DeanAdamFry wrote:
Actually people with autisum have proved time and time again that they are at least above average when it comes to intelligence, this isn't an opinion either its a fact that we are naturally more intelligent then average people.
There is no such thing as proof of intelligence. No matter what study was conducted out there, the measurement of intelligence being used in the studies is not absolute. Therefore, anything, even the studies, regarding intelligence are subjective. In addition, when it comes to the standard measurement of intelligence (IQ), it can be changed over a person's lifetime. When a child grows up honing their academic skills instead of their social skills, the child's IQ will likely become higher, since IQ was designed to measure academic intelligence more than anything else and your brain undergoes synaptic pruning during childhood years. I remember reading this study of how IBI was able to raise a group of children's mean IQ from below average to above average. So while there is a genetic component to IQ, the environment also plays a huge influence, presumed by scientists to be half-and-half at this point (half genetic influence, half environmental influence).
Also, it is only Asperger's that is defined by an above-average IQ. A diagnosis of autism can be given to those whose IQ is below average. And the distinction between whether it's Asperger's or autism manifesting in a person is very blurry (hence the new combined DSM-5 criteria for ASD).
Oh right I thought both autisum and asperger syndrome had the same situation when it came to intelligence, what is this DSM-5 criteria anyway? what's the purpose of it?
15 Oct 2011, 7:34 am
