Positively Autism ~ Social Stories ~ August, 2007

Social Stories
Volume 2, Issue 8 ~ August, 2007

Positive Autism News

The Link Between Math Skills and Autism
This article is a brief summary of new research by Simon Baron-Cohen, whose previous research has indicated that autism is more common among engineers than the general population. His latest findings indicate a link between autism and mathematical ability. Baron-Cohen found that skilled mathematicians are about twice as likely to have autism as the general population. Undergraduate mathematics majors at Cambridge University were also more likely than students in other majors to have a parent or sibling with autism. An implication of this research is that individuals with autism may have many social differences, but they "show striking intellect in other ways, such as mathematical ability, musical talent or artistic flair" and can "go on to lead fulfilling, even brilliant, lives." Click Here to Read the Complete Article

Taking Autism to the Airwaves
Alex Moshenko, a young man with autism created a radio talk show about wresting, a special interest of his. Called, "Al's Wrestling Talk," the show has been broadcasting for over a year online. The show features reviews, discussion topics, and a "Wrestler of the Week." Last year, Alex was even invited to broadcast his show from Wrestlemania, called the "Super Bowl of wrestling." Alex says another goal of his show is "to help a lot of other kids who have autism, too. Because I found my talent, I'm sticking to it, and I'm not going to stop." Click Here to Read the Complete Article

New Study on IQ Testing and Autism
Children with autism are also frequently diagnosed with mental retardation based on results from common IQ tests. But are these results always accurate? New research from the University of Montreal indicates that these tests may not actually be accurate for individuals with autism. In the current study, children with autism and typically-developing children were given two IQ tests: the WISC (a test that uses a great deal of language) and the Raven's Progressive Matrices (which tests "fluid intelligence" - skills such as creation and management of goals, high-level abstractions, and inference of rules). While typically-developing children scored about the same on both tests, the results were strikingly different for the children with autism. None of the children with autism in the study scored in the "high intelligence" range on the WISC, but thirty-three percent did so on the Raven's Progressive Matrices. Thirty-three percent of the children with autism scored in the range of mental retardation on the WISC, but only five percent scored in this range on the Raven's Progressive Matrices. The current study, as well as future research in this area may lead to more accurate testing of individuals with autism. Click Here to Read the Complete Article