Autistic Girl Expresses Profound Intelligence

reply to post by confederate monarchist


ODD is usually associated with ADHD as they tried to say I had it aswell. I just feel the way they treat and think about people with MR/MD as being 'ignorant' is horrible. All through my school year i was looked upon as being stupid yet when it came test time i was the person who raised the schools test averages and was considered 'gifted' but then after it was testing time and i went back to the classrooms where i struggled heavily i recieved bad grades with the only thing passing me through being my outstanding testing ability. Another problem with this was that i moved as a child from the south to the west coast and oh how that helped so much(sarcasm) imagine someone with my problems in a new area with a deep southern accent trying to explain that im not an idiot. and on the oppositional defiant disorder, I feel that it is created by the same people who say we are 'ignorant' i mean you have all this intelligence yet find it hard to use it in classroom activities so the teachers like to label you as a 'problem' and make an example out of you and try to beat you down until you do your work and things like a 'nomal' person. It makes me sick!

Anyways lets hear some more stuff!

This was really inspiring and gave me a sense of awe. It's stories like this that have always made me stand up for the true underdog. We all know how cruel children can be, especially to other kids with special needs. Sadly, the majority of the sheep will always fear what they don't understand, despite amazing stories like this. Having said that, I hope this opens a lot of eyes, especially those of the "professionals" (pfft) who wrote her off.

Erm... I thought most people knew autistic people we're intelligent. Of course she can type in a coherent fashion! Autistic people are not mentally retarded, I know some times idiots will call them that, but I thought it was common knowledge that they arent. This is not "news" unless youve never read anything about autism. Some autistic people have certain skills where they excel way above average than regular people, usually its something like music, math or art. Youve probably known someone who is a high functioning autistic and never knew he was autistic. There was a kid like that at my school and people knew he was weird but most kids didnt know he was autistic. There are many types of autism, and sometimes its a mix of conditions, its really a case by case type of thing.

reply to post by Balkan


You want to say that the professionals are wrong and she actually can live a worry free life without and complications? The professionals are wrong and she could even become the president of the world?

From an academic point of view, this young girl is a goldmine of information. Just to hear her explain why autistic individuals don't look (often) at people was fascinating to me. Why they cover their ears, and engage in head-banging. Very valuable perspective.

I hope researchers will consult her often, and compensate her for her input, as needed, not just simply use her as a test guinea pig. She has extraordinarily insightful information which can/will be enormously beneficial to those who work with autistic children, and potentially the children themselves.

Am going to her blog now....Great thread.

reply to post by CREAM


Idiots are those who don't know what MR really stands for.

Mental retardation (MR) is a generalized disorder, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age of 18.

Do these people have difficulties controlling their own thoughts or their bodies? Do these people have delays in oral language development? Do they have delays in the development of adaptive behaviors such as self-help or self-care skills?
If you answered yes to these questions then these people are mentally retarded.

Your definition of MR varies from the official one and it doesn't make the statement wrong.

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

Originally posted by DGFenrir
reply to post by Balkan

 

You want to say that the professionals are wrong and she actually can live a worry free life without and complications? The professionals are wrong and she could even become the president of the world?

Excuse me, sir, but I said no such things. Perhaps you should actually watch the video, particularly the part where they talked about her original diagnosis, before you make ridiculous assumptions and put words in my mouth. Although shame on me for even replying to your nonsense.

[edit on 24-7-2010 by Balkan: typos]

[edit on 24-7-2010 by Balkan]

reply to post by Balkan


You said she was written off. Doesn't this that she can never live a life the same as normal people do? This is what I was referring to.
She is written off because she can never be the same as any other normal person. She can't function as a normal member of our society. Not in this condition at least.
This doesn't mean that she's to be forgotten and left alone without any help.

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

Originally posted by DGFenrir
reply to post by CREAM

 

Idiots are those who don't know what MR really stands for.

Mental retardation (MR) is a generalized disorder, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age of 18.

Do these people have difficulties controlling their own thoughts or their bodies? Do these people have delays in oral language development? Do they have delays in the development of adaptive behaviors such as self-help or self-care skills?
If you answered yes to these questions then these people are mentally retarded.

You definition of MR varies from the official one.

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

I have an autistic cousin so have heard a lot about autism first hand, I have also read books on autism, mentally retarded IS NOT used to describe autistic people unless they have more than autism (many people who have autism have mutiple conditions, so an autistic person could be mentally retarded as well).

Autism -
"a pervasive developmental disorder of children, characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity, and emotional detachment"

Impaired communication, emotional detachment.... mental retardation? No. Control of thoughts? Yes. Their delays are because communication issues and certain other learning barriers, this does not make them mentally retarded. If you think it does, you better not say that in front of an autistic person or their family, they get really offended.


[edit on 24-7-2010 by CREAM]

There different types of Autism. They aren't all like Rain Man. My youngest has Aperger's and she's pretty damn smart. A friend of her's was non-verbal at a young age and his mother refused to allow the school system to treat him differently. He's a bright, inquisitive kid that just graduated middle school. A pleasure to talk to.

reply to post by CREAM


They get offended because they misunderstand the meaning of the word retarded. They are a direct outcome of this #ed up society that uses that word as an insult which it really isn't!

Edit:
Can the girl of this story speak? No = Impaired communication. Yes
These barriers and delays are exactly what MR describes.

Retardation is the act or result of delaying; the extent to which anything is retarded or delayed; that which retards or delays.

Stop thinking that this word is an insult or has any other meaning. It doesn't!

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

reply to post by impaired


What's this? Proof that the Eugenics arses are wrong? That mentally retarded people are in fact full of intelligence of a different variety? That just because they do not conform to your vision of perfection you think they are not human, but they are? But what about abortion? What about eugenics? It's all wrong?

Pff. Silly goose. Life is life. Life finds a way.

Originally posted by DGFenrir
reply to post by CREAM

 

They get offended because they misunderstand the meaning of the word retarded. They are a direct outcome of this #ed up society that uses that word as an insult which it really isn't!

Edit:
Can the girl of this story speak? No = Impaired communication. Yes
These barriers and delays are exactly what MR describes.

Retardation is the act or result of delaying; the extent to which anything is retarded or delayed; that which retards or delays.

Stop thinking that this word is an insult or has any other meaning. It doesn't!

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

No, they get offended because they actually know what MR means. A deaf person has communication barriers too, they aren't mentally retarded either.Schizophrenic people are intelligent too and not considered to be retarded. These are issues of interfacing with physical reality and have nothing to do with mental capacity.


Of course autistic people and their families DO NOT misunderstand what MR is, autistic kids often go to special needs programs where there are kids with MR, they have MR friends, theyre parents are friends with MR parents, doctors have explained to them the difference between MR and autism a million times. Please, just go ask a doctor if autism is considered to be a form mental retardation. I guarantee you they will say no.
edit- look up the word cognition and then re-read your definition of MR.


[edit on 24-7-2010 by CREAM]

reply to post by CREAM


Schizophrenia is different from autism. Did you read the definition of retarded? If yes then you should understand why schizophrenics aren't MR. Autism is a development disorder. Schizophrenia is not. MR means that the child's development has been retarded, delayed, impaired etc.

And I looked up the word cognition a hundred times to be sure.
Cognition - The process of thought
What the girl said about covering her ears or banging her head:

It’s a way for us to drown out all sensory input that overloads us all at once. We create output to block input.

This means exactly that her brain if overprocessing the information it receives. This means that she has impaired cognitive functioning.

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

If anyone is interested in understanding autism in greater depth or suspect you may be on the spectrum try visiting the wrongplanet forum. It's full of views and opinions discussed by autistic people.

It's quite an apt title as it certainly can feel like you were born on the wrong planet.

[edit on 24-7-2010 by Namaste1001]

Originally posted by DGFenrir
reply to post by CREAM

 

Schizophrenia is different from autism. Did you read the definition of retarded? If yes then you should understand why schizophrenics aren't MR. Autism is a development disorder. Schizophrenia is not. MR means that the child's development has been retarded, delayed, impaired etc.

Erm, I didnt say autistic people are like schizos, only in that they can have communication barriers. Look up the word cognition, autistic people do not fit your MR definition...

here explains autistic does not = mr
www.autistics.org...
link 2 (fixed)

[edit on 24-7-2010 by CREAM]

Originally posted by Gorman91
reply to post by impaired

 

What's this? Proof that the Eugenics arses are wrong? That mentally retarded people are in fact full of intelligence of a different variety? That just because they do not conform to your vision of perfection you think they are not human, but they are? But what about abortion? What about eugenics? It's all wrong?

Pff. Silly goose. Life is life. Life finds a way.

Are you coming off harsh? To be honest, I'm having a hard time following you.

If this is about me not being understanding towards Autistic people, then your wrong.

I DID get gobsmacked when I saw this and it turned part of my world upside down.

I mean - I always had a good feeling that something was going on - that they are trapped in their own bodies. This just validated it for me.

And I also teared up quite a bit when I was watching this at my friend's house. It was... There are no words...

Am I on your page? Is that what you were getting at?

Originally posted by DGFenrir
reply to post by CREAM

 

Schizophrenia is different from autism. Did you read the definition of retarded? If yes then you should understand why schizophrenics aren't MR. Autism is a development disorder. Schizophrenia is not. MR means that the child's development has been retarded, delayed, impaired etc.

And I looked up the word cognition a hundred times to be sure.
Cognition - The process of thought
What the girl said about covering her ears or banging her head:

It’s a way for us to drown out all sensory input that overloads us all at once. We create output to block input.

This means exactly that her brain if overprocessing the information it receives. This means that she has impaired cognitive functioning.

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

Autistic people dont have a problem precessing thought, they just process it differently so they are not going to fuction the same as everyone else.

Im not sure where you got your definition of cognition either
read these dictionary.reference.com...
Knowing... Did the girl in the video know how people perceived her? Yes, cognition there is not impaired...

Originally posted by CREAM
Autistic people dont have a problem precessing thought, they just process it differently so they are not going to fuction the same as everyone else.

If so then they shouldn't have a problem stopping their brains from overprocessing information.

Did the girl in the video know how people perceived her? Yes, cognition there is not impaired...

Impaired! Do you know what impaired means? It doesn't mean that all of her cognitive functions are #ed up.

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

Originally posted by DGFenrir

Originally posted by CREAM
Autistic people dont have a problem precessing thought, they just process it differently so they are not going to fuction the same as everyone else.

If so then they shouldn't have a problem stopping their brains from overprocessing information.

They are only "over-processing" information from your perspective, in their perspective they are processing it normally.