Autism as extreme introversion?

Inspired by this article, which I stumbled upon in reading the education thread. Might autism just be introversion Up To Eleven?

Somehow the idea appeals to me as a diagnosed aspie, since it means I'm not so different from "normal" people. Just more introverted.

edited 6th Aug '11 8:25:23 PM by Acebrock

I don't think we know enough about autism, or normal psychology for that matter, to say much.

I remember an article in Newsweek that spun off from the idea of transsexuals as people with brains of the opposite gender, arguing that autistics are people whose brains are more significantly more "male" than the average man. In came a bunch of angry letters from people who said autistic behavior could not be explained in such simple terms.

edited 6th Aug '11 8:31:24 PM by feotakahari

Autism is too widely varied to be labelled like that.

Sometims I think my AS brother is more extroverted then me, and I'm pretty ambiverted.

edited 6th Aug '11 8:41:49 PM by Erock

Kind of how Erock mentions, I think autism is starting to become a bit too widely defined. I remember before, a tell-tale sign of autism was having a swelled head during early childhood. Not anymore, apparently.

You mean like hydrocephalus, or a "swelled head" in the figurative sense of being egotistical? About the former, I've heard of the two being connected sometimes, like with hydrocephalus caused by Dandy-Walker Syndrome (which I have) but I don't know about it being a sign of autism in general. As for the second, that could be because of the mind-blindness where many autistic people simply are oblivious to other people's feelings or opinions so they seem more egotistical (probably some are and some have really low self-esteem, it probably varies among autistic people like it does within the general population).

Yeah, I think I agree with Erock there. Autism is not something as simple as being really introverted.

"You mean like hydrocephalus, or a "swelled head" in the figurative sense of being egotistical?"

In years past, it was thought that autism was linked to a child's brain growing abnormally fast, which swelled up the child's head early in their development. Here's an old article about it (from 2003). It doesn't seem like that theory holds as much credence now though.

maybe introverts just have a mild form of Autism?

I honestly hate that school of reasoning. Being shy doesn't make someone sick. You can perhaps make an argument for mild social-anxiety disorder to be the cause of typical shyness in SOME, but autism is a LOT different than just being introverted. Talking to an autistic person is basically like talking to a toddler with a hearing impediment. They literally lack the mechanism needed to respond normally to social stimulus. Introverts on the other hand, are usually just anxious about talking back, but among people they are comfortable with, they can function perfectly fine in a social setting.

Autistics can be introverts but introverts don't need to be autistic.

Does it really matter what it is or what it's called?

These won't change what it does.