Asperger Syndrome or "Nerd/Geek"?

Question

The more I read the more I don't understand about AS.

Is there any clear difference between AS and "nerd/geek"?

or is AS the high level of nerd/geek?

I mean, is AS a condition about very very nerd/geek person so they categorized it as a disorder?

One of my friend described Autism is a person who is "Thinking In Pictures" like in a book by Temple Grandin or she is one of the autistic savant who have great visualization/imagination?

They also mention a lot about Bill Gates, Thomas Edison, Einstein are AS, is that true? or just the AS is inside of all nerd/geek?

Can nerd/geek who spend time alone till they lost their social skill become AS? or other way around, can AS become nerd/geek (at least nerd/geek more acceptable than having a disorder) after social skill therapy?

Edited:

Sorry for using nerd/geek word.

Answer 1

I found this video about a autistic savant:

http://www.oddee.com/item_91848.aspx

Also I think the newest Wired magazine has info on this...

It says there brains are not broken just different.

Answer 2

There is a difference. A person with Aspergers Syndrome has a neurological difference in their brain. It is the mild end of the autism spectrum.

A person who is a "Nerd/Geed" may have Aspergers Syndrome or they may simply be absorbed with their computers etc.

Einstein was certainly autistic. His brain as been preseved. Edison, Gates, Da Vinci, Van Gogh etc are all people who may have been or may be (in the case of Gates) autistic but no one knows for sure.

Typically if you take a "Nerd/Geek" out of the environment and force them to participate in a social event they can do it with a little practice (some have no trouble at all).

The person with AS will not read social cues and will have great difficulty interacting and communicating because of it.

That said, many people with AS do gravitate towards jobs with technology. NASA is referred to with the autism community as "Spectrum Central" thought I doubt many have been offically diagnosed. The higher the AS person fucntions, the harder it is too tell but in general, there is a difference and it is how the brain is hard wired.

It is also true that some people who are "Nerds/Geeks" will tell people they have AS when they have never had a real diagnosis and are "self diagnosed". A person with true AS will need a doctors diagnosis to tell the difference.

I am passionate about those "self diagnosed people" talking for the autism community.

As for the person who said they were a high school principal, perhaps you might like to know that the sucide rate for people with AS is high and one of the reasons cited is being laughed at. I am sure if you truly are a high school principal (which I hope to God is not true) that you would show a little more compassion or are you just wanting to have students that are a bit different kill themsleves. Would you "laugh your *** off" when their parents find them hanging in their bedrooms because they can't make sense of the social world around them? Truly pathetic if its true.

Answer 3

The little professor is another name, and yes they are extreme nerds who don't care about anything but themselves in most cases. They ave weird or geeky interests, speak monotone, and are socially akward. But, it sounds like guys I knew in school who were only consisdered a nerd. Either way, they are highly funny to watch, I laugh my *** off when I observe them

Fievel's answer does not count because his brother is autistic, sorry

Answer 4

AS is also referred to as the Geek Syndrome, meant affectionately to the ones I love with AS.

Not all with AS or Autism have 'savant-like' qualities.

I see where you are coming from though, but believe me, having true AS, is NOT the same as just being geeky/ nerdy.   which kinda bothers me to say that, too, btw.  There are some who are just so smart, they are too wise to 'hang out' with the socially elite, so that is kinda on purpose, ya know?  

Then there are ones who are so smart,  they just don't have the right surroundings, due to income or what environment they were 'born into'.  

You are BORN with AS, you don't DEVELOP it, as you mentioned may be possible.  There is NO cure for it.

Only coping skills.  

Tony Attwood's Guide to Asperger's is on a much better level for us, NT's to understand. (nuero-typicals)

Temple Grandin's book is fascinating though... she is extrememly intelligent, as are most on the Autistic Spectrum.

AS is more like a social disease.  (also, not meant to be degrading, remember my hubby & son both have AS)

They don't ALWAYS WANT to be alone, they just need down-time &/or they don't have a choice, because "socially" they are outcasts, possibly.

Sorry for the rant, I am passionate about clearing up to others misconceptions of "Aspies".  I love two of them much & want them to be better understood.

Answer 5

There is a huge difference between AS and "geek" (although my aspie son self-identifies as a geek teehee!)  Here are the dx criteria

Criterion A. Severe and sustained impairment in social interaction

Criterion B. The development of restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests, and activities

Criterion C. The disturbance must cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

Criterion D. In contrast to Autistic Disorder, there are no clinically significant delays in language (eg: single words are used by age 2 years, communicative phrases are used by age 3 years).

Criterion E. There are no clinically significant delays in cognitive  development or in the development of age-appropriate self-help skills, adaptive behaviour (other than in social  interaction), and curiosity about the environment in childhood.

Criterion F. The diagnosis is not given if the criteria are met  for any other specific Pervasive Developmental Disorder or

for Schizophrenia.

But you see the main point is that the deficits must be clinically significant. Many extreme geeks would probably receive a dx if they wanted it. However, they are more capable of self care, ie getting a job, caring about what people think, being able to pay bills, than aspies are.

Temple Grandin is not a person with aspergers, she definitely has autism. She is also not a savant, but she is very talented. There are different types of autism (which Temple mentions in her latest speeches, that she 'wasn't aware that different autistics can think differently) so not only visual thinkers, but also math thinkers and verbal thinkers.

It's really unfair of people to put Gates, Edison and Einstein on the aspie worship list. They have never been diagnosed, or at the least, have not shared diagnosis with the world, it is just speculation. AS does not ensure intelligence. It is unfortunate that in my career as advocate, I have met many aspies, and at least half were not above average intelligence. Autism is a different way of thinking. People can seem typical, with 'training', or typical people can seem aspie, but so much is not just appearance, but a very real differentiation as to the CAUSE of the behavior, not just the behavior.