Asperger's and IT: Dark secret or open secret?

[swag]

Computerworld:

. . .

And Bob, the database applications programmer, says, "Yes, it is a stereotype, and yes, there are a higher than average number of Aspies in high tech."

Nobody, it seems, has more to say on the subject than Temple Grandin, a fast-talking Ph.D. Aspie professor who's the closest thing Asperger's has to an elder stateswoman. Grandin made her mark designing livestock-handling facilities from the point of view of the animal; she now has a thriving second career as an Asperger's author (Thinking in Pictures, Unwritten Rules of Social Relationships) and speaker.

"Is there a connection between Asperger's and IT? We wouldn't even have any computers if we didn't have Asperger's," she declares. "All these labels -- "geek" and "nerd" and "mild Asperger's" -- are all getting at the same thing. ... The Asperger's brain is interested in things rather than people, and people who are interested in things have given us the computer you're working on right now."

Grandin has compiled a list of jobs and their suitability to Aspies and autistics according to their skills. No surprise, tech jobs are cited early and often. Her list of "good jobs for visual thinkers," for example, includes computer programming, drafting (including computer-aided drafting), computer troubleshooting and repair, Web page design, video game design and computer animation.

Grandin's "good jobs for nonvisual thinkers," which she further defines as "those who are good at math, music or facts," includes computer programming, engineering, inventory control and physics.

Why do Asperger's individuals gravitate to technology? "Adults with Asperger's have a social naiveté that prevents them from understanding how people relate. What draws them in is not parties and social interaction, but work that allows them to feel safe, to feel in control," explains Steve Becker, a developmental disabilities therapist at Becker & Associates, a private practice in the Seattle suburb of Des Moines, Wash., that conducts ongoing small group sessions for adults with AS, among other services.

. . .

[siligut]

1. My DH is so much more comfortable with himself.

He has some Aspies, but he didn’t know. It wasn’t until I started focusing on the set of things that were different about him that we figured it out. He has focus and concentration that you don’t see too often; he doesn’t like getting his hands icky. He will confuse people who have similar physical characteristics, but are not alike at all.

Now, and he works in the tech field, he can see Asperger’s in co-workers. They even joke about it. I don’t think it is a dark secret. He really is much more comfortable, now that we understand.

[swag]

2. Yeah, "dark secret" probably the work of a headline writer in search

of something clever.

Does "DH" mean "Dear Husband?"

[siligut]

4. Designated Hitter.

Same thing. "Dark secret", Aspies can feel isolated, and it might have sounded clever.

Also, I think the biggest clue with DH; he has trouble getting used to change. It just takes him time to even wear a new sweater or something.

[RainDog]

6. yes. change is a challenge most of the time

when my son was younger, I had to hide his sweatpants or else he'd wear them all summer. he's very sensitive to the feel of clothing, too.. both my sons are - they both cut off any tags on shirts - both can't wear things other than cotton for a shirt, etc. b/c of the feel.

I've told my kids for about six months now that I will be moving this summer. But I think I'm the one who's upset about moving away from him. but he'll still have his dad here. nevertheless, it's hard when you're a mom of someone so naive and trusting of others' basic goodness. He doesn't even know when he's not dealing with things. he's not very grounded... not aware of how to survive in so many ways, even tho we've worked on that sort of thing.

[hobbit709]

3. Explains a lot about my behavior at times

and I CERTAINLY don't suffer fools lightly.

[RainDog]

5. my son with aspergers

has NO interest in computers, technology, video games, math and is really, really at a disadvantage with spatially important activities... just ask him about geometry.

he was dx'd at 8 y/o by one of the top ppl in the field in the U.S.

his dx came about b/c a teacher he had, who had taught for decades, had her first "aspie" identified kid the year before and called my then-hub and me into a conference and told us that she thought he should be evaluated b/c he was very sweet, but distant... it's hard to explain, really.

instead, he loves acting - b/c he gets to act like other ppl - he loves attention. he was pretty cute as a baby - his pediatrician called him a gerber baby, so, as the doc who dx'd him said, he would have it easier in some ways because he doesn't really have the "look."

he was all-state vocal jazz. - again, he's not afraid to perform... I, on the other hand, had to drop out of a group when I was younger because I had such stage fright. Like many aspies, he can talk/sing loudly w/o recognizing it. his voice carries like you wouldn't believe.

he also loves baseball... that's his "aspie" obsession. and all other sports. his compulsion is to play his own season of baseball in his head/the backyard, with sounds for diff. kinds of hits, with him being both color commentator and announcer... he's been told repeatedly by adults that he should go into sports broadcasting or writing, but he wants to be in theatah - so his mom and dad have told him to major in something practical, too... which, in his case, has been French.

He's got an amazing memory.

although he cannot easily relate to others, and doesn't see that his constant talk about tv shows, baseball stats and moments in history, etc. are annoying (I have to tell him, sometimes, that it's time to stop talking about this or that... at which point he's embarrassed... but it hasn't changed more than a decade...

I've read Temple Grandin's work and find that's she's amazing. But I've never seen her work address someone like my son - someone with his personality and background (he got all the arts stuff from me.. his dad's bg is math and computer science... and I've sometimes wondered about him on the autism spectrum...

just posting this b/c it's curious to me, and b/c I think it's good to get another view of aspies.

I don't post pix of my kids online, for the most part. but this is when he was part of a "living statues" event with the h.s. drama club. (the 5 o'clock shadow was fake) - and I won't keep it up here for long - but just to note that he doesn't fit the stereotype. -- as in, that's not a typical geek idea of a male.



edited to add - this character was indiana jones.... I personally provided him with the whip. (oh, okay, I got it at the local farmer's co-op...)

[Bullwinkle925]

7. that is a very sweet post . . .

thanks for giving a different viewpoint.

will you be moving far, far away from him??

he looks adorable.

[RainDog]

9. I'm sending out apps

so I don't know where I'll be working. the field I'm in has very good job lines - but it also has lots of specializations I'm not qualified to do - so I'll see.

sometimes I procrastinate about sending out my resume - in great part b/c I don't want to have to leave my kids. or I procrastinate about work I should be doing... as in RIGHT NOW... and read DU. :/

but, yes, he's a very loving kid. - which is another aspie "misconception." he's not the most thoughful person, by far, but he's not averse to physical contact.

sometimes I wonder about myself, as far as it all goes... I'm a math moron/phobe with waaay too much anxiety. Or maybe that anxiety has to do with stuff I lived through for decades (long story.) in any case, those things don't matter to anyone but me. when applying for jobs, they don't ask you... so, how did x amt. of years dealing with x effect you? - and if I told them, I would never get a job.

[swag]

8. Thanks.

Great post!

[Deja Q]

10. Seconded.

:thumbsup:

[mitchum]

11. Errol Morris made a wonderful documentary about Temple Grandin

she is quite fascinating

[KamaAina]

12. I was in IT most of my life

until a particularly ill-advised startup out here went kablooey. It was basically a two-man operation; I used to joke that "one of us has a social disability that prevents him from forming business relationships -- and the other one has autism!"

That's when I answered a newspaper ad for a "self-advocacy coordinator". I literally had to go on the Internets to find out what "self-advocacy" was (it means people with disabilities, cognitive as well as sensory or mobility, speaking and acting for themselves, rather than having case managers, well-meaning relatives, etc. run their lives for them). Two weeks later, I apparently knew more about it than anyone else out here. :shrug:

One wonders of Dr. Grandin has any helpful hints for people on the spectrum seeking these jobs who have to interview with "neurotypical" HR people. For instance, I knew I was in here at the agency when my interviewer turned out to be blind! "Eye contact? We don't need no stinkin' eye contact!"

[DarkTirade]

13. I've noticed a few traits in myself that some might consider to be of a mild Asperger's sort.

I always just considered myself to be introverted and weird, but who knows? :)

[KamaAina]

14. I actually know someone on the spectrum who was an air traffic controller!

At LAX, no less. :scared:

http://www.autism.com/individuals/jobs.htm

Table 1 Bad Jobs for People with High Functioning Autism or Asperger's Syndrome: Jobs that require high demands on short-term working memory...

Air traffic controller -- Information overload and stress

I'm not terribly impressed with Dr. Grandin's list of jobs she deems suitable for people who are nonverbal. It kind of reads like the same old list of jobs deemed "suitable" for people with cognitive disabilities (the term "mental retardation" is considered obsolete). My boss calls them the "Four F's": food, filth, flowers, and filing.

Table 4 Jobs for Nonverbal People with Autism or People with Poor Verbal Skills
Reshelving library books -- Can memorize the entire numbering system and shelf locations (filing)
Factory assembly work -- Especially if the environment is quiet
Copy shop -- Running photocopies. Printing jobs should be lined up by somebody else
Janitor jobs -- Cleaning floors, toilets, windows and offices (filth)
Restocking shelves -- In many types of stores (could be considered filing)
Recycling plant -- Sorting jobs (in between filth and filing)
Warehouse -- Loading trucks, stacking boxes
Lawn and garden work -- Mowing lawns and landscaping work (flowers)
Data entry -- If the person has fine motor problems, this would be a bad job
Fast food restaurant -- Cleaning and cooking jobs with little demand on short-term memory (food)
Plant care -- Water plants in a large office building (flowers)

[RainDog]

15. aspies have bad short term working memories?

when my kid was in 1st grade, the teacher asked him to stand up and recite the prezzes of the U.S. in order... which he did b/c he had a poster of them in his bedroom. I guess he used to look at it at night before he want to bed. he read when he was three... because he memorized what words looked like in books (and b/c I read to him all the time b/c he loved it.

when he was in third grade, his class was with another class in the lunchroom/auditorium. the other class was learning chinese from a volunteer. my son came home saying chinese words. (which is also why he's majoring in French... he could probably be a good translator.)

I wonder if there's asperger's 1 and asperger's 2 or something. or I wonder if Grandin is extrapolating on her own experience as a general issue? my son could NEVER design a cattle chute that would keep them from seeing their demise...