Asperger's syndrome: Difference between revisions

On the other hand, they are often exceptionally good at recognizing patterns and investigating certain topics with intense focus. People with Asperger's are also vulnerable targets of [[PUA|pick up artists]] who scam them into buying into their ineffective programs, with Aspies being particularly susceptible to the "[[Attraction ambiguity problem]]".<ref>https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886918300941</ref>

The condition is named after Hans Asperger, an Austrian pediatrician who first described the disorder in a medical context, dubbing the condition "autistic psychopathy"(in German the word "psychopathische" was often used to refer to any type of mental illness).<ref>''Die ‘Autistischen Psychopathen’ im Kindesalter'', Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten (1944), 117, pp. 76-136 German:http://www.neurodiversity.com/library_asperger_1944.html English translation:https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1992-97284-002</ref><ref>"The term psychopathy itself gained a specific and notorious meaning of a condition of amorality and anti-social or violent behavior. Such a morally pejorative concept is said to have not been intended by Koch; he had applied the term 'psychopathic' to mean originating from an organic defect in the brain, and the term inferiority to simply refer to dysfunction. However, it was probably his concept and terminology that provided the unfortunate conglomeration of aspects of inferiority, amorality and socially harmful behavior."https://peoplepill.com/people/julius-ludwig-august-koch/ </ref> Asperger is now a highly controversial figure due to revelations he contributed to the Nazi Aktion T4 'euthanasia' program,<ref>https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05112-1</ref> recent discovery of his role in the T4 program may have also been a factor in the redefinition of the disorder by the APA.

Findings were:  

Overall this group showed a normal amount of desire for sexual relationships, but a disproportionately low capacity to achieve them.

Autistic men were also burdened with a dramatically greater number of paraphilias which are considered socially taboo. These paraphilias which appear to be part of their disease state can only be imagined to make their difficulties in finding sexual and romantic success more difficult.

==Autism and suicide==

This suggests that autists may generally get on fairly well with each other, but differences in presentation style, flatter affect, and difficulty expressing expected dominant or submissive social dominance hierarchy based behaviors may cause even very high-functioning autists to be commonly be perceived as 'creepy', 'weird' or, more charitably, eccentric, leading to social exclusion and thus the social deficits the condition is known for.

A major controversial theory of the etiology (cause) of ASD is known as the extreme male brain theory. The theory first proposed by the world-famous autism researcher from the University of Cambridge, Simon Baron-Cohen, states that the major cause of ASD is excessive exposure to androgens (male sex hormones) during prenatal development. '''Baron-Cohen does not claim that persons with ASD are more 'masculine' then neuro-typicals, a point often lost on laymen'''. Baron-Cohen merely asserts that this 'extreme' masculinity takes form in a deficit of empathy in ASD individuals, as well as an increase in their mental tendency to attempt to systematize information they receive from the external environment, which a major cause of the obsessional interests and social deficits displayed by those with the disorder. The theory is supported by analysis on the amniotic fluid of children who were later diagnosed with ASD, which found evidence of elevated androgens (androstenedione and testosterone) in the placental fluid.<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24888361?dopt=Abstract</ref> However, the relationship between these factors is likely complex; as later studies have also found evidence of elevated levels of estrogens in the pre-natal environment of those later diagnosed with autism<ref>https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190729094538.htm/</ref>. This is likely partially due to the activity of the enzyme [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aromatase aromatase] in the placenta, converting some of the androgens to estrogens, as there is animal evidence that pre-natal estrogens can have a "paradoxical" masculinizing effect in the right context.

Some researchers have claimed that the lessened prevalence of autism in women, rather than being explicable by the extreme male brain theory, may be due to greater levels of mutational load possibly being required for the disorder to be symptomatic in females.<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24581740</ref> This also implies that females who have the condition may exhibit stronger symptoms due to carrying more deleterious mutations than males with the condition. However, it is also claimed that the lesser female prevalence of the disorder may be due to higher-functioning female autists being more effective at 'masking' the socially disruptive symptoms of the condition.<ref>https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/females-are-genetically-protected-from-autism/</ref>

It could be that autism is largely a result of impaired brain regions that normally mediate social behavior, but a number of theories have been proposed that aspects of autism could be adaptive, meaning that it or related behavior patterns may have increased [[reproductive success]] in the past.

In a similar vein, Overskied (2016) argued that many powerful politicians throughout recent history, such as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former US president Lyndon B Johnson, and the former South African president Nelson Mandela, among many others, exhibited significant subclinical autistic traits, and argued increase in male [[reproductive success]] associated with this status could explain some of the apparent increase in the prevalence of ASD in recent times. Overskied attempted to explain the discrepancy in the diagnosis of the disorder by sex by noting the reproductive success associated with high status is typically only found in men, with women's high status decreasing their reproductive success. He claims these subclinical autistic behaviors shared a common cause with actual autism, pre-natal [[testosterone]] exposure, per Baron-Cohen's extreme male brain theory. He also stated that the high cortisol levels often found in autistics may serve to inhibit the expression of such socially dominant behaviors in them, whereas the powerful figures he claimed exhibited sub-clinical autistic traits may not be subject to such high cortisol levels.<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5005963/</ref>

{{quote|Aspergers men are a nightmare. I accidentally married someone with AS. And I stress ACCIDENTALLY, as I have seen the devastation that is “being” with one of these people. They should come with a warning and anyone displaying these behaviors should be tested in school so that us normal people don’t get trapped in something that ruins our lives. Yeah they’re all different yeah yeah, I know, some are worse than others. No one can be happy with these people. NO ONE. WHATSOEVER. Seriously. My life is devastated from one of these un-empathetic, desolate wasteland-of-emotions people. Learn to think like them? F*** that. That’s impossible and would require losing most of the characteristics that make us human, that allow us to connect to others.}}

When women as well as people in general talk about "fake nice guys" they may be referring to autistic (or ugly) males. Autists may naturally overestimate the optimal amount of pro-social communication/behavior most people generally prefer. Overly formal or polite behavior, which is often found among autists, is counter to establishing dominance. Sexually, women do tend to prefer "assholes". This may be hard to understand for autistics, who are claimed to be prone to black and white thinking.<ref>https://www.psychedconsult.com/blog/no-room-for-gray-here</ref>

There has been little research on what determines dating success among the few autistics who have it.

There is some evidence that autistic males may be more compatible with autistic females than with [[NT]] females (at least in the near-term that is):<ref>https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6kw0v3mf</ref>

==Free Lesson for Aspies==

[[File:Cuteagain.gif|full|center]]

==See also==

*[[Neurotypical]]

{{A}}