Nerds or Geeks...?

[zurb]

Just like there are online tests for ASD, there are also online tests for being a nerd. Here’s just one: The Official Nerd Determinant Test

 

[Ylva]

I think we're more creative, on average. When we try to fit in it's like we parody groupthink, going overboard with the rules.

It dawned on me earlier. Allistics, and for all I know many autistics, subconsciously define "intelligence" as "just knowing stuff". It would explain why neurotypicals get so disappointed when they ask how I know the things I know and I tell them. It explains why in fiction intelligence is always represented as having a god-like superpower of omniscience.

Sherlock sees a tiny scratch and knows who the murderer is. Temperence looks at a humerus and it all falls into place. Hermione remembers killing a basilisk with a sword with some vague prophecy on it and instantly knows how to destroy horcruxes. Intelligence in fiction is basically being psychic, and it represents how the culture thinks about it.

 

[Crossbreed]

I'm afraid you've taken some of my comments far beyond the level of the point I was trying to make. Perhaps you confused some of them with the OP.

(Hopefully, not making matters worse

) the thread title presumes that many of those who owned their Geco-Nerdic* labels of yore are considered neuro-diverse by today's reckoning; not necessarily that all of today's neuro-diverse were previously (or correctly) labeled nerds & geeks.

*Geek/nerd-related labels.

 

[Crossbreed]

Just like there are online tests for ASD, there are also online tests for being a nerd. Here’s just one: The Official Nerd Determinant Test

That test really leans STEMpunk.

 

[Bronzelincolns]

No™

 

[rollerskate]

Yes! I called this "the stupidity monster" when I was younger. I'm really good with books, writing, art, etc. because I'm good with patterns, structured learning, and in the case of the arts, my sensory sensitivities play a huge role in shaping my creativity. But any "normal" stuff - the mundane, everyday habits and behaviors most folks take for granted - that all can be a real struggle for me. Perhaps most frustrating for me, considering my talents with the english language... I have speech problems. But oddly, I think the speech issues may have contributed to me learning more about language, much like my social issues drove me to learn more about topics like psychology and theater. All in all... everything I've learned and done has been almost entirely dedicated to just learning how to communicate and function.

I sometimes wonder where I would be now if I had proper support and the ability to focus on purely academic endeavors instead of pumping so much brainpower in learning how to human.

That is a really interesting article.

The most interesting part for me was the statement that, "MRI investigations comparing the brains of ASD patients to neurotypical control groups unearth any number of differences in activity within the areas of the brain commonly used for social communication and restricted and repetitive behaviors. In the case of autistic savants, those areas are apparently repurposed to perform other feats of intelligence."

I've always felt exactly like that - like the part of my brain that is supposed to help me do normal, social stuff instinctively is non-functional and that I have to figure out how to do that on my own. Instead of that natural social ability, I have abilities that most other people don't.

I also really appreciated the statements that differences in brain structure are not "something that therapists or families working with autistic patients should become obsessed with" and that "Dealing with each patient as an individual, with their own capabilities and deficiencies, is the core of the functional behavior assessments used by applied behavior analysts to assess behavior deficits and develop treatment plans."

Thanks for sharing this article.

 

[Crossbreed]

Math much...?

The reason that I asked, is because your statement was telling.

Common NT: If I had a nickel for every time that has occurred,...

[Us] STEMpunk: If I had $0.05 for every time that has occurred, I would have $1,173.75 (not factoring for inflation, of course)...

 

[WildCat]

The reason that I asked, is because your statement was telling.

Common NT: If I had a nickel for every time that has occurred,...

[Us] STEMpunk: If I had $0.05 for every time that has occurred, I would have $1,173.75 (not factoring for inflation, of course)...

...If I literally had a nickel for each result (23,475 x 0.05), that'd be $1,173.75.

"If I had a nickel..." + the math involved = a bit of both worlds then. What would that be, "STEMtypical"?

Again, that was from a calculator and not some inborn talent for STEM, which I don't have and would have to put in effort for like anything else.

 

[GrownupGirl]

A lot of people seem to think we're stupid and mentally defective. Nerd or geek are two things I was never accused of being at school as a teenager, even though back in the 80's and 90's it was *bad* to be a nerd or geek. But one adult at the alternative learning center I later went to said I was bright and intelligent. I could hardly believe it. He must have been lying because if I even had average intelligence I wouldn't keep losing it and posting things that get me banned from this site. I would think before doing such things and not do them. I would learn from my mistakes and try hard not to repeat them. But I am a mistake, so...

 

[Crossbreed]

An interesting article...

Is Autism Associated with Higher Intelligence?

Related...

How Genetic Variation Gives Rise to Differences in Mathematical Ability - Neuroscience News

 

[Aspergers_Aspie]

I saw this article talking about Einstein and intellectuals and those who are geniuses:-

Difference Between Genius and Intelligent | Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms.

 

[FayetheAspie]

Geeks used to mean a type of Circus Freak, that ate disgusting things, so I stay away from that one.

Yeah, I don't know how it came to mean " really good with computers " based off the original meaning. I don't know how "nerd" started as a fictional creature in some Dr. Suess book then came to mean" fascinated by academic pursuits" either really.