Are you on the "autism spectrum"? And if so, what are your + and - skills?
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Owen Lucas
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I'd say many young boys just aren't meant to be caged up in a class room and behave like girls.
Some of us need to be outside doing things, or learning with our hands, learning in a less structured and stringent environment.
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Yeah I definitely wouldn't want any of that stuff in my system. Fortunately I don't have any kids either so I don't have to deal with that if doctors prescribe it for them.
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I was diagnosed with Aspergers back when that was still diagnosed. Now I suppose I would be at a level 1 on the ASD spectrum.
As far as pluses advantages, this is not meant as bragging or anything but I have a measured IQ of 133. That was averaged over 3 tests so it's fairly reliable.
Now the downsides I have atrocious executive function. I am intelligent enough to learn most things and I am a fantastic problem solver, but I am chaotic and disorganized. Luckily my wife is the picture of focused efficiency and with her help I am well on my way to getting my doctorate in optometry. Which I am doing while work 50 plus hours a week while raising 2 kids and taking care of a house and my vehicles while averaging a 4.0 GPA.
Yet another fantastic drawback is I am horribly awkward and basically incapable of reading social ques.
Oh I didn't mention I have a son that is also autistic with a genius level IQ and at 7 can do algebra and is learning calculus. He is actually playing on his tablet working on solving basic diratives for fun, but wasn't potty trained until almost six years old.
Yes my wife is an angle and should be sanctified as soon as possible.
As far as pluses advantages, this is not meant as bragging or anything but I have a measured IQ of 133. That was averaged over 3 tests so it's fairly reliable.
Now the downsides I have atrocious executive function. I am intelligent enough to learn most things and I am a fantastic problem solver, but I am chaotic and disorganized. Luckily my wife is the picture of focused efficiency and with her help I am well on my way to getting my doctorate in optometry. Which I am doing while work 50 plus hours a week while raising 2 kids and taking care of a house and my vehicles while averaging a 4.0 GPA.
Yet another fantastic drawback is I am horribly awkward and basically incapable of reading social ques.
Oh I didn't mention I have a son that is also autistic with a genius level IQ and at 7 can do algebra and is learning calculus. He is actually playing on his tablet working on solving basic diratives for fun, but wasn't potty trained until almost six years old.
Yes my wife is an angle and should be sanctified as soon as possible.
Owen Lucas
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Amazing.
Amazing again!
He has a bright future ahead, supply him with any tech / tools he needs and keep him away from dopamine drains (TikTok / video games).
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Yeah luckily and unluckily he cares about math and essentially nothing else. Like nothing else doesn't care to make freinds, didn't care to be potty trained, or to talk to his teachers or classmates. Thats the struggle with him. Even in the scientific and mathematical fields he would need to talk to people and work with others. That's the trade off I suppose.
IMHO, the "Spectrum" has gotten so broad, has so many degrees, and overlaps with so many other common differences in brain processing as to be almost meaningless. Its use these days seems to be approaching a term for "not perfect", even though "perfect" is undefined. Our brains are not all wired the same and we all have different influencing life experiences, and therefore people think differently and function differently. So long as they can get along with a reasonably comfortable and happy life they don't need a label.
I agree and pegging certain categories helps me know how to deal with people. Sociopaths, OCD, narcissists, on-the-spectrum etc allows me to understand why people act the way they do and dictates my responses which may range from anger, indifference or even eliminating them from my life entirely. It may also dictate how I phrase responses and how much information I share with them.
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Where as I agree with the sentiment ASD is entirely to broad as it does encompass many things. It is of note that there up upwards of 800 genes that are associated with ASD and of course epigenetics plays a role as it does in all aspects of gene expression. It is far from a matter of someone's brain not being perfect. As you said yourself there is no perfect brain so that statement was boarding on ridiculous and obtuse.
I will say that for many if not most individuals with ASD level 1, the ones that can function on their own, it is still helpful to understand where your challenges arise from. The best anology I can come up with is imagine a person with all 10 fingers but one on each hand doesn't quite function correctly. To everyone else your hands look fine and although you can write, type, and tie your shoes you still struggle with things others don't. It is helpful to understand why and that you have an under functioning digit so you can learn to work around it. Instead of trying to do things like everyone else as that won't work as well for you.
Autism is similar to pornography in that it is hard to define exactly what it is and what all it can encompass on paper but in real life you definitely know it when you see it. Humans are complex creatures.
OVERKILL
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Sounds like you and I have some similar character traits, but yours, due to the Aspergers, are more severe (not sure if you saw my post earlier in the thread). I was tested (IQ) in Grade 10 or 11, were you tested in high school or earlier?
My eldest is LD (S&L), we tease him about being autistic (he has a friend that is autistic) but he was tested and was only ADD + LD. My other two are, thankfully, pretty normal (daughter, youngest is extremely bright but not driven) aside from ADHD. None of them have had an IQ test done, as none of them had an of the oddities that drove my parents to have me tested. They are all young adults now, my daughter is my youngest and she's 17.
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My IQ testing was done when I was 13. I was invited to apply for a gifted program offered by the school system in highschool. I qualified but was unable to attend based on the lack of transportation as it wasn't provided at the time.
My oldest son was tested at 6 because of his very advanced math skills. He figured out basic algebra without having to really be taught. This was apparent when he wrote up systems of equations to solve problems with no prior instruction.
OVERKILL
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Awww that sucks, I was treated as gifted in Ontario, so did get a taste of it, but when we moved down east (which is when I had the actual IQ test administered), they didn't really have anything like that in the small university town I went to school in. My dad considered sending me to a gifted school in Moncton, but it wasn't really in the budget, so that never happened.
Sounds like my sister's dream student! (the "ice queen" I wrote of previously in the thread). She was a bit of a math prodigy (no autism though), has her PhD in theoretical mathematics but is stuck teaching engineering math, which is pretty boring for her. I think opportunities are a bit better south of the border though?
In 7th and 8th grade I went to private school. It was structured to help in deficient areas and allow progress where you excelled. In 8th grade I could read and process books meant for freshman college levels. My sophomore year of high school we had to write a paper on a president of our choosing. I wrote mine on Taft. Six pages total. My teacher gave me an F as I supposedly didn't write it. My mom was hacked. She came in an told my teacher she watched me sit at the dining room table and write it. Apparently 10th graders don't usually write papers at a freshman year college level.
OVERKILL
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That's awesome! LOL! As I noted earlier in the thread, my reading skills developed rapidly when I was quite young due to my mother's intervention, but my hand writing skills (not to be confused with my mastery of the English language) were, and still are, atrocious. I'm a leftie and my hand writing has always been only slightly better than a doctor's chicken scratch. I think it was grade 4? We had gotten a computer that I could type on (quickly taught myself how to type) and so instead of submitting stuff the teacher couldn't read, I proudly submitted my typed and printed essay on snakes! This was, similar to your case, sent home with a letter to my parents that they weren't supposed to be writing my essays
My mom, who was a pretty severe woman, marched right into that school and had a very intense discussion with the teacher.
Another lefty here - I gave up trying to write in cursive in Grade 10, and started printing instead.That's awesome! LOL! As I noted earlier in the thread, my reading skills developed rapidly when I was quite young due to my mother's intervention, but my hand writing skills (not to be confused with my mastery of the English language) were, and still are, atrocious. I'm a leftie and my hand writing has always been only slightly better than a doctor's chicken scratch. I think it was grade 4? We had gotten a computer that I could type on (quickly taught myself how to type) and so instead of submitting stuff the teacher couldn't read, I proudly submitted my typed and printed essay on snakes! This was, similar to your case, sent home with a letter to my parents that they weren't supposed to be writing my essays
My printing became surprisingly neat, and had been an asset ever since.
Strangely enough for someone who could never master cursive writing, I could always draw well.
People are complex ...
My biggest issue is that I've had hearing loss most of my life, diagnosed with ADD in college. I'm currently job hunting as I'm over dealing with security but detest the application process along with how so many companies now use computers to hire. Hearing loss is consideted a disability, which I don't know if that hurts my chances. Even ten years ago or so you could walk in to a prospective company and speak with someone which might put a face to your resume.