Conversations with Tyler1 Aug 2018

Michelle Dawson on Autism and Atypicality

Perhaps no one else in the world more appreciates the challenges facing a better understanding of autism than Michelle Dawson. An autistic herself, she began researching her condition after experiencing discrimination at her job. "Because I had to address these legal issues and questions," she tells Tyler, "I did actually look at the autism literature, and suddenly I had information I could really work with. Suddenly there it was, this information that I was supposed to be too stupid to work with." And so she continued reading papers - lots and lots of papers - and is now an influential researcher in her own right.

For Michelle, the best way to understand autism is to think of it as atypical information processing. Autistic brains function differently, and these highly varied divergences lead to biases and misunderstanding among typical thinkers, including autism researchers.

In her conversation with Tyler, she outlines the current thinking on autism, including her ideas about cognitive versatility and optionality, hyperlexia and other autistic strengths, why different tests yield wildly different measures of IQ among autistics, her 'massive bias' against segregating autistics, how autistic memory is different, why sometimes a triangle is just a freaking triangle, and more.

Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.

Recorded July 9th, 2018

Other ways to connect

Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Follow Tyler on Twitter
Follow Michelle on Twitter
Email us: cowenconvos@mercatus.gmu.edu
Subscribe at our newsletter page to have the latest Conversations with Tyler news sent straight to your inbox.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(288)

Tobi Lütke on Creating Shopify for Americans as a German in Canada

Tobi Lütke is the CEO and co-founder of Shopify. 20 years ago, he was just a German coder who emigrated to Canada to launch some ecommerce platform with another German. Now he's the world-renowned tho...

18 Sep 202454min

Philip Ball on the Interplay of Science, Society, and the Quest for Understanding

Register for our LA Listener Meetup Philip Ball is an award-winning science writer who has penned over 30 books on a dizzying variety of subjects. Holding degrees in chemistry from Oxford and physics ...

4 Sep 20241h 11min

Nate Silver on Risk-takers, Politicians, and Poker Players

In his second appearance, Nate Silver joins the show to cover the intersections of predictions, politics, and poker with Tyler. They tackle how coin flips solve status quo bias, gambling's origins in ...

21 Aug 202459min

Paul Bloom on the Psychology of Children, and the Morality of Empathy and Disgust

Paul Bloom is a renowned psychologist and writer specializing in moral psychology, particularly how moral thoughts and actions develop in children. But his interests and books explore a wide range of ...

7 Aug 202459min

Alan Taylor on Revolutionary Ironies and the Continental Civil War

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Alan Taylor is Tyler's pick for one of the greatest living historians. His many books cover the early American Republic, American westward expansion, the War of 1812, Vi...

24 Jul 202457min

Brian Winter on Brazil, Argentina, and the Future of Latin America

Register for the DC Listener Meetup It's not just the churrasco that made him fall in love with Brazil. Brian Winter has been studying and writing about Latin America for over 20 years. He's been trac...

10 Jul 202458min

Joseph Stiglitz on Pioneering Economic Theories, Policy Challenges, and His Intellectual Legacy

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz joined Tyler for a discussion that weaves through Joe's career and key contributions, including what he learned from giving an 8-lecture in Japan, how bei...

26 Jun 202449min

Velina Tchakarova on China, Russia, and the Future of Geopolitics

Take our Listener Survey You could try playing out the four-dimensional chess game of how the global order will shift in the next 10-15 years for yourself, or you could hire Velina Tchakarova. Founde...

12 Jun 202451min