autism good or bad?

been bugging me for a while, is autism good or bad? 
the good things are people like bill gates, who has aspergers and has created Microsoft  which as we all know is HUGE and used by so many people, making office jobs (anything with a computer) easier, and there's a huge range  of microsoft softwear, theres  word, publisher etc..... 
and i heard this on the radio they were directing it at all people with autism not just aspergers which will jump to mind,
they claimed that people with aspergers have  a good memory of pictures so can draw things in huge detail etc.....
obviously there ARE bad things like lacking the capability to comunicate properly, some learning difficulties etc....
and as my mom says that "everything is black and white" which i didnt understan until resently, it means for example you see people as either being good or bad and theres no in between, which i can relate as being unforgiving of people
so i guess there are some bad some good things about it, but are the bad things worth the good to be able to say its a good thing? 
im confused and could do with some ideas and opinions on the matter

You're not very bright, are you?

. . .

Freya is quietly judging you. wrote: You're not very bright, are you? =============================================================================================

Whether she is or not isn't really the debate.  How bright are you?  Answer = couldn't really care less, I like people based on personality rather than intelligence, and never judge people or attempt to bring them down over their worldly knowledge, or lack of.  If this topic sparks curiosity for someone, then as part of their learning development, we should try to help them with that.  And if we find it inane, then there's always the option not to answer. 

I'm simply going to answer that there are many variations and scales of autism, each with their own traits and charecteristics. Some  are very high on the spectrum which completely hinder a person's life and mean they need constantly looked after and some very low where you wouldn't know there was a disability at all.  Either way, it's not good to have any form of disability, or to be labelled.

I've been told that I have some characteristics of Asperger's syndrome. I don't know if I should actually get a test done--but if I have it or not, it doesn't really affect me or the people around me.

Some are very high on the spectrum which completely hinder a person's life and mean they need constantly looked after and some very low where you wouldn't know there was a disability at all.

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I think you have that backwards, or you are using slightly confusing terminology; “high functioning” and “low functioning” are the other way around.

There is no answer, something like Asperger's (and autism in general) can neither be good or bad.

Greg in all honesty i wouldn't bother getting it confirmed, there's no point in being another person with a label, also, if personal experience is anything to go by, half the time you’ll get diagnosed wrong and have to do the research yourself to convince the “experts”.

But you do have aspergers, everything from your better-than-normal hearing to the fact that you get stuck and obsessed with things to the point of making those around you tired of hearing about it, pretty much confirms it.

emrabt wrote: Some are very high on the spectrum which completely hinder a person's life and mean they need constantly looked after and some very low where you wouldn't know there was a disability at all.

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I think you have that backwards, or you are using slightly confusing terminology; “high functioning” and “low functioning” are the other way around.

There is no answer, something like Asperger's (and autism in general) can neither be good or bad.

Greg in all honesty i wouldn't bother getting it confirmed, there's no point in being another person with a label, also, if personal experience is anything to go by, half the time you’ll get diagnosed wrong and have to do the research yourself to convince the “experts”.

But you do have aspergers, everything from your better-than-normal hearing to the fact that you get stuck and obsessed with things to the point of making those around you tired of hearing about it, pretty much confirms it.
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Well, I was doing some research throughout the computer, and I do fit some of the criteria (not all of it):

1. Narrow and intense focus on a subject/situation
2. Occasional impulsive behavior
3. Obsessed with detail (getting pitch right, analyzing stuff for hours, etc)
4. Perfect listening pitch

I don't have any difficulties with socializing with people, plus I can see and tell emotions from body language or facial expressions.

I'm probably either a border-line case, or have a mild form of it. If I do have it? Doesn't matter: I use it to my advantage!

Thistleboy 1980 wrote: Freya is quietly judging you. wrote: You're not very bright, are you? =============================================================================================

Whether she is or not isn't really the debate.  How bright are you?  Answer = couldn't really care less, I like people based on personality rather than intelligence, and never judge people or attempt to bring them down over their worldly knowledge, or lack of.  If this topic sparks curiosity for someone, then as part of their learning development, we should try to help them with that.  And if we find it inane, then there's always the option not to answer. 

I'm simply going to answer that there are many variations and scales of autism, each with their own traits and charecteristics. Some  are very high on the spectrum which completely hinder a person's life and mean they need constantly looked after and some very low where you wouldn't know there was a disability at all.  Either way, it's not good to have any form of disability, or to be labelled.

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that it is

Gregsynth wrote: I've been told that I have some characteristics of Asperger's syndrome. I don't know if I should actually get a test done--but if I have it or not, it doesn't really affect me or the people around me.

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to right, when i  got diagnosed it didnt really effect me, im still the same person as i always was
but i know some people who got diagnosed and it knocked them about a bit, i dont know why,  its not life threatening but it is quite a big shock if you thought there was no way you could have it

emrabt wrote: Some are very high on the spectrum which completely hinder a person's life and mean they need constantly looked after and some very low where you wouldn't know there was a disability at all.

===============================

I think you have that backwards, or you are using slightly confusing terminology; “high functioning” and “low functioning” are the other way around.

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Yep, correct - my late-at-night flu-fuelled answer was put the wrong way round.  

CORRECTION - the high end of the spectrum = mild.

lifetimefanofqueen wrote: been bugging me for a while, is autism good or bad? 
the good things are people like bill gates, who has aspergers and has created Microsoft  which as we all know is HUGE and used by so many people, making office jobs (anything with a computer) easier, and there's a huge range  of microsoft softwear, theres  word, publisher etc..... 
and i heard this on the radio they were directing it at all people with autism not just aspergers which will jump to mind,
they claimed that people with aspergers have  a good memory of pictures so can draw things in huge detail etc.....
obviously there ARE bad things like lacking the capability to comunicate properly, some learning difficulties etc....
and as my mom says that "everything is black and white" which i didnt understan until resently, it means for example you see people as either being good or bad and theres no in between, which i can relate as being unforgiving of people
so i guess there are some bad some good things about it, but are the bad things worth the good to be able to say its a good thing? 
im confused and could do with some ideas and opinions on the matter

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In my opinion autism isn't such a bad thing.  Just look, Mozart and Einstein were autistics and they were geniuses.  Mozart started writing genial songs since he was 4 years old!  Autism isn't a disease, it's just when people think in another way, not like other people.  I think there's nothing to worry about, honey.  Everyone can be an autistic while he even doesn't know about it!  And bearing in mind all these famous people who are/were autistics, you can make a conclusion that autistics are geniuses.

Freya is quietly judging you. wrote: You're not very bright, are you?

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You're not very clever, are you?

Go judging yourself until you've understood what did you write.

Lostman wrote:

You're not very clever, are you?

Go judging yourself until you've understood what did you write.
====

Now *that* made me laugh! I'm still in doubt as to whether this is an example of dramatic irony or just the plain kind.

On topic: autism =/= good, provided we're talking about the clinical definition of autism. It is a mental illness that severely hinders communication, information processing and makes most aspects of what we consider "normal life" impossible or at least stunningly difficult.

However, since the '90s, it has been increasingly popular for (dubious) psychologists* and even some psychiatrists, to diagnose even the slightest abnormality (if that) in children's behaviour as a syndrome of some kind, preferably so that expensive testing, therapy and medication can be prescribed. All too often, the 'milder' forms of autism, such as Asperger's Syndrome, are abused to this end, quite simply because almost every human being has *some* of the 'symptoms' associated. Even worse than this is the growing population of self-diagnosers who claim their kid(s) or they themselves suffer from [fill in fashionable syndrome here], for god knows what reason.

It's like ADHD. Just like only a fraction of those kids diagnosed with ADHD (or ADD) actually have it, many people diagnosed with mild autism aren't ill at all.

* I want to note here that psychology, as opposed to psychiatry, is not a real science, in the same way and for the same reasons that sociology isn't. Useful things have originated from both, but the ugly truth remains that a majority of the 'research' undertaken in these fields falls firmly in the pseudo-science category. Stunningly, even many psychology and sociology students agree with me on that.

ThomasQuinn wrote:

* I want to note here that psychology, as opposed to psychiatry, is not a real science, in the same way and for the same reasons that sociology isn't. Useful things have originated from both, but the ugly truth remains that a majority of the 'research' undertaken in these fields falls firmly in the pseudo-science category. Stunningly, even many psychology and sociology students agree with me on that.
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As part of a media degree I studied for around a decade ago now, I had to pass in both Psychology and Sociology modules - I would never have dared think of these as sciences, or myself as either a psychologist or sociologist.  As you say, there have been useful things to originate from both, but I always thought them as micky mouse subjects, and often told the "profs" that they were faux scientists lol

"Go judging yourself until you've understood what did you write" is coincidentally what most Village Idiots have written on their headstones .... but since they were just misunderstood victims of autism, I probably shouldn't bring that up here.

PS.  Please no replies to this post; I'm not interested.