Quote:
Originally Posted by bcbrown
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Very good post overall, well structured and I agree 100% with your conclusions.
But please don't imply autistic people can't think abstractly. That perpetuates a harmful stereotype.
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“People with autism have problems with abstract and conceptual thinking. Some may eventually acquire abstract skills, but others never will. When abstract concepts must be used, use visual cues, such as drawings or written words, to augment the abstract idea.“
https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/irca/ar...bstract%20idea.
“Abstract thinking is generally highly correlated with problem-solving ability which is predictive of better adaptive functioning. Measures of conceptual reasoning, an ecologically-valid laboratory measure of problem-solving, and a report measure of adaptive functioning in the natural environment, were administered to children and adults with and without autism. The individuals with autism had weaker conceptual reasoning ability than individuals with typical development of similar age and cognitive ability. For the autism group, their flexible thinking scores were significantly correlated with laboratory measures of strategy formation and rule shifting and with reported overall adaptive behavior but not socialization scores. Therefore, in autism, flexibility of thought is potentially more important for adaptive functioning in the natural environment than conceptual reasoning or problem-solving.“
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6067678/
“For children on the autism spectrum, abstract thinking might pose challenges due to a tendency toward concrete thinking and difficulty with interpreting non-literal language. However, this doesn't mean they lack abstract thinking altogether. Many exhibit strengths in focused areas and may develop unique strategies to navigate abstract concepts.“
https://bighearttoys.com/blogs/autis...tract-thinking
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Yes - it was an inappropriate jab at DSM but problems with making the transition from concrete thought (neurotypical for toddlers and younger children) to abstract thought (the neurotypical transition in your older childhood to early adolescent years) is one of the hallmark struggles for those who are on spectrum. For people who have high functioning autism - it is a key area of struggle and is a defining aspect of the condition itself.
A defining feature of the condition is not what I would really call a “stereotype”
DSM get’s so lost on the weeds with his napkin math that he has historically been unable to step back and either look at the bigger picture or the same picture from a different angle.
He is the poster child for a “concrete thinker”
Objectively, after years of observing his argument structure, prose, tendency to double down, interactions with others on this forum … in trying to follow his cognitive train of thought … and last but not least obsession with whatever conclusion he has come to or opinion he holds …
I’m pretty confident he’s on spectrum (diagnosed or otherwise)
The alternative is he has an internet persona that is entirely separate from his actual *person* in real life or has always played an elaborate ruse on the community and is, in fact, a double black belt in intrawebs trolling.