autistic traits

[IamDZJ]

i recently discovered that a friend whom i have known for a very long time (9 years) has some autistic traits which enables him to guess certain emotions...due to my lack of knowledge on the subject of autism, i find this extremely hard to believe as i have known this gentleman as a highly self motivated individual who happens to be an overachiever in his academic matters.

is it possible for some one who is affected by autism to carry a regular lifestyle or is he kidding me?? i have only seen extreme cases and i really don't understand the articles i read in google so i would really appreciate it if some one helps me understand his case better. furthur more, is there anything i should be aware of while interacting with him?

i don't want to be insensitive specially after he confronted me about this issue but i don't want to change my behavior towards him all of a sudden either.

[tor_khan]

^I'm not the expert, but I've worked with autistic children, and what I do know is there are variations of autism along a spectrum.

Compulsion etc. may be evident in some conditions along this spectrum and some autistic people can be aware of the condition. Most people "regular" folk are suppressing certain behviours in the presence of others. Amongst autistics, there is less of that quite often. What you will find in many of them is a disconnect between their own behaviours and those whom they come across.

I also recommend reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - it's an absolutely brilliant novel told from the perspective of an autistic teenager. This ranks as one of my own all-time favourite reads. Mark Haddon has done a really good job, I think, of getting under the skin of an autistic person.

[Baygham]

i recently discovered that a friend whom i have known for a very long time (9 years) has some autistic traits which enables him to guess certain emotions...due to my lack of knowledge on the subject of autism, i find this extremely hard to believe as i have known this gentleman as a highly self motivated individual who happens to be an overachiever in his academic matters.

is it possible for some one who is affected by autism to carry a regular lifestyle or is he kidding me?? i have only seen extreme cases and i really don't understand the articles i read in google so i would really appreciate it if some one helps me understand his case better. furthur more, is there anything i should be aware of while interacting with him?

i don't want to be insensitive specially after he confronted me about this issue but i don't want to change my behavior towards him all of a sudden either.

He may have some autistic traits, but emotion is affected not enhanced in autism. A cousin of autism - asperger syndrome can have preserved linguistic and cognitive function, but even they lack non verbal skills (body language) and empathy.

So I say if someone is linguistically and cognitively intact and has good social skills, they dont have autism.

[pir_Rokhan]

From my experience, these guys are hesitant in takigng initiatives so one should not expect any initiative on their part. They hate noise and loud voices. Some of them have social phobia and avoid gatherings and being the point of focus.

May be Baygham could throw light on whether the so called NLP [Nuero Lingusitic Programming ] is a possible therapy for tAutism or not. It is more claimed to be a therapy for the restoration of self confidance however the NLP masters also claim the therapy of autistic patients.

One good thing about autistic person is their inclInations towards science. They are good or feel confortable at quantitiative sciences as comapred to social or normative sciences which involve a subjective element and qualitative approach and hence they dont feel at home in studying them. If I remember correctly the bollywood movie "My name is Khan" is about an autistic patient [SRK being the one who plays the role].