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OP here (FYI - I am not the author). My big concern with misdiagnosing autism in high-IQ children is that it conflates autism with introversion -- a conflation

OP here (FYI - I am not the author). My big concern with misdiagnosing autism in high-IQ children is that it conflates autism with introversion -- a conflation that has been progressing for some time now, and which has been accelerating in recent decades. This is bad for the legitimately autistic, and it's bad for introverts. It's bad for the autistic because it lumps a fairly heterogeneous set of children into the same spectrum, confounding our best efforts to get to the true roots of autism. If we're treating too many nonautistic children as "autistic," then by nature, we're diluting the actual pool of people we should be studying and helping. We're throwing too many red herrings and exceptions into the data set. It's bad for the introverted and highly intelligent because it further stigmatizes both of those things, especially in combination. By establishing extroversion and median IQ as "ideal," we're insinuating that the introverted and gifted are somehow defective. We're behaving as though our gifted children should be bent and twisted into acting more like everyone else, when in fact, we should be nurturing their gifts. While autism-spectrum disorders, introversion, and high IQ can certainly overlap, they are not by nature the same things.

thaumasiotes 13y ago
> It's bad for the introverted and highly intelligent because it further stigmatizes both of those things, especially in combination. By establishing extroversion and median IQ as "ideal," Let's be honest. Intelligence is widely regarded as a good thing to have, better than the alternative. People are regularly lionized for it. Nobody says, or thinks, "I wish my child was a little dumber" (whereas "I wish they weren't so shy" is common). There's a class of intelligent people that other people find off-putting. But those other people aren't being put off by the intelligence, nor are they attributing it to the intelligence. The concept of an acceptance campaign for introverts at least makes sense. The highly intelligent are already accepted.
- thenerdfiles 13y ago
  We have to acknowledge the racial differences and interactions: racialism, no racism. Intelligence within one race does not necessarily trigger similar responses in perception by other races. That's just a "C'mon," y'know? And it is well established, for instance, that autism diagnosis in African American, Mexican American, and Native American peoples is delayed by ~2 years. So "intelligence" really does no service as a normative guideline here.
- jonnathanson 13y ago
  I would disagree slightly. The idea of high intelligence is lionized, but society does a pretty spotty job recognizing it when they come across it in real time. In practice, the highly intelligent themselves are often stigmatized. They're often misunderstood. They can have a hard time communicating with others, because at their level, their minds work very differently. For the record, this article is specifically about kids with IQs at a level several standard deviations above the norm. It's not talking about those simply above average.
jasonlotito 13y ago
While you make good points, all to often I see people use articles like this as an excuse to question those diagnosed with autism. As a father of 2 children with autism (and no, we're not talking about high-IQ introverted children), there is a lot of stigma associated with autism already. So, this is just a friendly reminder not to try and make armchair diagnoses.
- jonnathanson 13y ago
  "all to often I see people use articles like this as an excuse to question those diagnosed with autism" That's certainly not my intent, and I hope that's not what this is being taken for. I apologize if I've given that impression! For the record, I have a (legitimately) autistic family member myself. I think we should work to ease both stigmata: the stigma associated with autism, and the stigma associated with this particular combination of high-IQ + introversion.
  - jasonlotito 13y ago
    > That's certainly not my intent, and I hope that's not what this is being taken for. I know, and I don't take it that way. =) Like I said, you make good points. > I apologize if I've given that impression! To be clear, you haven't. However, I've always been impressed with how people can twist intent.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
GarvielLoken 13y ago
I am tired of that people equal introverts == intelligence and extroversion == ordinary. Have you actually bothered to learn any type classification system like MBTI or Jungs theories? If you had (have?) then you know that extraversion and introversion are simply attitudes(positions) of any cognitive function and they can be rougly translated as objective or subjective position. Take me, i get ENTJ ( dominate function: Extroverted Thinking ) on a typical test and i identify with William. Based on the text i guess William also is an TE dom or aux (auxillary function). This is because TE (Extroverted Thinking) is interested in knowing and structuring the world. Example is when William lead his mates for plays, what i know an TI (Introverted thinker) would Not have done so. Also William reads lots of facts, history books. He is interested in widening his Knowledge before his Understanding, an Ti is interested in understanding first. Ti are more the classical intelligence loners, that is because they focus on structuring their thoughts and internal models, a Te measures and structures the world. Overall your post is very biased and uninformed. "extroversion" could be any of: extroverted thinking ( Archetype: General, CEO, Scientist (because Te is interested in measurements and result in the real world) ), extroverted intuition ( Archetype: Eccentric millionaire, eccentric professor, inventor), extroverted feeling ( Archetype: great writers, psychologies, political leaders ) or extroverted sensors (Archetype: Great athletes, competitors, chefs, sensor type critiques). All of the archetypes that i have listed usually are considered intelligent also, as alternatives to the Archetype of the Introverted thinker: philosopher and mathematician. According to your stereotype text i guess you associate extroversion with extroverted sensing and extroverted feeling in a dom or aux place in individuals. I would recommend that you expand your knowledge before posting more biased texts about extroverts.
- Daniel_Newby 13y ago
  The grandparent comment does not equate intelligence and introversion.
  - GarvielLoken 13y ago
    "It's bad for the introverted and highly intelligent because it further stigmatizes both of those things, especially in combination. By establishing extroversion and median IQ as "ideal," we're insinuating that the introverted and gifted are somehow defective. " Extroversion = median IQ and Introverted = gifted.

thaumasiotes 13y ago

> It's bad for the introverted and highly intelligent because it further stigmatizes both of those things, especially in combination. By establishing extroversion and median IQ as "ideal," Let's be honest. Intelligence is widely regarded as a good thing to have, better than the alternative. People are regularly lionized for it. Nobody says, or thinks, "I wish my child was a little dumber" (whereas "I wish they weren't so shy" is common). There's a class of intelligent people that other people find off-putting. But those other people aren't being put off by the intelligence, nor are they attributing it to the intelligence. The concept of an acceptance campaign for introverts at least makes sense. The highly intelligent are already accepted.

thenerdfiles 13y ago
We have to acknowledge the racial differences and interactions: racialism, no racism. Intelligence within one race does not necessarily trigger similar responses in perception by other races. That's just a "C'mon," y'know? And it is well established, for instance, that autism diagnosis in African American, Mexican American, and Native American peoples is delayed by ~2 years. So "intelligence" really does no service as a normative guideline here.
jonnathanson 13y ago
I would disagree slightly. The idea of high intelligence is lionized, but society does a pretty spotty job recognizing it when they come across it in real time. In practice, the highly intelligent themselves are often stigmatized. They're often misunderstood. They can have a hard time communicating with others, because at their level, their minds work very differently. For the record, this article is specifically about kids with IQs at a level several standard deviations above the norm. It's not talking about those simply above average.

jasonlotito 13y ago

While you make good points, all to often I see people use articles like this as an excuse to question those diagnosed with autism. As a father of 2 children with autism (and no, we're not talking about high-IQ introverted children), there is a lot of stigma associated with autism already. So, this is just a friendly reminder not to try and make armchair diagnoses.

jonnathanson 13y ago
"all to often I see people use articles like this as an excuse to question those diagnosed with autism" That's certainly not my intent, and I hope that's not what this is being taken for. I apologize if I've given that impression! For the record, I have a (legitimately) autistic family member myself. I think we should work to ease both stigmata: the stigma associated with autism, and the stigma associated with this particular combination of high-IQ + introversion.
- jasonlotito 13y ago
  > That's certainly not my intent, and I hope that's not what this is being taken for. I know, and I don't take it that way. =) Like I said, you make good points. > I apologize if I've given that impression! To be clear, you haven't. However, I've always been impressed with how people can twist intent.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

GarvielLoken 13y ago

I am tired of that people equal introverts == intelligence and extroversion == ordinary. Have you actually bothered to learn any type classification system like MBTI or Jungs theories? If you had (have?) then you know that extraversion and introversion are simply attitudes(positions) of any cognitive function and they can be rougly translated as objective or subjective position. Take me, i get ENTJ ( dominate function: Extroverted Thinking ) on a typical test and i identify with William. Based on the text i guess William also is an TE dom or aux (auxillary function). This is because TE (Extroverted Thinking) is interested in knowing and structuring the world. Example is when William lead his mates for plays, what i know an TI (Introverted thinker) would Not have done so. Also William reads lots of facts, history books. He is interested in widening his Knowledge before his Understanding, an Ti is interested in understanding first. Ti are more the classical intelligence loners, that is because they focus on structuring their thoughts and internal models, a Te measures and structures the world. Overall your post is very biased and uninformed. "extroversion" could be any of: extroverted thinking ( Archetype: General, CEO, Scientist (because Te is interested in measurements and result in the real world) ), extroverted intuition ( Archetype: Eccentric millionaire, eccentric professor, inventor), extroverted feeling ( Archetype: great writers, psychologies, political leaders ) or extroverted sensors (Archetype: Great athletes, competitors, chefs, sensor type critiques). All of the archetypes that i have listed usually are considered intelligent also, as alternatives to the Archetype of the Introverted thinker: philosopher and mathematician. According to your stereotype text i guess you associate extroversion with extroverted sensing and extroverted feeling in a dom or aux place in individuals. I would recommend that you expand your knowledge before posting more biased texts about extroverts.

Daniel_Newby 13y ago
The grandparent comment does not equate intelligence and introversion.
- GarvielLoken 13y ago
  "It's bad for the introverted and highly intelligent because it further stigmatizes both of those things, especially in combination. By establishing extroversion and median IQ as "ideal," we're insinuating that the introverted and gifted are somehow defective. " Extroversion = median IQ and Introverted = gifted.