Oh, yeah! I have heard a friend of mine use the phrase neurotypical. She has twin boys with full blown autism ... but with the intense therapies and work they have done at home, she says that the schools no longer know what to do with them because they have accomplished everything the schools usually aim for.
I am beginning my internship in January, and the first half is at a state hospital that only deals with adults (the second half will be with kids exclusively). However, I have been encouraged that the psychology dept. at the state hospital is very interested in my knowledge about the autism spectrum, because they recognize that a lot of their patient population may be on the spectrum, and they need knowledge in order to better help those parents. People that work exclusively with adults are not likely to know much about the autism spectrum, unfortunately, but I am always encouraged when I meet those who are curious and interested.
Schizophrenia, once it is treated, can make a person seem like they are on the autism spectrum, but I'm thinking the opposite could be true ... somebody that has an undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder AND schizophrenia, could look very different from someone with schizophrenia only ... and we need to know how to differentiate the two so we can take everything into account.
Another friend of mine, who probably is on the spectrum herself AND has an Asperger's son, has a ranch/treatment center for people on the spectrum and their families. She says that the latest research suggests that schizophrenia and the autism spectrum may have a common root (at the microbiology/chemistry/cellular level) that takes different pathways. Which may explain why once the diagnosis is missed in childhood (long before most people will have a first episode of schizophrenia), it is so hard to untangle the two things.
You bring up a very interesting point that I would love to know more about someday: The interaction between the disabilities of the autism spectrum, and narcissism. For example, say if you had a grandmother that had Asperger's disorder. Then, she has a daughter that is neurotypical but the grandmother was unable to model how to understand other people, and was unable to completely understand her daughter's feelings. Could that result in the daughter having narcissistic difficulties, although she might be neurotypical and technically capable of reading other people? And how does that affect the granddaughter down the line, who is born with the difficulties associated with Asperger's and raised with a narcissistic mother?
