Not familiar with Myer-Briggs anything.
Sounds difficult to have a clear definition of autism. Personally I've always had the idea that you just lack some random natural instincts. Which challange you mentally in day-life when you don't have a ready-made solution for every situation.
I think I understand what you're getting at. Saying "I am an INTJ" encodes a ton of information to people up on Myers-Briggs. Someone here started a thread, which I've not been able to find, which has labels associated with different types of aspies. They named each type after a famous diagnosed or possible aspie.
So, you could have a grid, something like:
H vs L (highly sensitive to stimuli vs low sensitivity to stimuli)
E vs P (reactive/emotive during meltdowns vs paralyzed/catatonic during meltdowns)
S vs R (seeks bonding with people vs reclusive)
C vs U (has good motor skills vs uncoordinated)
etc etc...
So, if someone said: what kind of aspie are you? I could answer, oh I'm a LPSU
(Sorry, these contrasts aren't the greatest descriptors, I just woke up. It might be a fun exercise, though, to try and describe in such a way the contrasts between aspies.)
INTJ here
It's the "Venn diagram" problem--AS, NVLD, LFA etc--some traits in common, some presumably distinguishing the categories (e.g. AS vs LFA--when did you start talking?). And, making it more complex, there's differences in degrees of strengths of the traits--not 'on or off'.
So any label simultaneously reveals information and obscures information because one pays attention to (sets up expectations for) what's described with the label, and other aspects, also true, remain unnoticed. It's an inherent problem with definition. So, a question becomes: To what extent is labeling or defining useful?
Ha! We're leapfrogging posts here
I think you have the right idea--that is, do research on what's actually true about your son's talents, learning style, adaptability/resiliency style, etc and figure out what strategies will be helpful. It might take some experimentation. This would be true whether or not he receives an official diagnosis of something. Either way, he's a complex individual. In my opinion, it's the particularities about a person, more so than the generalities, that make him or her noteworthy. So yeah---learn about the different types of aspies (lots of em here) and make a grid wherein you can localize your family members analogously to mbti.
Sometimes, constructive and doable suggestions might get implemented. One hopes, anyways. For example, could your son be placed with the quieter classmates, or in the quietest part of the room (e.g. away from the radiator, if there were one)--stuff like that. Good luck with all this. I hope he and you get the support you need.
I got two completely different classifications when I took it online, and when I took it for a career test.
When I took it online for leisure, I got ENFP, but I got INTP on the career test.
Tim
Not familiar with Myer-Briggs anything.
Sounds difficult to have a clear definition of autism. Personally I've always had the idea that you just lack some random natural instincts. Which challange you mentally in day-life when you don't have a ready-made solution for every situation.
http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html
MB is very big in the corporate world and with human resources. I most recently ran into a MB discussion at a higher-education seminar. We all took the test and, as a group, demonstrated again the preponderance of INTJs (introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging) in higher ed. INTJs are only 10% of the population but are something like 40-50% of academics and higer ed professionals. So there is something to the concept that the combination of the 4 characteristics identifes groups of people that are likely to share traits that influence their career choices, hobbies and interests, and even mate selection.
Most people know about "introvert" and "extrovert". MB just adds 3 more categories to make a broader but more detailed characterization.
As far as ADS, I look to my husband as a template for learning about my son. And there are many many similiarites. But there are also some differences. DH has an excellent oral memory. He also "reads" people very very well (better than I do). So is he not an Aspie? Is my son not one because he does not share these traits? Or should oral versus visual memory be two facets that describe ASDs rather than include or exclude? I just see a tendancy in literature and professional opinions to "define" Autistics in one particular way. And if someone doesn't fit one thing, they get a different label. To me, it ends up being less informative and confusing.
Interesting, my oral/auditory memory is so horrific it could be placed in the "learning disability" range, I think part of the problem is from having a very deficient short-term working memory (seems to be a common problem for SOME Aspies, albeit not all.)
However my visual memory could be described as "incredible," I just need to see a word or picture once (usually) and I can remember enough about it.
Basically my oral memory/auditory learning is so poor that I often can't understand a movie the first time I watch it (I quickly lose track of what's going on), unless it has the closed captions/subtitles running. I seem to do a lot better if I can see the dialogue.
I think I understand what you're getting at. Saying "I am an INTJ" encodes a ton of information to people up on Myers-Briggs. Someone here started a thread, which I've not been able to find, which has labels associated with different types of aspies. They named each type after a famous diagnosed or possible aspie.
So, you could have a grid, something like:
H vs L (highly sensitive to stimuli vs low sensitivity to stimuli)
E vs P (reactive/emotive during meltdowns vs paralyzed/catatonic during meltdowns)
S vs R (seeks bonding with people vs reclusive)
C vs U (has good motor skills vs uncoordinated)
etc etc...
So, if someone said: what kind of aspie are you? I could answer, oh I'm a LPSU
(Sorry, these contrasts aren't the greatest descriptors, I just woke up. It might be a fun exercise, though, to try and describe in such a way the contrasts between aspies.)
So under that system I would be "HESC" but under Myers-Briggs INFJ (with the scores on the two middle letters being very close: something like 22 and 21)
The questions were quite random in both tests, though.
Tim
I am an ISTJ for the record
Interestingly, while Aspergers seems to be inhereted (a la my DH and son), their type of thinking is different. DH is a verbal/logic thinker (hence his excellent recall) while my son is a visual thinker (he is 7 and describes a process of "filing" visual images away for later recall - in perfect detail- that is very similiar to Temple Grandin's). I think the inherited/genetic part must have morre to do with how the brains system of thinking is wired up to its communication/sensory processing.
Re the bolded print, I do that a lot as well, however strangely enough my visual memory does not have a spatial component. If I see a picture in a magazine or a computer screen, I can file it away and remember it very well (usually), but in terms of spatial orientation (knowing where I am in space, ability to read maps, remembering how to get to a place I've been before) I have a lot of trouble.
I am also a verbal thinker, however, there are constant dialogues going on in my mind and I tend to remember/utilize a lot of different vocabulary words, etc.
When personality tests like Myers-Briggs are used in hiring they make huge problems for people with disabilities. The big complaint at the disability office that I use is that people need jobs -- they will apply for telephone bankteller jobs because they are willing to do it even if they don't think it is an idea job for them -- same with retail and other office jobs. They are prevented from getting these jobs because they don't fit the "ideal personality profile" for these positions.
These types of tests should be illegal in hiring and workplaces all together.
I need a way to learn how to cheat on these tests so I can get a job.
I was an ISTJ, but last time I took the Myers Briggs I was an INTJ (huh, wtf?)
It is done on a percentage scale - your N = intuitive and S= sensing traits in your personality are probably pretty much 50/50.
I am ISTJ with an almost 50/50 ratio between the S and N.
As I understand it, personality types are not 1-to-1 with the job, but also matching types across a team. No team could operate if everybody were a bully boy leader, equally no team could work if everybody were a shrinking violet/let somebody else speak out sort of person.
A good functioning team needs a mix of personalities. So not looking good on paper as a match against a job won't be all they will be looking at.
That explains why they use the tests somewhat but I still feel discriminated against. I can improve some skills that I am lacking in but how can I change my personality? When I really need a job I am willing to fake normal and even other personalities just to get a few months of work.
So when I am told that I am not getting a job because I have X personality that is the same as something that I can not change such as the colour of my skin. It is discrimination.
I've taken that test in the past, I always come out as an INTJ
I also come out as INTJ, and so it seems do most people who've replied to this thread. I believe that INTP is supposed to be the most typical Aspie profile.