Autistic and Autism Researcher

[Haiku]

Hello, I'm a new member. I'm 21 years old and a doctoral student at UCLA studying autism. I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was seven years old. I like Pokemon (especially the TCG), writing (I am a professionally published memoirist), and psychology... if you are curious about the world of ASD research and want to know more, I can probably answer questions. I know a lot and I've met many of the field's major players at conferences such as IMFAR/INSAR annual meeting. As I mentioned, I'm also a serious writer, and I teach writing courses to undergrads.

I'm nonbinary and transgender. I prefer they/them pronouns. If you absolutely cannot use them, he/him is acceptable but she/her is not.

The big news in my life is I'm getting a cat on Friday. I'm naming her Tarot. :3

 

[Ragnahawk]

Hello, I'm a new member. I'm 21 years old and a doctoral student at UCLA studying autism. I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was seven years old. I like Pokemon (especially the TCG), writing (I am a professionally published memoirist), and psychology... if you are curious about the world of ASD research and want to know more, I can probably answer questions. I know a lot and I've met many of the field's major players at conferences such as IMFAR/INSAR annual meeting. As I mentioned, I'm also a serious writer, and I teach writing courses to undergrads.

I'm nonbinary and transgender. I prefer they/them pronouns. If you absolutely cannot use them, he/him is acceptable but she/her is not.

The big news in my life is I'm getting a cat on Friday. I'm naming her Tarot. :3

I'm just going to use he since that's alright.

 

[VioletHaze_03]

welcome to the forum! that is some very cool stuff. are you studying autism specifically, or the psychology related to learning disabilities and developmental disorders? also, i'm not good with acronyms, so i'm not entirely sure what TCG stands for. i happen to have a special interest in different developmental disabilities, mental illness, and the different forms of autism. i know quite a bit already, and was able to correctly self diagnose last year from my research and experience with other aspies. it would be really interesting to speak to a professional in the field, i'd really like to hear about your experiences!

 

[Haiku]

I'm studying autism specifically, but I do have some flexibility. TCG stands for Trading Card Game. Feel free to ask me anything!

 

[VioletHaze_03]

I'm studying autism specifically, but I do have some flexibility. TCG stands for Trading Card Game. Feel free to ask me anything!

Ah, i was more into the video games as a child, got wrecked by the people who actually knew how to use the cards. I don't have any specific questions, but something i was definitely wondering about was the possibility of being high functioning and nonverbal. It doesn't sound possible, but i've heard it does exist.

 

[Haiku]

Not to evade the question, but it's a bit moot because there is no such thing (objectively) as "high functioning" -- which is to say, some people are "higher functioning" than others but there is no single thing that we can measure that tells us what "functioning level" someone is. So, there is no scientific definition of "high functioning".

That said, we do have tools that we use to screen people (for example, if a study is designed for verbal adults, it would be unethical to include nonverbal participants, so we have to screen them out). Normally we use Verbal IQ as a general measure of cognitive ability, so if you're asking about that, the answer is probably no, I've never heard of someone having a normal Verbal IQ and being nonverbal.

EDIT: Although I should add, it is possible to be "high functioning" and not necessarily "nonverbal", but unable to speak due to anxiety/selective mutism.

 

[VioletHaze_03]

Huh. When i use the word "high functioning" i'm mostly talking about those who fit the criteria for asperger syndrome. My theory was that this might be possible because the person affected may not be able to communicate (verbal but not able to form words properly) but may view the world differently than someone who has a more severe form of asd. They may see people as chances for friends rather than generic objects, but not have any means to express this. The only reason i think this is because i had a lot of trouble speaking as a child and needed occupational therapy. However, this is just a theory and i don't mean to de-value your opinion/findings.

 

[Ragnahawk]

Not to evade the question, but it's a bit moot because there is no such thing (objectively) as "high functioning" -- which is to say, some people are "higher functioning" than others but there is no single thing that we can measure that tells us what "functioning level" someone is. So, there is no scientific definition of "high functioning".

That said, we do have tools that we use to screen people (for example, if a study is designed for verbal adults, it would be unethical to include nonverbal participants, so we have to screen them out). Normally we use Verbal IQ as a general measure of cognitive ability, so if you're asking about that, the answer is probably no, I've never heard of someone having a normal Verbal IQ and being nonverbal.

EDIT: Although I should add, it is possible to be "high functioning" and not necessarily "nonverbal", but unable to speak due to anxiety/selective mutism.

I am interested to talk about autism and psychology. Myers Briggs and autism are the two things I want to bring together...

 

[Haiku]

Right, but Asperger's Syndrome isn't an official diagnostic label anymore for exactly this reason. Scientifically and objectively there is no clear-cut difference between Asperger's and autism. People thought that there were differences, but over time that theory was dismantled and disproven. That's why ASD exists now.

 

[Haiku]

@Ragnahawk I do some research with personality inventories (though not Myers-Briggs, as its scientific properties are not very good -- which isn't to say I dislike it, because I think it's very interesting, but it's widely regarded as not useful for studies).

 

[Ragnahawk]

@Ragnahawk I do some research with personality inventories (though not Myers-Briggs, as its scientific properties are not very good -- which isn't to say I dislike it, because I think it's very interesting, but it's widely regarded as not useful for studies).

What other useful personality inventories are there? I have been able to use the concepts as a way of working with people

 

[xudo]

Welcome

 

[Haiku]

What other useful personality inventories are there? I have been able to use the concepts as a way of working with people

It's not my field of expertise, but I think the most prominent model that currently exists is the big 5 personality inventory.

 

[Streetwise]

Welcome

Hello, I'm a new member. I'm 21 years old and a doctoral student at UCLA studying autism. I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was seven years old. I like Pokemon (especially the TCG), writing (I am a professionally published memoirist), and psychology... if you are curious about the world of ASD research and want to know more, I can probably answer questions. I know a lot and I've met many of the field's major players at conferences such as IMFAR/INSAR annual meeting. As I mentioned, I'm also a serious writer, and I teach writing courses to undergrads.

I'm nonbinary and transgender. I prefer they/them pronouns. If you absolutely cannot use them, he/him is acceptable but she/her is not.

The big news in my life is I'm getting a cat on Friday. I'm naming her Tarot. :3

 

[Ragnahawk]

It's not my field of expertise, but I think the most prominent model that currently exists is the big 5 personality inventory.

The Big Five Personality Test | Truity

This. Barely describes me. If the goal was to guess, it guessed as vaguely as possible. Like it didn't want to miss interpret my intentions be instead veered off in crazy ways like I am more prone to addiction or I am halfway antagonistic. This is just... it doesn't want to admit it's wrong. I don't like the big 5. At least you can be highly critical of the 16 personality types. The big 5 is only worried about being correct with vague descriptions.

 

[Ragnahawk]

The Big Five Personality Test | Truity

This. Barely describes me. If the goal was to guess, it guessed as vaguely as possible. Like it didn't want to miss interpret my intentions be instead veered off in crazy ways like I am more prone to addiction or I am halfway antagonistic. This is just... it doesn't want to admit it's wrong. I don't like the big 5. At least you can be highly critical of the 16 personality types. The big 5 is only worried about being correct with vague descriptions.

Also where's intuition? It doesn't explain this magical gift to immediately comprehend something without being able to explain it.

 

[Haiku]

The Big Five Personality Test | Truity

This. Barely describes me. If the goal was to guess, it guessed as vaguely as possible. Like it didn't want to miss interpret my intentions be instead veered off in crazy ways like I am more prone to addiction or I am halfway antagonistic. This is just... it doesn't want to admit it's wrong. I don't like the big 5. At least you can be highly critical of the 16 personality types. The big 5 is only worried about being correct with vague descriptions.

I think you're right, the Big 5 inflates its psychometric properties by being as vague as possible. This is intentional in its design. However, so far, nothing that is specific has held up to research. Like, Myers-Briggs simply has not replicated good psychometric properties. Articles of interest to you may be Boyle 1995 and McCrae & Costa 1989... they can inform you of these things in much greater detail.

 

[OkRad]

I am glad you are here You are young for a grad student so you must be really smart!

I would love to know whey dxing is so hard. I had the Dx Autism NOS given by a woman who had two kids on the Spectrum. Later, a different Dr in a different area wanted me to go to another autism specialist so see if it still was.

He was the rudest man I ever met. He said, "So what do you think of all this autism stuff? Been looking it up online?" Stuff like that.

Then he said, after like an hour and a half, "Oh, We knew as soon as you said Hello, you were not autistic. You were downright warm."

And went on to say that I made eye contact and did not rock etc.

Now, I can buy that, but the other lady saw all that, too. And she had two kids who were autistic.

This guy just said I needed to go get some DBT. He ignored my genetic duplication on 6p which HAS BEEN LINK TO ASD and family, etc.........

He is a bog shot at a big place that brought in millions in research, so no hope of getting re evaluted anytime soon .

My point is, if it is THAT hard to dx, well, then it's just based on if you are male or had parents go with you or if he thinks you're just mentally ill, etc.....

 

[Haiku]

I am glad you are here You are young for a grad student so you must be really smart!

I would love to know whey dxing is so hard. I had the Dx Autism NOS given by a woman who had two kids on the Spectrum. Later, a different Dr in a different area wanted me to go to another autism specialist so see if it still was.

He was the rudest man I ever met. He said, "So what do you think of all this autism stuff? Been looking it up online?" Stuff like that.

Then he said, after like an hour and a half, "Oh, We knew as soon as you said Hello, you were not autistic. You were downright warm."

And went on to say that I made eye contact and did not rock etc.

Now, I can buy that, but the other lady saw all that, too. And she had two kids who were autistic.

This guy just said I needed to go get some DBT. He ignored my genetic duplication on 6p which HAS BEEN LINK TO ASD and family, etc.........

He is a bog shot at a big place that brought in millions in research, so no hope of getting re evaluted anytime soon .

My point is, if it is THAT hard to dx, well, then it's just based on if you are male or had parents go with you or if he thinks you're just mentally ill, etc.....

Haha, thanks. Yeah, I am young, I went straight to graduate school from undergrad. I'm in a small department, but I'm the youngest in it.

I would say that diagnosing autism is hard in some ways, but in an ideal world it should not be hard in the sense of different clinicians giving different opinions. It should not be a matter of opinion at all. Clinicians should not be relying on "gut instinct" -- some use structured interviews, which is okay, but for ASD there should always be an observational assessment (in this case, one called the ADOS) -- and administering the ADOS requires extensive training, but when done correctly it is objective.

Of course, there's a lot of contingencies there. We don't live in an ideal world, so it's quite likely that this guy is just incompetent.

 

[Kari_Cookie]

Did you get your name from Japanese Haiku poem?