Help me with my learnings!

[ishyface]

Questions for... well, everyone, I guess:

1) How big is the gap between Asperger's Syndrome and high-functioning autism? (From what I understand the two overlap a lot. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

2) What is the Baptist Church's official stance re:stigmata? (Any info about the Baptist Church would be useful, actually- I know very little about it.)

3) What does it feel like to have a nosebleed? (I've never had one.)

4) How do you know when "coffee" is not just coffee but coffee? (Because I just made plans to go for coffee with a friend, but I think said friend may be under the impression that these plans are for coffee instead of coffee. And, um, that could be problematic!)

5) How much does Thomas Hobbes suck? (Like, a lot, right?)

This list brought to you by the Gerald Doesn't Wanna Finish Hir Philosophy Paper Wildlife Fund.

ETA: From the essay I am currently writing on Hobbes' theory of the state of nature:

"Hobbes would have us believe that people tend not to murder their children because of the power of law and the state, but this is nonsense: anyone who has ever been in the same room with a fussy baby for more than ten minutes is sure to wonder why its parents do not simply drop it into the nearest lake and tell the authorities that dingoes ate it."

I don't even care if I am grossly misrepresenting Hobbes here,* I am not cutting that sentence.

* I am, but only because I don't like him.

Comments

[bleedingcherub.livejournal.com]

I think it's largely a communication thing. There are starting to be blogs of people previously or currently considered "low-functioning" that found a medium to show that they're actually really smart and cool, eg Amanda Baggs. On the flip side, a disproportionate number of people ACTUALLY DIAGNOSED by the man (lol) seem to have low IQs, and it's definitely at least partially a disability insofar as it's an interference-fest.

http://autisminnb.blogspot.com/2010/02/discrimination-against-persons-with-low.html <- mocking the "neurodiversity" movement and making good points

http://ballastexistenz.autistics.org/ <-Amanda Bagg's blog

My best friend was told all his life he was diagnosed Aspergers, but he found out about a year ago that he was actually diagnosed classically autistic. So who knows?

[eustaciavye23.livejournal.com]

So it comes down to bias in standardized testing? It wouldn't surprise me given the other problems with standardized testing (potential gender and racial bias due to test questions and criteria). I will have to check out the links to see if there is anything I can find out for my cousin.

[bleedingcherub.livejournal.com]

Well, I've never been tested for autism, so I don't know for sure. I would imagine that a test could tell if you were autistic all right, but not much else.

[eustaciavye23.livejournal.com]

hmm well I was specifically referring to the standardized IQ test which really doesn't diagnose autism, it is just a way of stratifying those who have the syndrome and looking at potential issues where intelligence is concerned. It is a test that can be administered to every member of the populace and just because a person who isn't affected by autism scores lower than average doesn't mean they are autistic. In fact someone with autism or aspergers could conceivably score higher than someone without the syndrome.