Asperger vs. introversion/shyness/nerdiness/etc.

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TPE2
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05 May 2011, 9:08 am

In the last weeks, there have been much thread about "the difference between AS and introvervion", "the difference between AS and friendless nerd", etc.

Thinking a bit about that, perhaps the great difficulty in distinguishing in practice AS/ASD from other situation is that they are not cleary distinguished in theory; today, the concept of AS/ASD is purely empirical - "having AS" is simply having a collection of symptoms, then it is much difficult to establish a point where AS is different from other situation with similar symptons.

If there was a conceptual/theoritical definition of what AS/ASD is, it will be much more clear to define if somewhere is autistic or is other thing.

I will explain my theory using the "weak central coherence" and "empathizing/systemizing" theories of autism and the question "What is the differece between asperger and a friendless nerd?".

First, the WCC - if we conceptualize autism has being a result of extreme attention to details instead of the "big picture", it is easy to establish the diference between an autistic and a "friendless nerd" - you can be a "friendless nerd" without being obsessed by details (in reality, I suspect that many "friendless nerds", if anything, have "extreme central coherence", living in the world of abstract models and theories and ignoring factual details; in human relations this usually translate in being dedicated for the cause of Mankind but obnoxious to relatives and neighbours, like Bentham or Einstein).

Constrast with the E/S theory - if autism is a result of being much more systemizer than empathizer, it is also easy to answer the question "autism of friendless nerd?"; in this model, autism is simply an extreme variant of "friendless nerd" (in other words, the answer is "there is realy no difference").

But, until autism has a solid theoretical foundation, it will really be impossible to establish if there is a difference between an autistic and a "friendless nerd" (or an introvert, or a "socially anxious", or anything), and, if there is a difference, what is that difference.



wavefreak58
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05 May 2011, 9:31 am

I see the two as working together. If I am hyper focused on detail, I would also need to be an extreme systemizer to keep track of those details.

I run into this when dealing with math. I have these very detailed visualizations in my head, but attaching the symbolics of math to those details is REALLY hard because I have to continually deconstruct and reconstruct the system that keeps is coherent. So I tend towards extreme systemizing in order to manage it.


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Jediscraps
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05 May 2011, 10:12 am

If you conceptualize autism as result to extreme attention to detail instead of the big picture than what do you make of books/people who don't do that but suggest this is one of the differences between HFA's and Asperger's (or differences between different autistics, I guess).
See this post here and the reference to a book which looks to me like it says this is a difference between HFA and Aspergers. I'm not concerened with labels/words but pointing out I have seen these two characteristics applied to autistics.

http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthr ... #pid108238



nouse
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05 Apr 2014, 8:42 am

Well, very action oriented nurse claimed that there is a problem in central coherence. I'm a very conceptual person. I don't notice fine details. But the fact that I liked to generalize how ( as a child) bugs eat shows that I don't see the big picture because others won't bother with that kind of stuff. And my philosophical quests were also part of it because people don't usually think about all the different possiblities and results of selected action or start to question meaning of life or start to think that there is no point to try it because they are practically dead when compared to age of Universum etc.



alwaysnow
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05 Apr 2014, 1:53 pm

TPE2 wrote:
But, until autism has a solid theoretical foundation, it will really be impossible to establish if there is a difference between an autistic and a "friendless nerd" (or an introvert, or a "socially anxious", or anything), and, if there is a difference, what is that difference.


The problem is that what you call a "friendless nerd" could be anything. The only thing we know about this type is that they're "friendless" and they're "nerds". It doesn't say anything else about the person, not a clue to why the person fits such a description. Autism on the other hand is a very clearly defined set of traits, with a few main categories for diagnosis of neurological dysfunction, namely in the ability to communicate and relate to others (unrelated to anxiety, although it can become a symptom), and having an inflexible mind dependent on routine. Also, autism in itself doesn't mean that a person is either "friendless" or a "nerd", although it could very well fit many.

The problem with your theory and claims is that it doesn't really have any substance, it's just philosophical thoughts around things that are already very clearly established.