Does the academic giftedness that comes with autism outweigh the social struggles?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My AuDHD kid was top of her class, NMSF, 1580 SAT, with tons of advanced and college classes graduating HS.

And, she went to our state flagship. Didn’t even apply to any T20 schools. She is incredibly smart but she knew she needed to be closer to home in a less competitive environment.

Could she have gotten into a T20? Absolutely. Would it have been a good situation for her? Probably not.

+1 same kinda kid who needed social help in elementary years and went to state flagship tech. Glad she will graduate debt free with two engineering degrees.
This person is a troll, right?
They do know that some of the most brilliant people choose not to go to IVY league schools?

[Anonymous]

It depends on the severity of the autism, OP.

My kids are supposedly both level 1 ASD, although the psychologist who diagnosed them doesn't like to use those levels, for good reason: my 20 year old is limited in his life and career potential due to his inability to surmount certain issues that come with his autism, namely his lack of social skills and problems with organization and prioritization. He is in college, but cannot use all the resources at his disposal, which is so irritating at times. My 15 year old is mostly just gifted and is perceived to be introverted, but this only marginally impacts her life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My AuDHD kid was top of her class, NMSF, 1580 SAT, with tons of advanced and college classes graduating HS.

And, she went to our state flagship. Didn’t even apply to any T20 schools. She is incredibly smart but she knew she needed to be closer to home in a less competitive environment.

Could she have gotten into a T20? Absolutely. Would it have been a good situation for her? Probably not.

+1 same kinda kid who needed social help in elementary years and went to state flagship tech. Glad she will graduate debt free with two engineering degrees.
This person is a troll, right?
They do know that some of the most brilliant people choose not to go to IVY league schools?

That’s because plenty of top colleges aren’t Ivy Leagues, such as Stanford, Caltech, and MIT.

[Anonymous]

I'm an academic, and man oh man, are there a lot of ASD types who become professors. (I remember a particular faculty meeting where I looked around the conference table and realized that everyone was stimming. Good times.)

One thing that helps is if your particular 'special interest' is something that is potentially saleable to an employer, or if it's something that makes you seem social and fun rather than quirky and weird. Lots of people whose special interest is something medieval renaissance related, and that gets you dates at Ren Faires, but not a lot of job openings for that particular specialty at the university (or elsewhere in the world, I would presume) Probably better if your special interest has something to do with AI or computers, etc.

I am on the spectrum and am married with kids. My husband is great but neither of us has a lot of close friends. We struggle socially. But honestly, my kids' special interests bring them a lot of joy -- whether it's music or World War One artillery or endangered animals.

But I would echo the sentiment that the people who make the big bucks and get into positions of power are the socially skilled B students, not the weirdos like me who did all the reading and then read everything mentioned in the footnotes to prepare for lecture. I see it with my own students.

Also the world is kind of set up for 'bright' students who are normies, more than brilliant students who are not. We had an elementary school teacher who was big on having the kids do oral book reports, etc. and the rubric explicitly gave a grade for eye contact and having an expressive voice, and I remember wondering if I needed to get IEP to not have my kid downgraded for those things, or if it was better to force her to learn those things, and to learn that the world rewards those things. So no, it's not all fun and games.

[Anonymous]

I don’t mean to scare you OP, but there are a tiny minority of autistic kids who are not academically gifted.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the preferences of the autistic individual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean to scare you OP, but there are a tiny minority of autistic kids who are not academically gifted.

That means the chances of the OP’s son not being gifted are tiny. Why would that scare them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean to scare you OP, but there are a tiny minority of autistic kids who are not academically gifted.

That means the chances of the OP’s son not being gifted are tiny. Why would that scare them?

She must mean not gifted.

Because that's what studies show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean to scare you OP, but there are a tiny minority of autistic kids who are not academically gifted.

That means the chances of the OP’s son not being gifted are tiny. Why would that scare them?

She must mean not gifted.

Because that's what studies show.

Studies show autistic kids are gifted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean to scare you OP, but there are a tiny minority of autistic kids who are not academically gifted.

That means the chances of the OP’s son not being gifted are tiny. Why would that scare them?

She must mean not gifted.

Because that's what studies show.

What exactly do studies show?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean to scare you OP, but there are a tiny minority of autistic kids who are not academically gifted.

That means the chances of the OP’s son not being gifted are tiny. Why would that scare them?

She must mean not gifted.

Because that's what studies show.

Studies show autistic kids are gifted.

[b]

No, they don’t - they show the opposite - this was discussed upthread. You are thinking if the tiny subset of autistics who have what we used to call Asperger’s syndrome - it’s a combination of high IQ and autism. It’s rare but Hollywood has enjoyed making lots of movies and series (the Brits in Doc Martin) about Asperger’s types (my daughter is one: 2e) which is probably why you think it’s prevalent. The real stats were presented upthread. OP is similarly confused.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure at what age gifted is actually measured. And no kid cares about it and will be mean. Period.

I have a kid with adhd and an overall iq over 140, adjusted or not for working memory.

Their working merry is 105.
Completely average working memory which means while they can do a Dubois be in 4 seconds they cannot hold a meaningful conversation with a peer. Or at least one the peer can relate to.

We hear about all the famous people like Einstein, Jefferson, Franklin, Tesla, etc who had some social issues but high iq.
Elon musk is there too. They were revered and hero’s with their quirks; not so much as kids I bet.

that still means growing up sucks, they have a tough road and maybe they win the lottery and find a professional life that works for them. They would be the exception, not the norm; and it is highly unlikely your kid is the next Einstein.

While a 140 iq puts my kid in 99%, does not bode well as those famous people who pulled off legendary careers were closer to 160 or above (speculation is Einstein was 170 range).

[Anonymous]

I've sort of ruminated on this for days before deciding to post. Not sure if it's a troll or not.

Anyhow, my dc is considered 2E. So, they are dx ASD and is dx gifted. They are very smart, and ASD affects their life every day.

I try to give them every opportunity I can. I don't know what their future looks like. You can't really predict, especially at 3 OP. I try to be prepared for whatever eventuality happens, whether they go away to college, get a job, or go on SSI. I'm prepared for them to live with me always, while also trying to prepare them for independent living.

You need to accept the child you have, however that looks-not the kid you thought you'd have.

[Anonymous]

I did not read all of the replies, but my inattentive ADHD kid (so not diagnosed on the spectrum, but probably high-functioning) is gifted in math / logic / analytical reasoning, but below-average in working memory - he doesn't even go to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t mean to scare you OP, but there are a tiny minority of autistic kids who are not academically gifted.

This is false. Way more than a "tiny minority" are not academically gifted. I'd guess that it's the opposite -- only a tiny percentage are academically gifted.