Robert Fritz for The New York Times
CONGA! Valerie Kaplan, who has Asperger’s, belongs to a campus club of self-proclaimed “nerds, geeks, freaks, visionaries, outcasts” at Carnegie Mellon.
Posted on 11/06/2006 9:32:08 PM PST by neverdem
A Dream Not Denied
VALERIE KAPLAN has an aptitude for math, and scored a perfect 1600 on her SAT. When her high school classmates applauded the announcement at lunch, she was pleased. But less obvious signals — a raised eyebrow or impatient glance at a watch — elude her. In an advanced course at Carnegie Mellon called “Building Virtual Worlds,” that problem caused classmates to sideline her in group projects. And during a critical meeting to win approval for her customized major, electronic art, she intently circled the freckles on her arm with a marker.
Miss Kaplan’s behavioral quirks are agonizingly familiar to students with an autism spectrum disorder. Simply put, their brains are wired differently.
Children with classic autism have language delays or deficits and difficulty relating to others; they display rigid, often obsessive behaviors; deviation from routine disturbs them. Some are mentally retarded. Those with milder conditions on the spectrum — Asperger’s is one of them — exhibit some or all of these characteristics to lesser degrees. But Asperger’s is also distinguished by average or aboveaverage intelligence, an early acuity with language and singular passions — Miss Kaplan, for example, has absorbed every detail of an animated 90’s television series called “ReBoot.” People like Miss Kaplan have a disability, but to others they can seem merely gifted, or difficult, or odd.
Of course, high-functioning people on the spectrum have long attended college. Tony Attwood , a psychologist and author of “The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome,” tells of trying to spot the professor with Asperger’s when he’s on the lecture circuit. That is, unless Dr. Attwood is at an engineering school, in which case he tries to spot the professors who don’t have Asperger’s.
A top expert estimates that one in every 150 children has some level of...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping
I live near these kids. CMU is still a great school.
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My grandson, whose 2nd grade teacher wanted on Prozac, was just "diagnosed." As gifted.
Every geek I know is saying that they have Asperger's, whether diagnosed or not.
They use it to claim credit for their achievements, and (much) more commonly -- as an excuse for their failings and lack of friends.
They're so "misunderstood", or whatever BS.
Having an autistic son and working with engineers, I like playing spot the Asperger's, myself.
Shyness. Big deal.
Inappropriate social interaction
Maybe others are jerks. Maybe the person is a jerk. Who cares.
Unusually strong, narrow interests
Being focused is a "symptom"? Bull.
Above-average to superior intellect
Such people commit the worst thought-crimes. No wonder they are labeled sick.
Lack of voice intonation
I'm sure if they spoke with a lisp, or in a loud obnoxious tone, doctors would call that "healthy".
Impulsiveness
A good sheep should not be impulsive......
Literal, concrete thinking patterns.
Understands that WORDS MEAN THINGS. Also, that one should mean what one says.
Attempt to monopolize conversation.
This is plain rudeness. Not a symptom of anything.
Tangents when answering questions
People ask dumb questions. Tangents can be much more interesting than addressing questions posed by stupid people.
Distracted in long classes
Another meaningless "symptom".
Engage in self-stimulating behavior
DAMN this free country. Why should they be allowed to get away with that without a medical evaluation?
Argumentative
Ah... the protective, self-fulfilling condition. Deny you're an alcoholic? Then you must really be one. Don't deny it? Then you've taken the first step to "getting better"!
Under "strategies", they left out a key method: create phony diseases, and medicate to the profit of therapists, counsellors, and other professional fruitcakes.
You seem a little obsessesive-compulsive.
Oh, you caught us! Damn and we had such a good scam going too!
You've never seen it, so it doesn't exist.
You just described my sophomore high school class. And that was 40 years ago. Back then we were just sent to detention and made to pull weeds from the flower beds. Also, we were called jerks by the teachers, not by our classmates. I don't remember running home and complaining to mommy.
As the parent of a very Autistic child, I tire of all my fellow geeks laying claim to some diagnosis when they're functioning adults even if awkward with social skills. It's a bit like a fad. We all have our problems and the good thing about very smart people is that they can think their way around them.
Some Autistic organizations think that by expanding the definition of Autism and who is Autistic will lead to greater government funding for research and respite. The downside is that eventually people will dismiss efforts to assist truly Autistic children and adults who will never be able to function on their own.
Thanks. It's always very revealing to see how our freepers react.
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