Version 1
: Received: 5 March 2024 / Approved: 6 March 2024 / Online: 6 March 2024 (13:57:07 CET)
How to cite:
Khan, A.; Caldwell-Harris, C. L. Seeking Social Connection and Knowledge as a Minimally Verbal Autistic Male with Intellectual Disability. Preprints2024, 2024030338. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.0338.v1
Khan, A.; Caldwell-Harris, C. L. Seeking Social Connection and Knowledge as a Minimally Verbal Autistic Male with Intellectual Disability. Preprints 2024, 2024030338. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.0338.v1
Khan, A.; Caldwell-Harris, C. L. Seeking Social Connection and Knowledge as a Minimally Verbal Autistic Male with Intellectual Disability. Preprints2024, 2024030338. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.0338.v1
APA Style
Khan, A., & Caldwell-Harris, C. L. (2024). Seeking Social Connection and Knowledge as a Minimally Verbal Autistic Male with Intellectual Disability. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.0338.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Khan, A. and Catherine L. Caldwell-Harris. 2024 "Seeking Social Connection and Knowledge as a Minimally Verbal Autistic Male with Intellectual Disability" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202403.0338.v1
Abstract
We bring a strength-based and socially-oriented lens to behaviors observed in profound autism. Social deficits are a defining characteristic of autism. Yet humans’ biological drive for social connection is sufficiently strong that is should be observable, in some form at least, in individuals with autism. We describe a case that validates this view. Mahad is a 20-year-old Pakistani-American male, with intellectual disability, and minimal verbal abilities. Mahad has an intense interest in food and the steps involved in food preparation. He employs and capitalizes on his family’s meal routines to ensure continual social attention from his mother. When not immersed in food, Mahad uses his limited capacities to pursue the additional biological needs of exploring his environment, seeking information, and developing his cognitive abilities.
Keywords
Profound autism; social connection; special interests; cognition; adults; sociality
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public, Environmental and Occupational Health
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
