Imagination verses Intelligence
Yesterday, the Midgets and I went to a Christmas decoration ‘workshop’. The Boy was not having his best day, the session was unstructured, I had had an extra two kids deposited on me due to my inability to say “no” and generally it was not a huge amount of fun.
The Boy and Lid refused to leave until they had made decorations for their favourite grown ups (which may well feature blood on them, not because I am a secret serial killer, rather I got punched quite hard in the nose at one junction). The Boy was unable to settle, and was extremely excited by the whole event. Lid ran around dancing with long strips of ribbon, twirling them around in the air and singing to herself.
In the end, we were asked to leave.
For 5 minutes, I was so jealous of the extra two’s parents, who had their neurotypical children who did what they were told, complied with everything and sat quietly following the rules.
Then of course I came to my senses – my two, both on the spectrum and apparently unable to emotionally connect with other people, had made presents for various people because they wanted to, and entirely of their own accord. They’d even shown a lot more imagination than the others, and hadn’t followed the woman’s instructions (which appeared to send her apopleptic with incomprehension that they may want to do things their own way).
I remain, as ever, deeply proud. And slightly bruised.
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Autistic or not it always irritates me that children are expected to be the same. How bland.
@Colorsofthenight@xanga –
You fascinate me…I think I could learn a lot from you…
@dernhelm23@xanga – i do everything from empirical understandings. i refuse to do anything else. theory of mind and development of self are both jacked up in these disorders. that’s what i meant.
i’ve lost my mind and been nothing but a semi-memory of myself. i couldn’t imagine anything and i got a low score on a cognitive test. my abilities come back, but i mirrored autism for a minute. i seriously thought about suggesting dmt afterwards. i didn’t do any, but not being able to dream distorted my reality and made me dumb.
speaking of incorrect…
sometimes, people distract from the seriousness of arguments by using humor or political incorrectness. i did it because you are overcorrecting. you didn’t makee sense there because you protected me.
this would distract. i’m going to have some midget come meet dead blood now…
@Colorsofthenight@xanga – I probably got defensive a little too quick, you clearly don’t have a decent understanding of autism but I guess you never claimed to. I see where you’re coming from a little better and I have to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your use of terms like “retard,” “dwarf,” and “midget” reflects a certain political incorrectness that some would get greatly offended at; I on the other hand think being “politically correct” is a waste of time so it doesn’t bother me. The point is your use of these colloquialisms indicate that you don’t seem to be trying to come across as a know-it-all with a purely intellectual basis, and because of that I can be far less bothered by your perspective.
Sorry if this didn’t really make sense. One thing you do seem to have a decent understanding of is theory of mind, so maybe you’ll be a little forgiving knowing that because I am autistic I struggle with that ability.
autistic children and the retards are like midgets and dwarfs appearance-wise in relation to humans. if one was more human, it would be a midget, but i’m not uplifting dwarfs or midgets. i’m saying.
one looks relatively the same and is still humanish while the other does not. autistic children only have slightly larger heads while retards have lots of issues. there’s a big difference between the two but both are slow while little pople are short.
it’s honestly like hanging out with a child whn they are older. the person lacks instincts but is still human-ish, humanoid.
i don’t consider myself human.
we’re different versions of humans, that’s what i mean.
and i love dwarfs. i’m just saying because people are too sensitive.
@dernhelm23@xanga – for one, i’ve been around special children my whole life.
i’m fairly real.
i’ve also lost my mind before, like what was described and that’s how i got by.
schizo-ness and autism have some parallels.
@Colorsofthenight@xanga – Immature, annoying, crude. Can’t. Do you realize how offensive your response is to autistic people? To me?? Don’t you DARE tell me that autistic people can’t be imaginative! People like you who THINK they understand the autism spectrum but clearly have no clue and certainly no experience being autistic are the reason we are so misunderstood and mistreated by society.
To the OP–you sound like a great parent. Keep appreciating your children’s differences and it will make life a lot more rewarding, for you and them!
Your children sound sweet. Good on them.
@thatfatass@xanga – it is a CURSE to create and of COURSE to create well too. =P
I think this post isn’t just about the kids, but also the pride of a man. When we realize our ignorance to the status-quo, we realize that we are the norm. Good on you, man!
If you don’t agree with that, I will grape you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind
Whether children younger than 3 or 4 years old may have a theory of mind is a topic of debate among researchers. It is a challenging question, due to the difficulty of assessing what pre-linguistic children understand about others and the world. Tasks used in research into the development of ToM must take into account the umwelt—(the German word Umwelt means “environment” or “surrounding world”)—of the pre-verbal child.
You know, I wonder how much help reading is to autistic children because it helps them lie, and they can say an imagination in a chain. While they do it like an equation, would it help them to adapt to their state?
Don’t take my word for it; I don’t have experience. I’m guessing after watching and a few other things.
Not to be rude, but your child doesn’t think in the same way, doesn’t have a mature human “mind.” they are forever young. It isn’t creative. It’s crude. Sometimes, simplicity is an advantage. Sometimes, it’s cumbersome.
If autistic, he or she can’t imagine much and does things based off of methods instead of emotional motivators. Well, he or she has some, but they aren’t developed enough to be intune with the other childrens’ Emotion doesn’t seem to be the language of autistic children because it’s irrelevant to the others, but it’s there enough to cause a bother that has to be edited.
Have you tried teaching them basic methods of how to do things? Like, when we enter into a room, we find a seat unless someone says to remain standing. It’s learning to follow directions in a method mannerism instead of doing it by instinct. Perhaps, at the same time take advantage of another opportunity; note that two numbers added together equal a bigger number or something new. When we enter into a room, we are one, and we have to wait for another to add to two.
Instead of being afraid like most other children that thus desire approval, autistic children appear still annoyed like babies; they are essentially angry-crying, so they have to learn how to get past the emotion that they are experiencing as a guide.
to be creative is to be intelligent. to form your own opinions and to think on your own, and, of curse, to create, is always more valuable than the ability to memorize and regurgitate.
I hate when my siblings dont do what I tell them. In your case – I love your kids 🙂
@jasonwl@xanga – title’s of posts highlighted on Autisable may be changed due to various reasons. Just an FYI.
Why is the title of this post “Imagination vs Intelligence”? I don’t see where they conflict, even in here. Btw, even though they’re not “exactly” the same thing they tend to swim in the same pool. Imagination is a product of intelligence, well and interest in a field/project. If a kid wants to be creative, I’d suggest looking out for ways to let him/her grow that way.
*Note to author: “Sorry if this seems like a rant towards you. It’s not. Just curious about the title.”