Posted by noa on June 29, 2000, at 8:18:09
In reply to Re: Asperger's...Ted Kozinski is likely one... » Johnturner77, posted by Sara T on June 28, 2000, at 22:54:34
Thank you for pointing out the distinctions. I think what John Turner was focusing on in thinking kaczynski might have had aspergers is the shunning of stimulation and people, the high proficiency for math and science and home-made technology.
But the differences in "theory of mind" are enormous, as you point out. In aspergers, there is the absence of theory of mind, while in paranoid schizophrenia, there is almost an overactive theory of mind, ie, attributing intentions that are not really there.
I think, however, that there are probably plenty of folks who have been labeled as schizophrenic who might better be described as having something akin to aspergers, but they grew up before aspergers was widely understood by professionals. And, I imagine that to a certain degree, there might be individuals with aspergers who were misunderstood and mistreated because they were different, who subsequently developed feelings of paranoia based on their very real experiences of being picked on by peers and treated harshly by teachers and others. But I suspect that it would be the extremely rare occurence that this would develop into a full blown fixed paranoid delusional system, unless such a psychotic disorder was in the cards for them anyway, separate from the aspergers.
poster:noa
thread:37688
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