5 ms·

I’ve not been diagnosed with ASD, but I did have to take parts of the Wechsler a few years ago. My results were lopsided, as this paper describes. My doctor was

by afpx 7y ago

I’ve not been diagnosed with ASD, but I did have to take parts of the Wechsler a few years ago. My results were lopsided, as this paper describes. My doctor was surprised at how fast I completed the block design and matrix reasoning parts. He said he had never seen them completed so quickly. Yet, my verbal scores were relatively low. I did similarly on the SATs - I perfected the math section but did horribly on the verbal parts. I have challenges processing words. I strain to use them. It feels like I’m translating from one language to another over a couple layers. Then again, I didn't begin speaking until I was 3. So, maybe I missed some developmental stages. But, I often wonder if I have ASD. Reading this paper reminded me of it. Is there any benefit in getting a diagnosis?

0815test 7y ago
Perhaps you simply haven't worked all that much on verbal-related skills, compared to quantitative ones. Have you tried e.g. using Anki to expand your vocabulary?
- afpx 7y ago
  It’s not the vocab that’s the problem. It’s more like a problem of ‘translating’ an abstract idea into words and vice versa. It’s like there’s an extra few steps that my brain has to do.
  - 0815test 7y ago
    > It’s more like a problem of ‘translating’ an abstract idea into words and vice versa. Yes, this is called verbal fluency - the ability to recall the right words at the right time, so as to produce those words effectively. It is quite distinct from purely receptive vocabulary since that deals with word recognition alone, but it's a highly trainable skill nonetheless.
BurningFrog 7y ago
> Is there any benefit in getting a diagnosis? Maybe there are "support groups* of like minded people you could get in touch with, at least?
fjfaase 7y ago
I have a similar VIQ/PIQ imbalance. I guess that my verbal IQ is around 100, while my non-verbal (performal) IQ might be as high as 130. I have a lot of trouble with spelling, remembering rot facts, and recalling names of people (even people I have know for a long time). But I am very good at map reading and navigating. I consider myself an abstract, visual thinking. I usually can work out complex algorithms in my head before coding them. I have no problem reading code and execute it in my head. I get the impression that the VIP < PIQ imbalance is rather rare (at least compared to the VIP > PIQ imbalnace) and it might be the case that the imbalance may interfer with some of the test that are being used to establish a ASD diagnoses, because these test presume a balanced IQ profile. One example of such a test is the 'faux pas' test, which is a verbal test for 'theory of mind'. You might score low on this test (indicating ASD), while have an excellent ability to figure out that other people have a complete different mental picture of a complex programming problem, that you understand that they do not understand some aspect that you do understand and that you do not understand why they cannot understand it in the way you do. (This kind of things have been driving me crazy even doubting myself about my understanding of the problem.)
DanBC 7y ago
> Is there any benefit in getting a diagnosis? A dx can help explain your life and things that happened to you and how you respond to stuff. It can be useful if you need to ask people for reasonable adjustments.
- teddyc 7y ago
  Very good to have on the job. Employers will take advantage of autistic work habits, attention to detail, lack of time wasted with water cooler talk, etc. But you need to have a diagnosis in hand to get an accommodation or a free pass when you say something stupid that you are not supposed to say.
nonbirithm 7y ago
> Is there any benefit in getting a diagnosis? For me, unquestionably. I got my first and current full-time position at a very well known technology firm through their hiring program for autistic individuals. Through that program I also met a mentor who became a very good contact of mine, specifically because she has an autistic son and understands the condition to a better extent than just anyone I might find on my own. Because I struggled with social contacts in college I find she's the one person I can really associate with. From experience, I would say having hiring programs oriented toward people with a diagnosis makes work-related things feel much more sane, and in more ways than just the material benefits it provides, because in my case it feels like the people who put them together understand the things people like me struggle with and try their best to account for them. Besides that I personally found that having a diagnosis makes events in my past that made me feel completely ostracized from my surroundings make far more sense in retrospect. Now I'm more aware of societal/mental issues I might have from reasonably established consensus, and I try to factor them into how I act toward people and myself. There is the argument that they're still just mistakes to learn from, diagnosis or not, but after I merely became aware of the condition I thought, "Hmm, that describes me pretty well in some ways." After that I felt like I was limited in the past by not understanding that I might in fact have some similar mental inclination, and instead attributing more things that went wrong to factors in my control. I guess in some ways it's less about the diagnosis than understanding you might be inclined to act in some way due to things outside of your control (which can of course be changed with enough practice).
KyleJune 7y ago
I've been diagnosed at a young age and didn't speak until I was 5. I still have symptoms but have been able to improve myself enough for people to just think something is off about me. Managed to graduate college with a 4.0 GPA. Near the end I thought about doing grad school but knew I would need accomodations because I am very slow at reading and writing. I seen a psychologist to get a more recent diagnosis and instead he diagnosed me with Learning Disability. I took the woodcock-johnson iv tests of cognitive abilities with him and that test showed my writing speed was equivalent to that of an 8 year old. But in the section related to visual-spatial ability he said I had a perfect score, he said he never seen someone get that good of a score before on those sections. I qualified for accomodations but ultimately decided to just enter the workforce instead of continuing to go to school. I think it's possible you could have enough symptoms to qualify as being on the spectrum but honestly I don't think a diagnosis would really make any difference in your life. It sounds like you are already aware of your weaknesses and strengths. If you need accomodations for something related to your weaknesses you might be able to get a diagnosis that could help you get them. Some people think a diagnosis might help them better understand themselves and why they are different but I just think of ASD as a term to describe how I am different rather than it being something that causes/explains why I am different.

by afpx 7y ago

0815test 7y ago

Perhaps you simply haven't worked all that much on verbal-related skills, compared to quantitative ones. Have you tried e.g. using Anki to expand your vocabulary?

afpx 7y ago
It’s not the vocab that’s the problem. It’s more like a problem of ‘translating’ an abstract idea into words and vice versa. It’s like there’s an extra few steps that my brain has to do.
- 0815test 7y ago
  > It’s more like a problem of ‘translating’ an abstract idea into words and vice versa. Yes, this is called verbal fluency - the ability to recall the right words at the right time, so as to produce those words effectively. It is quite distinct from purely receptive vocabulary since that deals with word recognition alone, but it's a highly trainable skill nonetheless.

BurningFrog 7y ago

> Is there any benefit in getting a diagnosis? Maybe there are "support groups* of like minded people you could get in touch with, at least?

fjfaase 7y ago

I have a similar VIQ/PIQ imbalance. I guess that my verbal IQ is around 100, while my non-verbal (performal) IQ might be as high as 130. I have a lot of trouble with spelling, remembering rot facts, and recalling names of people (even people I have know for a long time). But I am very good at map reading and navigating. I consider myself an abstract, visual thinking. I usually can work out complex algorithms in my head before coding them. I have no problem reading code and execute it in my head. I get the impression that the VIP < PIQ imbalance is rather rare (at least compared to the VIP > PIQ imbalnace) and it might be the case that the imbalance may interfer with some of the test that are being used to establish a ASD diagnoses, because these test presume a balanced IQ profile. One example of such a test is the 'faux pas' test, which is a verbal test for 'theory of mind'. You might score low on this test (indicating ASD), while have an excellent ability to figure out that other people have a complete different mental picture of a complex programming problem, that you understand that they do not understand some aspect that you do understand and that you do not understand why they cannot understand it in the way you do. (This kind of things have been driving me crazy even doubting myself about my understanding of the problem.)

DanBC 7y ago

> Is there any benefit in getting a diagnosis? A dx can help explain your life and things that happened to you and how you respond to stuff. It can be useful if you need to ask people for reasonable adjustments.

teddyc 7y ago
Very good to have on the job. Employers will take advantage of autistic work habits, attention to detail, lack of time wasted with water cooler talk, etc. But you need to have a diagnosis in hand to get an accommodation or a free pass when you say something stupid that you are not supposed to say.

nonbirithm 7y ago

> Is there any benefit in getting a diagnosis? For me, unquestionably. I got my first and current full-time position at a very well known technology firm through their hiring program for autistic individuals. Through that program I also met a mentor who became a very good contact of mine, specifically because she has an autistic son and understands the condition to a better extent than just anyone I might find on my own. Because I struggled with social contacts in college I find she's the one person I can really associate with. From experience, I would say having hiring programs oriented toward people with a diagnosis makes work-related things feel much more sane, and in more ways than just the material benefits it provides, because in my case it feels like the people who put them together understand the things people like me struggle with and try their best to account for them. Besides that I personally found that having a diagnosis makes events in my past that made me feel completely ostracized from my surroundings make far more sense in retrospect. Now I'm more aware of societal/mental issues I might have from reasonably established consensus, and I try to factor them into how I act toward people and myself. There is the argument that they're still just mistakes to learn from, diagnosis or not, but after I merely became aware of the condition I thought, "Hmm, that describes me pretty well in some ways." After that I felt like I was limited in the past by not understanding that I might in fact have some similar mental inclination, and instead attributing more things that went wrong to factors in my control. I guess in some ways it's less about the diagnosis than understanding you might be inclined to act in some way due to things outside of your control (which can of course be changed with enough practice).

KyleJune 7y ago

I've been diagnosed at a young age and didn't speak until I was 5. I still have symptoms but have been able to improve myself enough for people to just think something is off about me. Managed to graduate college with a 4.0 GPA. Near the end I thought about doing grad school but knew I would need accomodations because I am very slow at reading and writing. I seen a psychologist to get a more recent diagnosis and instead he diagnosed me with Learning Disability. I took the woodcock-johnson iv tests of cognitive abilities with him and that test showed my writing speed was equivalent to that of an 8 year old. But in the section related to visual-spatial ability he said I had a perfect score, he said he never seen someone get that good of a score before on those sections. I qualified for accomodations but ultimately decided to just enter the workforce instead of continuing to go to school. I think it's possible you could have enough symptoms to qualify as being on the spectrum but honestly I don't think a diagnosis would really make any difference in your life. It sounds like you are already aware of your weaknesses and strengths. If you need accomodations for something related to your weaknesses you might be able to get a diagnosis that could help you get them. Some people think a diagnosis might help them better understand themselves and why they are different but I just think of ASD as a term to describe how I am different rather than it being something that causes/explains why I am different.