My youngest son has profound gifts and has been alternately diagnosed as PDD-NOS and not in the spectrum and but not NT. Some people can be hard to figure out.

This, from Lorna Wing, from the paper that defines what AS is today:

Here's an interesting page from the book that they talk about in the article; it lists several features that are said to be more characteristic of giftedness and "incompatible" with Asperger's. I'm not sure I'd agree, however, that all of these features would completely rule out an Asperger's diagnosis. Just as an example, not all aspies are necessarily clumsy.

That list is about right.