People with autism have an enhanced ability to process information, which may explain the apparently higher-than-average percentage of people with autism who work in the information technology industry according to a team of researchers at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. Dr. Nilli Lavie, Dr. Anna Remington and Dr. John Swettenham published their findings in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

“Our study confirms our hypothesis that people with autism have higher perceptual capacity compared to the typical population. This can only be seen once the task becomes more demanding, with more information to process. In the more challenging task conditions, people with autism are able to perceive significantly more information than the typical adult.”

                                                                                                                                           Dr. Nilli Lavie

 

References

Remington AM et al. Lightening the load: perceptual load impairs visual detection in typical adults but not in autism. J Abn Psychol 2012.
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