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Support Awareness & Understanding of Uneven Skills In Autistics

Autistics may have an I.Q. that falls on both sides of the bell curve. In other words, it's not uncommon for an autistic person to have a significant range in I.Q. testing scores. It's important to take into account verbal and social issues, as well as individual learning styles.

Here are some examples of uneven skills:

1. Having extreme intelligence with computers and written communication and then not being able to make a sandwich or prepare food.

2. Sophisticated writing abilities, yet trouble with spoken communication.

3. Possessing an amazing savant skill and then not being able to take care of basic survival needs.

4. Excelling at calculus, yet being incapable of doing simple arithmetic (this example comes from Dora Raymaker--thank you).

Okay, I'll expose a major personal problem of mine. I am fine with caring for my basic survival needs and that of my family, but I am terrible with time management. For instance, my older son's school requires the children to be picked up at 2:30 p.m. on Fridays--during the winter only--rather than the usual 3:30 p.m. Since winter began, I've forgotten to pick my son up a total of five times despite having large visual reminders and phone alarms set.

Awareness and understanding are greatly needed in this area of autism advocacy. The attainment of valuable meaningful services for the whole of the autistic population highly depends on widespread comprehension of this aspect of autism.

This is an ongoing pledge that should be fulfilled as often as possible.

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Comments, Suggestions and Stories

Matthew Moore @ 04:19PM PT Mar 26

I'm signing onto the title and (I believe) the spirit of the pledge. "Uneven skills" is a useful way of thinking about autism and cognitive difference, I think. However, I take issue with the description of the pledge, because I believe the concept of 'intelligence' obscures more than it illuminates. Placing IQ and "the bell curve" together recall a fairly horrific history, with the 1994 publication of The Bell Curve only a recent instance. IQ testing has consistently been put to use for the purpose of ranking individuals according to their relative mental (and moral) worth.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bell_Curve)
Elesia Ashkenazy Portland, OR @ 03:33PM PT Mar 25
Pledge fulfilled Jan 25!

Yes, Miss Gonzo, you've totally hit on something really important. Focusing on just being yourself is the best way to allow creativity to flow. Pointless restrictions are stifling and suffocating.
G G @ 02:41PM PT Mar 25
Pledge fulfilled Mar 25!

The way I'm trying to raise awareness on this, is by blogging about it. I'm describing my life and the difficulties I have (always in a humourous way without self-pity) as well as showing off my many talents.
The problem with many Autism websites is that they only focus on impairments and demand of Autistics to fit in and act neurotypical. I used to waste all my energy on trying to pass for NT, it never really worked and now that I don't focus on things like appropriate eye-contact and avoiding hand-flapping, I'm more creative than ever.
That's kind of the message I'm trying to convey.
-Miss Gonzo
The Daily Gonzo
Ingenious Ingenue"
Elesia Ashkenazy Portland, OR @ 06:34PM PT Mar 12
Pledge fulfilled Jan 25!

Thank you for your recognition and support Isaac. I am very excited about Autlabs.com. I look forward to interviewing you for my blog: aspitude!.

http://aspitude.blogspot.com/
Isaac Dealey Arlington, TX @ 10:34PM PT Mar 11

This issue of understanding uneven skills is particularly important to me.
I received an official diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome last year and probably never would have if it weren't for the fact that my "say what people want to hear" skill is underdeveloped compared to my technical / engineering abilities. Everywhere I worked, I was always stand-out in the office in terms of advanced technical abilities but it always became apparent that I still didn't "belong" in their world. I could do the job, no problem. I just couldn't "fit in" around the water cooler, and that always lead to jobs ending short. If it weren't for that, I never would have received a diagnosis.
I expect this issue will only become more important to me in the future as I work on my new company, http://www.autlabs.com. As the company grows I expect that I'll need to learn how to better accomodate a wider range of skill-set variances within the office.
Thanks for posting this, Elesia. :)
Ani L. Schwartz Arroyo Seco, NM @ 04:51PM PT Mar 10

Everyone has special abilities and weaknesses. No one should be ridiculed or de-graded for weaknesses and all should be recognized and appreciated for abilities. When we do this, we all find where we belong and can be happy.

I have heard, quite a number of times, that

Albert Einstein was horrible at Math!!!
Donna Downing @ 06:35AM PT Jan 27

My son was a child when Rainman was released. It was accompanied by news stories of autistic savants. I was so infuriated by curious people wanting to know either (a) what was his savant skill or (b) what was wrong with him. In answer to (b) I would reply that he had a hard time settling down to sleep at night. The answer to (a) is what we are all commenting about. He is a boy, a whole person, developing in many ways.
Elesia Ashkenazy Portland, OR @ 09:09PM PT Jan 26
Pledge fulfilled Jan 25!

Thanks for sharing Xenia!
Xenia Grant @ 08:34PM PT Jan 26

I feel it is important because I have autism myself and can be uneven in my skills and skill set. I am constantly losing things and spends lots of time looking for them, but know history inside and out, especially Russian history. Also, things like it being cold outside affect me. I do better in the heat and wish it is 80 all the time, but I live in CO and have to endure cold temperatures like today.

Xenia Grant
Elesia Ashkenazy Portland, OR @ 01:33PM PT Jan 26
Pledge fulfilled Jan 25!

Thank you for your powerful commentary Lisa. I'm glad to have you on board with this pledge.