This is not at all unusual here at LessWrong… I can’t seem to find a link, but I seem to recall that a fairly large portion of LessWrong-ers (at least relative to the general population) have Aspergers (or at least are somewhat Asperger-ish), myself included.
I’m not entirely sure though that I agree with the statement that Aspergers is “a form of autism”… I realize that that has been the general consensus for a while now, but I’ve read some articles (again, can’t find a link at the moment, sorry) suggesting that Aspergers is not actually related to Autism at all… personally, my feeling on the matter is that “Aspergers” isn’t an actual “disease” per se, but rather just a cluster of personality traits that happen to be considered socially unacceptable by modern mainstream culture, and have therefore been arbitrarily designated as a “disease”.
In any case, welcome to LessWrong—I look forward to your contributions in the future!
I’m not entirely sure though that I agree with the statement that Aspergers is “a form of autism”
If anything, I’d be tempted to say that autism is a more pronounced degree of asperger’s. I certainly catch myself in the spectrum that includes ADD as well.
The whole idea of neurodiversity is kind of exciting, actually. If there can be more than one way to appropriately interact with society, everyone gets richer.
If anything, I’d be tempted to say that autism is a more pronounced degree of asperger’s
That seems to me to be basically equivalent to saying that aspergers is a lesser form of autism. Again, sorry I can’t find the links at the moment, but I recall reading several articles suggesting that the two might actually not be related at all, neurologically.
The whole idea of neurodiversity is kind of exciting, actually. If there can be more than one way to appropriately interact with society, everyone gets richer.
I agree. Unfortunately, modern culture and institutions (like the public education system for one notable example) don’t seem to be set up based on this premise.
This is not at all unusual here at LessWrong… I can’t seem to find a link, but I seem to recall that a fairly large portion of LessWrong-ers (at least relative to the general population) have Aspergers (or at least are somewhat Asperger-ish), myself included.
I’m not entirely sure though that I agree with the statement that Aspergers is “a form of autism”… I realize that that has been the general consensus for a while now, but I’ve read some articles (again, can’t find a link at the moment, sorry) suggesting that Aspergers is not actually related to Autism at all… personally, my feeling on the matter is that “Aspergers” isn’t an actual “disease” per se, but rather just a cluster of personality traits that happen to be considered socially unacceptable by modern mainstream culture, and have therefore been arbitrarily designated as a “disease”.
In any case, welcome to LessWrong—I look forward to your contributions in the future!
If anything, I’d be tempted to say that autism is a more pronounced degree of asperger’s. I certainly catch myself in the spectrum that includes ADD as well.
The whole idea of neurodiversity is kind of exciting, actually. If there can be more than one way to appropriately interact with society, everyone gets richer.
That seems to me to be basically equivalent to saying that aspergers is a lesser form of autism. Again, sorry I can’t find the links at the moment, but I recall reading several articles suggesting that the two might actually not be related at all, neurologically.
I agree. Unfortunately, modern culture and institutions (like the public education system for one notable example) don’t seem to be set up based on this premise.