Can you explain how? I'll admit I don't know much about how IQ tests work exactly.
I'll give a classic example I read about awhile ago, from a discussion about why there are problems with traditional IQ testing.
IQ tests as a rule will cover a large variety of subjects. I did one once for instance where there was things like a math section, one part was knowledge about animals, another was spatial reasoning. Lots of subjects.
Well, say one of the questions in the test was asking "What color is a banana?". Well, most people would answer yellow, which would be the answer the test makers had set as being correct. But, what if someone lived in a part of the world where the bananas werent yellow? There are red ones, for instance, in certain parts of Asia. Maybe said person had never before seen a yellow one (yes I know it's a stretch but I'm not good at phrasing/remembering these, so just roll with it). And if they hadnt seen one, it'd be because they never had a chance to. So, they'd get the question wrong, which would factor into their "intelligence" score at the end, despite it having literally nothing to do with intelligence.
It's the same with other stuff. In the IQ test I took, one part was "name as many different species of animals as you can". I just ranted off like a bazillion of them until they told me "Okay, okay, you can stop now". But again, that doesnt REALLY have anything to do with intelligence. Mostly, I just like animals, so I know alot of different ones. And remembering different ones is just that: remembering. It doesnt involve any careful logic or reasoning. "Memory" isnt the same as "intelligence".
But the people that make IQ tests just dont really think that way. Well, with traditional ones anyway. That's why there's often a good bit of controversy around the idea. But since traditional IQ tests are sort of ingrained in society, that means that the average person thinks the same way. So something like that animal question, if it was being asked by someone who subscribes to that way of thinking, and if you couldnt rant off 200 species in less than a minute, they'd consider you an "idiot" despite again, it has freaking nothing to do with intelligence, and maybe you arent even all that interested in animals. Why would you know all about them if you had no interest? Or if you simply never learned?
Alot of us on the spectrum in particular tend to have very different ways in which our minds work. Much like with those traditional IQ tests, our methods of thinking often dont quite fit into that stereotypical box of what society deems to be "intelligence". But that doesnt mean we dont have said intelligence. It simply means that the traditional way of looking at it... which again, is designed for/by NTs in very "typical" situations.... doesnt really fit around us. Exactly like how some bits of those IQ tests just didnt work. Your assessment of your own intelligence is likely based alot around that traditional viewpoint, and because of that, you dont notice the ways in which you ARE smart. Frankly even alot of "traditionally" smart people often still dont notice their own brainpower. It's just part of how we're wired.
Off topic but what does that mean? Reasoning and logic your way through anything I mean.
Basically I'm just really good at getting through situations by applying pure and often very abstract logic to them. I often just describe it as "reasoning my way through stuff".
I understand the general idea of what you're saying here but I don't get why the ways I'm smart have to be super rare and stuff. How is being good at breaking and destroying things and being good at fistfights unique and special? I'd say that's an "normal" skill/talent.
Like I said above, with that more typical view of what intelligence is, you're likely to very literally not even notice any more unique traits you might have. In my case, I'm REALLY good at extrapolation. Good enough that I can use it to manipulate and twist situations to fit my whims, and nobody around me will know that I'm doing it. I used to use this to gain success with job interviews. You're guaranteed a success, after all, if you tell the interviewer *exactly* what they want to hear, and that talent let me know exactly what that was each time, even though each time was very different.
It's a very unusual ability, but it's also something that just comes naturally to me.... which means I didnt even realize I was doing it for a LONG time. I think I only became aware of it maybe 5 years ago? But I've ALWAYS done it.
Some traits we possess are like that: They're just a natural/normal part of us, to the point where we may very genuinely have no bloody idea that we even have said trait or are using it, even if we're doing so pretty much non-stop. You may not be AWARE of something like that... but that doesnt mean you dont HAVE it. Even if that something is very rare or very special in some way, that doesnt mean you're gonna notice it. Yeah, I know, this sounds a bit nonsensical, but it's just one of the screwball ways in which the brain works.
In other words: You may have, and may even be frequently using, talents of which you dont even know of. It happens way more than you might think. In all honesty, it probably happens to MOST people at least a little. But I do tend to think that it happens a bit more than usual for those on the spectrum. Or at least, based on observations anyway.
I disagree. Different can mean worst and it frequently is. For example, a baby born with harlequin-type ichthyosis is certainly "different" but the chances of that being a good thing in that context is next to nothing. Keep in mind that is literally the logic people use to justify saying certain psychiatric disorders such as ADHD, ODD, and Schizoid and Schizotypal personality disorder aren't real even though they are demonstrably are and people without those conditions would be better off not having them.
Depends on the context though. I usually just use the word "different" because it's easy and I'm lazy. Obviously, something like cancer is TECHNICALLY "different" but that doesnt mean it's positive.
In THIS context, different is.... perhaps the word "alternate" may fit better here? Like, if you've got a red car, and a blue car of the same make/model, the blue isnt really better or worse than the red one... it's just an alternate color scheme. Alot of aspects of autism in general are like that. Our brains are simply wired in an alternate configuration. It can cause problems by making us real bad at some things (like socializing) but it can bring benefits by making us really good at other things. Examples of this are shown very frequently on these forums. The problems arise because typical society wants ONLY specific skill in ONLY specific things. It's not that we're "stupid" or "bad" because we're not good at communication: it just means we dont necessarily fit in the rather braindead box that the hivemind has constructed for itself. Frankly I dont want to get in that box in the first place, it smells like dead rats.
I hope I'm making at least SOME sense here. I havent had my caffeine yet and am still recovering from an airport day. So I apologize if I'm even more disjointed than usual.
