This is my attempt to raise awareness. Thank you for reading.
Do you associate autism with learning difficulties and significant social issues? I wouldn’t be surprised if you do, as historically it has had a bad reputation, and the diagnosis was limited or wildly inaccurate. But so much more is known about it now. Perception is not helped when organisations such as the CDC describe it as a developmental disability!
Are you as smart as Elon Musk, or have a bank balance with as many digits (worth $220bn)? I doubt it, as you don’t appear on the world’s richest list… How about smarter than Einstein, Darwin, Nikola Tesla, Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?
A not insignificant number of famous people are/were believed to be autistic. Do you still think all folks with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD as it’s called now) are inferior? I hope not. Maybe you wouldn’t want to be like them, and that’s fine too.
As its name suggests, it is a spectrum. For those unfortunate enough to be at the less functioning end, it requires full-time care for their whole life, whilst at the higher functioning end, there are benefits (often being smarter in some way) and balanced with drawbacks (such as social awkwardness) but everyone with ASD is different.
Some of you reading this may be unknowingly autistic.
Personally, it hadn’t crossed my mind until a few years ago. If anyone had thought it, they didn’t point it out. That realisation made things click into place and I started to understand myself and others better. It ultimately made me happier.
I am not suggesting everyone should get tested, you’ll have an idea if you might be, but I ask that you don’t negatively view people with ASD.
Testing myself came about out of curiosity. I used the following link. I don’t need a formal diagnosis (other reasons made me consider it in the first place, that I don’t wish to post about).
Here’s the test: https://www.wired.com/2001/12/aqtest/, please feel free to find a better one.
Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre have created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults. In the first major trial using the test, the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher. The test is not a means for making a diagnosis, however, and many who score above 32 and even meet the diagnostic criteria for mild autism or Asperger’s report no difficulty functioning in their everyday lives.
Don’t confuse him with his much loved/hated cousin Sacha.
I scored 39, and I function just fine most of the time. I have a lovely wife and two exceptional children. I would describe my career as successful if my salary and ability to influence are indicators (and I didn’t do anything dishonest to get where I am).
If I hadn’t openly published that here, I doubt you would have known.
Before my ASD realisation, I often felt immensely frustrated with neurotypical people probably as much as I frustrated them. Because I make sense of information much quicker and have a very logical thought process I find myself explaining things to seemingly intelligent people, something that I’ve learnt to enjoy more so in recent years which hopefully, my blog demonstrates.
For those interested, Credit Suisse & UBS actively encourages neurodiversity in the workplace, as do many other employers including Microsoft.