Why do aspies have strong verbal skills if autistic

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The diagnostic criteria for autism does not state one MUST have cognitive delay: http://www.autreat.com/dsm4-autism.html

The only difference is that Aspies CANNOT have it, while those with classic autism MAY or MAY NOT (except in social/communication areas).

That 70% figure is not even based on IQ tests given to autistic people. It just appeared at some point and got passed down as myth. This was mentioned in the papers on the intense world hypothesis.

I never said it was the diagnosis criteria, I said it was the common summary.

This is assumed, but has never been validated, if that helps any. I should dig up the research that discusses the complete lack of empirical support for the assumption that severe autism means mental retardation.

Actually, it's easy to dig up:

http://foa.sagepub.com/content/21/2/66.abstract





As btbnnyr said, it's a myth. It's not validated anywhere, just assumed from behavior and IQ scores on tests that are not remotely normed against autistic populations.

Last edited by Verdandi on 29 Dec 2011, 1:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

I wish the AS criteria would say: "Why this specific item must be excluded for a diagnosis of AS, it is not required for a diagnosis of autism."

I'm actually far more verbal than I was when I was younger. I can still see in pictures but not as vividly.

Einstein had spatial skills?

It makes sense to me. We're good with language (those of us who are) because of our learning style. It's the same autistic learning style we all share, applied to language. Autistics without language skills are applying their autistic learning style to other information domains.

He did great a theory based around warped space and time, so I assume it would help if he had super human spatial skills.

Do verbal skills or spatial skills help more in mathematics in general?

I'm also HFA and I am NOT ret*d.

I'm PDD-NOS and I don't know what I am.

And yes, AS is definitely Autism. It may be a subtype with better language ability, though.

I don't really get this debate on intelligence / MR. I suspect one reason they've given me that nasty NOS diagnosis is above average IQ, which is kind of ridiculous, imo.

By the way, I finally received my diagnosis in paper form today. It technically says: "Diagnosis: Autism Spectrum Disorder (Pervasive developmental disorder, unspecified), F84.9".

http://www.icd10data.com/ICD10CM/Codes/ ... F84-/F84.9

The numbering and the wording refers to ICD-10, which is planned to be in effect from 2013...

I've read somewhere that in the UK ASD diagnosis is given instead of PDD-NOS, and this could be the reason why some people here report that they are diagnosed with a single "ASD" label. So, the prevalence of PDD-NOS actually might be higher here than I thought before...

what do you mean usually, I mean I know it can be a co-morbid, but I did not think the majority of people with Autism are ret*d so I don't get the usually part.

Well it's given that impression by organisations like Autism Speaks. But my real point is the fact that not all Autistics possess mental retardation as a co-morbid and usually the most severest examples the public see happens to be individuals likely having mental retardation too. Hell if one wants to apply semantics on this, I would be branded mentally ret*d on the technicality that I did learn certain things slower than the average person as a child, so it's an issue of perception really.

It is more nearly accurate to say that severely autistic children are often labeled with intellectual disability, but as I pointed out earlier in the thread, there is no empirical support for this assumption. Also, autistic people tend to score inaccurately on IQ tests that rely on verbal abilities, but tend to score a normal distribution on non-verbal tests (like Raven's Progressive Matrices). Also, per the paper I linked earlier in the thread, autistic children were often labeled as intellectually disabled on the basis of adaptive skills - or specifically, the lack thereof.

It actually seems likely that intellectual disability is nowhere near a common comorbid for autism of any severity. It certainly is a possible comorbid, but what most people think they know about the comorbidity is most likely wrong.

I kind of wish those points were emphasized to the general public though. I recall the same issues with IQ tests as a child because my hyperactivity and general behaviour made it difficult to observe my true potential intellectually. I guess you could say, measuring my IQ back as a young child was like trying to measure accurate wind speed while being inside a tornado, too many highs and lows.

I'm very different in lots of ways from a severely Autistic person, but not the opposite. I used to have a friend who had a brother with severe Autism, and he was severe. He was diagnosed with severe Autism at 2, he had to go to a special school straight away when he was 4, and he couldn't live with his parents any more after the age of 10 because he got too much for his parents to cope, and even his own mother could not bond with him or even get to know him at all, since he was 100 percent locked in his own world and was just happy dancing around in a dark room, naked and on his own, and if anybody ''intruded'' his comfort zone, he would have a meltdown for hours.

I still speak to my friend on Facebook, and her brother is now 20 but still needs 24-hour care, because he is still just as locked in his own world as he was as a child, and can't learn to do anything for himself. He is still in nappies, and has to wear special pads on his arms to prevent damage to himself because he keeps whacking them against the wall repetitively all day (it keeps him happy). He also can't talk at all, and his sister doesn't think that he has ever looked at anyone in the eye before. He can't even make friends with other Autistics. He's just very severe and that's all there is to it.

OK, I'm not going to lie - compared to him, I feel like an NT. I can express my feelings normally, I can communicate and relate to others, I can make friends, I can learn how to do things for myself, I don't need any care (I only need some support with finding work and stuff like that), I am not locked in my own world, I have self-control, and I keep myself happy by doing things like socialising on the internet, for example. Also I went to mainstream school (nobody even insisted on putting me into a special school), and I coped fine (just needed a bit of support with my work), and I can take part in normal society. Yes I do need help with some things but that's more due to my anxiety levels (which are pretty high). Well, maybe I base things on opinion, but I consider myself as a high-functioning Aspie. I'm not the opposite from my friend's brother, since I share a lot of traits but his traits come out more severe, whereas I deal with my traits a little differently and come out milder.

I still don't say I'm the opposite to NT either.