Aspie mutants will rule

My sense (yep!) of Aspergers: It is NOT part of the “autistic spectrum”.  The cluster of features associated with autism have been linked through autopsy research and spect imaging to different funtioning  primarily in the hippocampus, while  aspergers traits seem to result from different functioning in the amygdala {Grandin; “American Normal” }. There may be overlap when there is  different functioning in several  areas of the brain; however,  “aspergers” seems to arise from  a differently developed amygdala.

This results in a sort of  social partial “deafness”.  Aspie kids strain to “hear” the social signals that neurotypical people are “hearing”. Their intense concentration on picking up the social “sounds” that come across to them as so muted can take so much of their attention that they are less aware of their own social appearance, straining on the edges of social groups like little birds hoping to dart in and pick up a crumb of a recognizable cue. They are usually unaware that this very straining, focused behavior draws attention to their lack of social “hearing”. It can also lead others to conclude that they have “attention deficit”, although this is bull shit. They have great attention, it’s all being used at once to try and process information when they are in social learning situations such as school.

This need to use their intellectual functions to learn a sort of “sign language” to communicate socially, rather than communicate with the use of the amygdala  as the “socially  hearing” world does, can cause a system to overload from constant focus; these kids need breaks  to be able to let their minds work more normally (for them).  Order, attention to favorite subjects, some freedom to allow the “true mind” to be the director of their behavior for a while, can ease the strain. Understanding, accptance, appreciation and clarity in communication from thier peers would be ideal.

This Aspie ”true mind” knows what it’s doing; the  wonderful plasticity of the brain is allowing a routing around the different functioning  of the amygdala to utlimately develop the emotional connections to social cues that the neurotypical world takes for granted. The more often an Aspie can follow her true mind, the quicker this can happen. Taking the “long way home” is a great benefit; the aspie high intelligence is coupled with atypical solution focus, highly visual/spatial thinking, and flexible reasoning: this allows for amazing insights that the neruotypicall–socially bound as we are–may lack the chops for.

There is a reported rise in the occurrence of autism and aspergers that cannot be accounted for merely by diagnosis improvements. It seems to be a genetically linked trait, as well.

I suggest that the differently developed brain, the outward features of which we are currently calling “autism” and “aspergers”, are evolutionary developments. Just as there were several “strains” of humans coexisting with  homo erectus, perhaps we are seeing the strains of human development that will, through passing the right genetic combinations via mating–culminate in a new type of human, best suited to the world we have created.  I can see a good case for this being the Aspies.

Aspies are not bound to the emotional drama that corrupts the clear functioning of so many of us neuortypicals.  They wear what is comfortable, rather than what pleases others. They don’t care “who likes who” and have a reasoned approach to relationships based on mutual satisfaction in endeavor, not social status (a horrid corrupter of communal harmony, this addiction to social status!). They take real pleasure in focusing on new insights, learning about a discrete area, and can work at length on tasks merely for  the satisfaction of completing them–that, coupled with a preference for intellectual and artistic/design based pursuits—makes them ideal citizens of a modern technologically saturated society.

They embody the best ideals of an enlightened citizen; they  tend to see problems of distribution of resources as interesting challenges to be creatively solved, not as issues of territory or historic precedent. They are not bullies, even when they may have endured the unreasoned, animalistic bullying of others. They are not driven by that debased desire to cause suffering that degrades the aggregate of the  neurotypical world.

As far as mating, they would be the genuine answer to the oft stated prayers of the single and seeking who want a mate who “does not play games”.  Emotional games are anathema to them.

However, as currently manifested, the aspies may want to keep a few of us neurotypicals around for child raising–I would suggest that the empathically mirroring parent is still a great benefit to the early development of a highly functional human, aspie or not. Also, someone needs to plan the meals and make sure there are bathroom breaks.  Ultimately, we make good pets.

of note: a great Aspie hero: the character of Maxwell Smart as written by Astle and Ember and played by Carell.

---

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)

• Aspies: if I know it, everyone knows it