Interesting article about the Hidden Potential of Autism

[SueM in MN]

This is a thought provoking article, not only about autism, but about how testing is done on anyone with a disability.
Scientific American Article about Hidden Potential of Autism

My youngest DD has experienced some of those tests.
Obviously, if you ask a person who can’t speak a question like “What is a scissor?” or “What does charity mean?” they won’t be able to answer in a way that will satisfy the tester.
And, she has had non-verbal tests where she was expected to point to the answer - very difficult to tell which answer she was choosing with tiny print for a person with gross and fine motor skill deficits.

 

[krisnme]

Thanks SueM, passed this onto some parents I know that would be very interested.

 

[SueM in MN]

You're welcome. Thanks for passing it on.

I liked the answer to the wedding question in the story ( actually not sure what I would ask).
The question made me think of my nephew who has Asperger's.
His class was assigned to write a paper on the subject, "What I would do if I were President....."

He got in trouble because he refused to write anything. He had a very logical reason (" I don't wish to ever become President, therefore I would never have the opportunity to do anything as President. So, there is nothing to write about").
The teacher said none of the other kids wanted to be President either, but wrote anyway. Nephew said it would be lying to write about what you would do in that situation and the other kids should have also refused to write anything ( which did not make nephew popular with the teacher).

 

[Booknut]

Your nephew sounds brilliant!

Great article, thanks for posting