Every so often you read something that makes you realize you understand even less about human psychology then you thought you did. Here's an article about a severely autistic, totally nonverbal woman who communicates in a fluent, intelligent manner when she's typing into the computer.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/21/autis...anda/index.html

I occasionally babysit my friend's daughter, who is severely autistic. Her mind is utterly foreign to me and it's very difficult to communicate on any level (as in, it's hard to tell if she knows you're in the room). But when I DO manage to get her attention, which usually involves getting her to extrapolate on an intricate series of gestures, it's obvious that there's something going on in her head.

As far as I'm concerned, autism is one of the most bewildering things in the world.

I always find the minds of people with autism intriguing, the way that they think and their brains function can give them a whole range of different mental abilities, often things that anyone without autism can't truly comprehend, aswell as just a completely unique outlook on the world.

It's a shame that key skills are usually sacrificed.

I've long suspected that the root of much autism is an early speech deficit
and a turning inward that may be symptomatic of the same problem. If such
a child is drawn out then might have a normal life but if left to himself, he is
more likely to turn further inward. Children need a lot of attention; especially
parental attention. It is probably not wise to hold vastly different standards
for such children as it will tend to reinforce the problems. Obviously there are
vast individual differences in people and the severity and causes of any pro-
blem of this nature.

Wow. That video is amazing

I am not easily offended at all, but this offended me mightily.

Children who do not get attention are called "neglected" or even "feral" children. To state that children (some) are autistic because their parents did not pay attention to them is insulting to those of us with autistic children.

My son is one of those non-verbal autistic kids. What do you think I did? Lock him in a closet or something?

Okay... okay... I'll calm down. You can't fault me for getting upset about this since it affects me so closely. Peace.

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To the general topic.... It is a great shame that people assume that autistic people are also "retarded" or have lower IQs than non-autistic people. I get that a lot with my son. Just because he can not speak does not mean he can't think. Just like a blind person that can't see or a deaf person that can't hear.... Do people assume that they are mentally deficient?

Of course there are some autistic people that are low-IQ, but I just wish people wouldn't assume it right away.

That's usually only because many people with autism don't fit the criteria of what we perceive intelligence to be, they express their intelligence in a very different manner. They aren't necessarily less intelligent at all, but you also have to take in to account that they're not always given the same opportunity for education that people without autism receive.

Amazing. when she said she thinks in texture an colours, blew me away.

Especially Savants!


I wholly agree. The CT scans of some autistic patients shows parts of their brain missing, or severe brain damage. Normally, that would lead to a severely handicapped person, but that is not the case for autistic patients. They are incredibily intelligent.

You're right I phrased it poorly. I had intended to put "some" and "can" in
it but somehow neglected to do so.

I certainly did not mean to imply that the parents of autistic children have
done anything wrong in any specific case, merely that at least in mild cases
autism might be partially overcome with more social interaction. There is
probably a real, albeit small, correlation between the incidence of autism
and the degree and type of care a child gets early on across a population.
This in no way has anything to do with all specific cases and the correlation
might be quite small.

I wish you and your son the best.

I'll edit it.

There are different kinds of autism. I have aspergers syndrome.

You don't have to edit cladking - just me spouting

Ryo Ohki brings up an excellent point. THere are so many different "manifestations" or types of autism. Most 'normal' people hear autism and they think a non-verbal child refusing contact, rocking, flapping hands, etc. or just staring off into space. Or people get all excited about autistic savants who can remember what the weather was like on every single day for 100 years. Autism is a HUGE umbrella.

I probably have a little aspergers myself.

I usually tell people I'm an idiot savant and prefer to believe I'm
more savant than idiot.

There are many who disagree.

Seen this on Pipeline .. quite amazing, the abilities these individuals possess.

I have been reading alot about this subject the girl i took in two years ago has a brother that's 4 and he is autistic, There are alot of kid's that are missed cause the doctor's think they have aspergers syndrome, It's really sad once you start to see what these's children go thru, I know this little boy is really bad, I think once the test come back they are going to find he' retarded..He's 4 as i said and still wear's diaper's, what up-set's me the most is he has a sorry mother who yell's and cuss's at him all the time.....This women has already lost one child to the state and i worry about the two she still has, The reason i point this out is because i hope and pray that people will understand the degree of autistic children depend's of the support and love they get at home and parent's need to learn to accept what has happen and give their child total support....

This is a wonderful web site with alot of information on this subject, It's worth reading just for the knowledge....

http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/autism.index.htm

That was really interesting, there really needs to be an effort to discover if more autistic people can communicate in this way. With study it may shed more light on the origins of autism itself.

EVERY child depends on total support at home, if you ask me. My autistic son was not out of diapers until he was nearly 5. Why? Not because I yelled and cursed at him, but because he did not have the mental development to associated the urge with running to the bathroom and getting his pants down, etc. (Edit to say I'm not trying to imply you think this was the issue! )

Perhaps the boy you speak of is suffering from emotional or developmental problems due to neglect or abuse. If he does have a low IQ on top of it, it'll just be worse and manifest in more pervasive disabilities.

Also... from what I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong), Asperger's is associated with normal or high intelligence but with social disfunction and difficulties in expressing oneself verbally.

Autistic children are not autistic b/c of neglect, or Some original form of speech impediment that causes introverted behavior = Autism. I knew my daughter had issues from the time she was born- I just didn't know what. She would watch her thumb at a week old and babble to it & did this for months--week old babies don't vocalize in such ways...... She didn't sit up till she was over a year old-- and at age 2 was speaking full sentences, and one day (age 3) just stopped everything!!! and hasn't spoken sense. But, a card shark (so good she freaks me out), basketball (her hoops are so good, she could play with pros-- dont' doubt it!) Neglected?!! Not quite.

Any child who is neglected will see impairments in speech, toilet training, & in their behavior. Neglect by itself wouldn't cause autism by no means. The autism has been there- neglect or not, it's just lying dormit for its own time.

same here my little brother is severely autistic, he can't speak or communicate in any way. Life is extremely hard with an autistic child or sybling.

I've actually experianced this.

I used to know somone at college and they were so odd. Clearly had some sort of mild disorder of this sort and spoke in a very bizar way and reacted in a way in which told you she often didn't understand. If you know what i mean?

Yet, online, she's the interesting side of normal.


I know a few aspergic people. Mostly mild cases or have simply evolved out of the social issues, but still recall stupid things and find themselves obsessed with washing machine cycles.

But if you ask me, their more normal than everyone else.


As for Amanda, she's incredable.

I have Asperger syndrome too...

I often fin myself living between two worlds

I am not an aspie myself but two of my best friends are and to me they are the greatest people. I don't see them as autistic, more just wired differently and in a good way. I think if more people understood AS they would "get" more people with it, and not judge or think they are odd. AS is like other autism in that it occurs on a scale and some are more autistic than others, either way, wonderful folks who do great things. I have heard that Einstein was thought to have AS as well possibly now, Bill Gates.

My Aspergic friends say that Aspergers is Autism without the 'retardation.' They aren't being nasty, i guess it's just the only way we know how to describe it?

My friend Scott has nearly fully grown out of social issues, but he's pretty... strange at the best of times. He obsesses, get's so ingrossed in things, recalls dates, numbers and can memorize lyrics to songs in foriegn languages and then sing them repetatively for months.

Will is however quiet. He can get distracted by simple things and start to count them in his head... and you'll speak to him with no answer for a while. He does obsess as well, but on top of that he just goes on.. and on... and on. Like, one time i asked him to grab me some sugar. So i got like ... 29 packets of it, which he then proceeded to fill my coffee with until i told him to stop. At first it seems like a joke, but it rarely is. And sometimes he acts offended by things you say, his reactions are slow... or... ignorant or...ya know?

I used to speak to a guy online and he basically just talked about the same topic continuously, even if you didn't reply... and expected the attention of you no matter what. Very demanding.

My friend's brother when i knew him used to play by himself at school, i used to try and encourage him to playw ith us... but he's speak to me without giving me much attention and then continue what he was doing. He always declined, but without saying so. I remember him running around in the playground by himself, the other kids picking on him, but he didn't even notice. Just continued his game.

I don't think i've ever met anyone with autism. Certainly not to the point were i would have been able to distinguish it from aspergers, which i'm very famila with. Some times i think that i think in a very aspergic fashion, maybe that's why i have so many friends with the 'disorder'... which if you ask me, makes them better people anyway. If i want to know the exact date somthing happened in the past 18 years, Scott can tell me.

autism has many levels of the sydrom. and the difference is that the sensitive physical areas of the brain touch smell sound sight, are hyper sensitive in some and others everyones differen t. the problem is is if they are unable to communicate socialy then so is the communication with the reaction from their action to sensitivity, its a barier. aspergers is more of a gifted , un organic brain sydrom like williamson is more like a sevant sydrom , every individual reguardless has there place on this world. a reason for the life they are living now at this moment. why else would it be existing if all mankind could embrace everybody we would have one great species in unison. dont u think? ne day perhaps like a hand does to the arm all of the parts of life can be fully functioal to the purpose of why we are exhisting , today , man is a destructive willful ego and missing the original mark whaerever we would have been is where i feel we will one day be ,. i hope it to the only answer in the why where what how and who equation to most unanswered questions, hope is a grand design in itself it hasnt rrived yet but magination is real to each soul why cant the hope of a wonderous planet and peaceful prosperous population be so far out there.? people either hope for it or they dont really consider what is possible with the one caculaus that we will never master until a cleansing of somekind takes place. who knows. we are today for fact all individualy designed for a greater purpose. and not always what we think it is for.

purplos you are so right on the money,.some of the so called retarded remarkable human being are smarter i think in the normal person sdo called functional,.. i saw a boy who is talkeing bioolgy and has a masters now by communicating solely in typo tech by a keyboard and if you didnt see him use it to communicate with you would think this person wouldnt havde a iq bigger than 45, but i think we dont have the form of tech. needed for every individual person unfortuately to tap into there world , they arde not able to function communicate o the same level as so called norms. we are the ones that need a leeson even from the scizpshophrentics,sorry mispellsed. and right now thats gonna have to do. wub me and weep right lol. anyway i grew up with my brother who physially iand mentaly is at the 10 month old age -18 month old age hhe is actualy 48 today and he foldsa paper continulasy and when my mom asked me to get my brother some paper out of her car, i really didnt know if i should have folded it for him prior to giving it to him or what,? it made me rdealize just how much we overlook these special human individuales,.. i also had a boyfriend whom had a son with autism so i read up on the sydrom for myself for a more understanding of this little runt, randy what a doll and what a great exapmple of what you put into a person with a whole heart and give tham no blocks of they cant do sh#t , trust them with what we dont hink we already know,.. give then the benefit of the doubt its a great experiennce to see how much we learn about ourselves moreso than them they help one rellok at the life they have and reabsorb themselves in a new light of what ifs and look at how they, and why do i type of questions a real fortunate thing to experience, yes these individuals are za hanful and most very strong and healthy and it can be stressful in a dufferent kight than one would probably say thelyy deal with but when its your own, in family thas the expariences wthat we can all agree on even in there reatardation or whatever you want to call it they still are shining indiviuals that have a voice somewhre wanting to contribute there talents to the world, im guessing of courzse, or they are extremely patient and just wautng for us to get our stuff together.lol

love yiu purplos thanks for sharing yur, and evryone else, peace out

Abecrombie

I can totally relate to you and take it from me, people like cladking (no offense to you buddy) sometimes need to hear it.......Ignorant people with an opinion are very offensive indeed......

My 7 year old son has Global Developmental Delay and fits quite nicely under the umbrella of autism....It is very frustrating when 'well-meaning' people constantly say to me, 'You should've talked to him more often when he was a baby, paid him more attention..'
Children with autism are often very intelligent but don't have the tools, which we take for granted to express their feelings and 'connect' with the world around them......Parents such as yourself, need support and understanding so I hope you have a supportive 'safety net' around you when you feel like you've had enough.....

Purplos you have a point but it is a fact that every form of brain damamge at from or prior to birth hhave some level of an organic autism it is very small to svere depending on what caused the retardation. even adds and lds and its like depression it startzs there as example ok, then evey form of mental disorders sprout usualy with depressin as a factor atsome pint level or time. autism is just one form of an organic meaning a natural stuctural brain but organicaly altered by a natural form unknown that is it wasnt a man made chemical agent but a part of the formation is by natural growing process in a different order, im guessing but i did read that the autistic sydrom is in almost every retarded or and gifted individual just very slight and not considered a problem but the organic part of the brains growth process chemically changes then at some poitn or another is present allongside the rest of the deveopling brian until it is out of the womb and even during the process of where they can tell normal physical function such as reponses and motor skills will determin usualy in the first year. my brother couldnt hold his head up after seven months old. on hizs own. but the oxygen levels that is suffocated during the development at different times for different people in that process is considered autistic, but not all autistic persons are considered to be metalally retarded that is why they are a sperate sydrom in themselves , does that mzaake sense? i hope so cause im sided with you just addedf some info i thought yuou would approecicate if you didnt already know. ha
my typing is bad but o well message was more important and i would have lost it all if stopping at any givenm time.


I wonder if i have a aspergers in me even a little . i do know im gifted and realized that calulus was the first form of mathmetics at 40 years of age now, personaly iu think they should have taught me in school, the addition subtraction was illrealvant and complicationg i never realy grasped the whole algrbra i failed. but ive been turned on to the calculuzs state and i think if i was approached in elementarty first with calculus then my math slills woulfd have been fine and i would of understood reasons behing why we need mathmaticians and why letters and numbers are hand and hand. like the roman numerals are letters in greek and then some something like that, ouch arthritis setting in now oooch,. gotta go. good thought this thread turned out pretty informative and stimulating for the brain . no sherlochk huh?