How can an autistic be considered low-fuctioning,but somehow intelligent at the same time?

Question

what kind of testing do they use or is yet another form of politically correct crap being sharved down our thoarts.I mean, is someone can't even open the door,how obivously more retarded can U get.How can they even get from day to day.

Answer 1

I have a son who has a tested IQ of 168 ... genius level ... and he can tell you the most amazing facts, keep you laughing for hours on end, understand extremely complex equations, computer programming, and is in the worlds top competitors of several offline and online games (not all computer games).

Yet, he cannot hold a job, remember to do his own laundry, or do anything at all requiring social interaction with people, make phone calls or do official business.

Autism tends to be like that. It is indeed a spectrum disorder, and the amount of practical day to day functioning varies tremendously from person to person, as does the level of intelligence.

Bottom line, no one can or should be "put in a box"; and people who refuse to be understanding and compassionate should watch out for "karma" .... nuff said.

Answer 2

Autism is not a disability of the intellect, but rather of the emotions. Many people with autism have average, above average, or even superior IQ's. However, they lack the ability to process social cues, express their emotions, or know when certain behaviors are or aren't appropriate. At the same time, some of them are extremely gifted in a certain area, such as music or math. These people are known as savants or autistic-savants.
Mental retardation is a completely different disability than autism. People with mental retardation (often abbrieviated as MR) have a below average IQ. No matter how old they are, their minds will never progress beyond the intellectual capacities of a first grader at the most. Hope this helps.
Oh, and a word of caution- be careful about using the word "retarded." You may not be aware of this, but so many people have misused the word (i.e. "Oh, man, that movie was so retarded) that it has come to have an offensive tone. When you are referring to people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities, please say "He has MR" or "He is developmentally delayed" rather than "He is retarded."

Answer 3

Functioning is the ability to do something, intellegence is the knowledge of how to do it. For example you seem to have the intelligence to know what you want to say but lack the ability to spell it correctly. Not all people who are mentally retarded (sorry people, not as a political term but medical diagnosis) are autistic, not all autistic people are mentally retarded. Try READING about the subject, there are alot of forms of autism, and most people who are autistic are very smart, but for some reason the connection from knowing to doing is not made. My son has sensory integration disorder, he is not autistic but it is a characteristic of autism. He is very smart, but the way things feel or smell or taste make him refuse to touch things or eat different foods. Think about it. If you wanted to wear a shirt, but something about the way it felt against your skin disgusted you, it would be really frustrating. Be careful how you treat people because you never know when you will find yourself or someone you love in those same shoes.

Answer 4

they take an IQ test.

adverage IQ is 100 (with a 'grace' frame of 90-110. if you are between these numbers you are right on target)

mild mental diability = 50-70 (function of a 12 year old)
moderate = 35–40 (6 year old)
(some tests will say moderate is 35-55. so 50-55 is a grace period)
severe= 20-35 (grace period is 35-40)
profound= below 20 (some tests below 25)

autistics can be in most any of these ranges.

autistics can also be savants- one gifted abilty that surpasses even people with genius IQ (for instance, sometimes there math abilities can only be matched with a computer) these abilities are innate, they are not learned.
(you might want to look up the videos on youtube)

autistics can also be Ausburgers. they have basic IQ but low emotional functioning, short attention spans, inabilty to read others emotions/social ques, and sencitivity to sound/light/ect

many autistics are just in their own world and can't take a test. it may not be that they can't open a door- but they don't even realize the door is there. they are all very low functioning.

Answer 5

I am Autistic and so is my daughter. We live on our own, we live a fairly normal life ( I don't drive because of my disability), my family is in another state, and unless you really got to know me you wouldn't know I was Autistic. The kind of Autism me and my child have is called Asbergers which is a high functioning form. We tend to be anti social, we don't like changes in our lives, we have a hard time expressing ourselves, I have a hard time reading and following directions, and my child is very good at reading directions and drawing and I'm goo at picking up new languages and listening/figuring out people. You would be surprised at how many people have Asbergers including Bill Gates and Albert Einstein. The way to test is to go to an expert who is usually a speech teacher who is trained in this field. They will then go through the tests and ask questions about your life to come up with a conclusion.

Answer 6

Listen buster I have a form of autism and I don't appreciate "people" like you! There are many forms and severities of autism and sadly enough for you you do not suffer from anything except ignorance! try getting out of this section and surfing the web and doing something called research and look up autism you may actually learn something new and different even though with your limited mental capability I HIGHLY doubt it.

Answer 7

Autism is a very broad category...a spectrum disorder. So while one person with autism may have high intelligence....another person at the other end of the spectrum may be low functioning. Additionally, I know a few children with autism that are low-functioning as far as motor skills but are indeed very intelligent. They just lack the means to express it the way others do.

Answer 8

im sick of people asking these kinds of questions.....if it bothers u that much and u don't know anything about autism, do some research!! like someone above me said, autism is called the Autism Spectrum for a reason, people who have autism are on all levels of the spectrum! do some research and figure it out. they are more than capable to go day to day if they are high on the spectrum.....they are NOT retarded...do some research before u open ur mouth again.

Answer 9

1. JERK: retarded? get real.
People with developmental disabilities are tested and rated on a variety of levels. It has to do with their ability to self care, be self supportive, their adaptive abiltiies in relating to day to day activities.
2. Don't poke fun at people with disabilties. It is the one minority you could easily join at anytime. What if you were in a car accident and got a traumatic brain injury? How would you like to be classified as "retarded"? Not so funny now is it.
Grow up.

Answer 10

They are very smart usually in one field, as far as your other comments i have no idea..