Re: Alexis comments
You are of course
correct and the test as such is at best an indicator for
very high functioning (what they seem to call
Asperger's these days as well as what was once even 'idiot
savant'). A severely autistic person would probably be
unable to take the test, as the autism would be
confounded with mental retardation. A scientific question is
the extent to which these behaviors fall on a
continuum (perhaps a gene complex) as opposed to a discrete
on/off autism gene.
My sister can't even type on
a computer (well she can pick out the letters on
the keyboard and type the alphabet), though she can
read and count, it is hard to determine what she
understands beyond simple commands. She would be unable to
answer the test.
There are any number of good
books, and many bad ones out there. The Temple Grandin
was interesting, though she is very high functioning.
Obviously severely autistic individuals don't write their
own books, so we must rely on 'recovery' stories or
their parents/teachers, which I suspect are much less
reliable.
-- dml