Aspies For Freedom

When he was 5 years old, Joshua Littman was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. But the condition that has robbed him of many social skills has also played a role in Joshua becoming an honor-roll student at 12.

Born in Dorset, England, Joshua and his family moved to the United States soon after his diagnosis. When he was 9, Joshua became a member of MENSA.

His mother, Sarah Littman, is a journalist and an author of children's books. She describes children with Asperger's as "born without social genes."

They can come across as eccentric, and often develop obsessions -- in Joshua's case, animals.

Confronted with the chance to interview his mother at a StoryCorps booth, Joshua eschewed the prepared questions that many participants rely on, and instead created his own. His questions touch on everything from his mother's past to how she really feels about him.

Joshua's Questions

1) What do you think of today's young people? Have they deteriorated?

2) How does getting married feel?

3) Do you think the U.S. is becoming a mess of a country?

4) Do you have any mortal enemies?

5) Have you ever felt that life is hopeless?

6) Are you scared that terrorists might attack?

7) Have you ever lied to me?

8) Is there anyone you wish were dead?

9) What do you think is the greatest country in the world?

10) Have you ever thought you couldn't cope with a child?

11) Do you think your life would be different without animals? (on a scale of 1-10)

12) Do you think a lot of people are sexist?

13) Why does it seem like everyone loves Amie [Joshua's sister, 9] more?

* And one last question, asked when it came to mind:

14) Have I met the expectations you had for me when I was born?

From npr.org

Kenneth Hall, who wrote the book "Asperger Syndreome, the universe and everything" when he was 10, is also a member of MENSA. I don't think is unusual at all among Aspies.

I have not met any aspies who are members of mensa, so I don't know how common it is. You could make a poll Corcaigh :smile:

My IQ's not high enough to get into MENSA.  I think my SAT scores might have been, though.
(SAT=standard tests people take in the USA when they're about 17.)

Mensa membership is for people who have an IQ in the top 2% (very superior range, above 130 points).

Admission to the gifted and talented primary school programme where I live is supposed to be open to kids with IQs in the top 2-3%, but they don't give the kids full IQ tests, just a few different tests, so there's no guarantee that all of the kids in these programmes are all top 2-3%. There are many different cut-off points and definitions used to define intellectual giftedness.

My IQ is probably in the superior range (120-129 points) or high average range (110-119) which is no big deal. Some of our kids are in a gifted programme. I wouldn't be at all surprised if being an aspie makes one more likely to have a superior or very superior IQ, as I am sure there are lots of aspies who are smarter than I, and some academic researchers have found this to be the case when they studied the cognitive profiles of a small sample of people with the AS diagnosis. They found an unusual number of people with AS who have IQs in the highest ranges and also in the lowest ranges.