Autistic Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder are the three main types of Autism Spectrum Disorders prominently recognized by STEM professionals and the academic community.
High Functioning Autistic people are likely to be able to read, to write, and to communicate functionally with others.
For the purpose of debate and academic discussion, please note this page’s authors tend to use the term Autism as a stipulative definition applying to people considered to be high functioning, above average IQ through profoundly gifted and all the way up to extreme GT (meaning Extreme Gifted or Twice Gifted and Talented).
What is Autism shares the following insights about early Autism Detection in children — especially in those who are gifted and talented but perhaps have been born in socially chaotic or neurologically disturbing environments. They share, “ASDs begin before the age of 3 and last throughout a person’s life, although symptoms may improve over time. Some children with an ASD show hints of future problems within the first few months of life. In others, symptoms might not show up until 24 months or later. Some children with an “ASD” (Autism Spectrum Disorder) seem to develop normally until around 18 to 24 months of age and then they stop gaining new skills, or they lose the skills they once had.”
The website notes a person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder challenges neurologically might persistently do one, all, some, or most of the following:
- Not respond to their name by 12 months
- Not point at objects to show interest (point at an airplane flying over) by 14 months
- Not play “pretend” games (pretend to “feed” a doll) by 18 months
- Avoid eye contact and want to be alone
- Have trouble understanding other people’s feelings or talking about their own feelings
- Have delayed speech and language skills
- Repeat words or phrases over and over (echolalia)
- Give unrelated answers to questions
- Get upset by minor changes
- Have obsessive interests
- Flap their hands, rock their body, or spin in circles
- Have unusual reactions to the way things sound, smell, taste, look or feel
Understanding that there are social and emotional components to Autism that make the person who is born with the condition’s experience of life and humanity better or worse is key to reclaiming health for a person who is on the Spectrum. By recognizing that neurological differences give people different talents and social abilities — rather than seeing differences in mental process or sensory perception being viewed as something vexing for people like school teachers and parents, the child with gifted and talented personality has a chance to thrive instead of feeling like someone or something lesser to neurotypical people in human society.
It’s important to note ASPD and ASD are never the same condition. ASPD stands for Anti-Social Personality Disorder — a condition that presents with low to no healthy or functional EQ on the brain scan of people who are either born with the condition or who are traumatized or underparented so profoundly that their brains never learn any functional form of emotional literacy.
ASD stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder — and anyone with an IQ over 130 is likely to share traits in common medically with people who are high functioning, verbal, and able to make eye contact thanks, more than likely, to communal parenting.
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