Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

276 CHAPTER 7 Thinking, Language, and Intelligencecharacteristics. An obsessive interest in asingle topic or object. High intelligence. Unusualspeech or vocal patterns. An inabilityto “read” other people’s emotions or facialexpressions. Poor social skills.“Wow,” Will exclaimed. “This soundslike Tom!”The article explained that these characteristicsreflected a condition calledAsperger’s syndrome, named after theAustrian pediatrician who first described it.Although related to autism, it was far lessdisabling, and sometimes called the “geeksyndrome” because it seemed to be morecommon among engineers and computerexperts—people who were technicallybrilliant but socially inept.Will and Tom read up on Asperger’s syndrome.Eventually, Tom was evaluated by apediatric neurologist, who formallydiagnosed Tom with Asperger’s syndrome.Tom was an “Aspie,” as he and others withthe condition sometimes refer to themselves.When I asked Tom if he would share hisexperiences for this Prologue, I already knewthat conversations with him could be difficult.Tom often doesn’t pick up on the verbaland nonverbal “signals” that most peopleuse to regulate their interactions with others.Talking to Tom can involve long unexpectedpauses when he gazes off to one side or atthe floor. You don’t know whether he isthinking about what you’ve said, waiting foryou to ask another question, or thinkingabout something else entirely. So Tom and Iagreed that I would interview him using instanttext messaging. All clips below are exactly asthey were typed during our interview.Sandy: Tell me how you felt when youwere given the diagnosis ofAsperger’s.Tom: I felt that I finally had somethingto pin my weirdness onS: What do you mean? How did youfeel weird?T: Because I wasn’t “normal” andmaking friends like the rest of mypeers.T: I mean, I’m not schizoid. . . I getlonely like anyone elseFor most people, sensing when a personis angry or happy is an intuitive, almostinstinctual process. But while Aspies experienceemotions like anyone else, they lackthe ability to read those emotions in otherpeople. For an Aspie, decoding anotherperson’s emotions is a puzzle to be solved,one piece at a time.Tom: I don’t have an easy timecommunicating.T: If people are talking out of politeness,I get horribly confused.Sandy: What is it about Asperger’s thatmakes social interaction sodifficult?T: Well, I suppose it’s because of alack of understanding on the partof the person with Asperger’s wedon’t understand some aspects ofpoliteness, for example.T: I don’t think they’re necessary.S: But what about when honestymight hurt someone’s feelings?T: Sometimes I pick up on that,sometimes not.T: Sometimes I don’t understandwhy people would be hurt bysomething.It’s hard for an Aspie to be tactful becausethey have trouble interpreting otherpeople’s emotional state. They don’t intendto be rude; they are simply being honest.For example, consider this exchange:Sandy: I have one more question if that’sok?Tom: okay. just one?Sandy: I’m afraid you might be gettingbored. See, that’s me beingpoliteTom: Well, it’s not like I have anythingbetter to do.As is true for many with Asperger’s,Tom’s intellectual gifts have helped himcompensate for his social deficits. By theend of his freshman year of high school,Tom ranked first in his class of over 800students. He also scored so highly on theSAT that he was admitted to a specialschool for gifted students.Although some of his fellow studentsenvy his intellectual abilities, Tom is wellaware of the special challenges he faces.For example, like many with Asperger’ssyndrome, Tom can get “stuck” on a mathproblem or writing assignment, unable tocomplete his homework because it doesn’tmeet his own standards for perfection.Sandy: Ok, so here’s the last question:you can tell thousands of collegestudents whatever you want tosay about Asperger’s. What wouldyou say?Tom: hmm, that’s a tough question.T: well, I could try being a smartaleck and say “We’re not as smartas the shrinks say we are. Bethankful you’re normal.”S: what’s to be thankful for?T: You can turn in work that’s less thanperfect. You can make friends.We’ll come back to Tom’s story as wediscuss the different mental abilities involvedin thinking, language, and intelligence.We’ll also provide more informationabout autism and Asperger’s syndrome. Asyou’ll see, there is more to “intelligence”than just academic ability. Other types ofmental abilities—such as the ability to“read” faces, voices, emotions, and socialcues—are also important in successfullynavigating everyday life.