Autism is a gift.

So much focus has been on the deficits of those individuals with autism, when in fact there are gifts related to the diagnosis. A study from Stanford University and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital found that students with autism who have IQ’s in the average range were able to demonstrate superior mathematical skills compared to their neuro-typical peers.  The study found that the areas of the brain that are active during facial recognition and recognizing objects were active when solving mathematical equations.  More about this study can be found here.

I, for one, am excited to see a study confirm what I already knew: individuals on the spectrum have gifts and talents they can share with the world when given the appropriate supports and opportunities.  In the words of Temple Grandin, “You would not want to get rid of all the autism genes because you wouldn’t have any computers– you wouldn’t have any scientists.”