SZA opens up about her high-functioning autism diagnosis
American singer, SZA (real name Solána Imani Rowe) got candid about her recent autism diagnosis.
Taking to her private Instagram account on July 5, SZA shared that she got professionally diagnosed with high functioning autism.
“Finally took the time n got formally diagnosed … Asperger’s /high functioning autism / smarter than u n****s so stop playing in my face cause pattern recognition told me and I WILL get to the bottom of it thanks,” she captioned her post.
The Grammy Award-winning singer also posted a picture of her medical paperwork which reads: “Solána Rowe is a … woman who presents with a history, patterning of scores, behaviours, on examination that are quite consistent with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
“Solána has a qualitative impairment in reciprocal social interaction, as both self-reported and observed by this examiner.”
The paperwork further revealed that the behaviour she exhibits that are consistent with ASD include sensory defensiveness and a qualitative impairment in social interaction.
The singer is also described as someone that is “gifted linguistically and functioning in the superior range of fluid reasoning.”
What is Asperger’s Syndrome?
According to Drake Institute of Behavioral Medicine, patients with Asperger’s can be extremely high-functioning and successful in their careers but have significant difficulties in interpersonal relations.
This means people who received an Asperger’s diagnosis tend to experience behaviours of autism that were often considered minimally different from those of neurotypical people.
In these patients, language skills can be on par with peers, even though their use of language can sometimes be described as odd or unconventional.
Asperger’s syndrome symptoms include:
- Impaired social interaction and nonverbal communication.
- Restricted interests.
- Repetitive behaviours.
- A lack of awareness of how their behaviour or actions affect others.
It’s also worth noting that Asperger’s and autism aren’t quite the same thing.
The biggest difference is that people with Asperger’s usually have milder symptoms and do not have language delays.
In fact, they might actually have great vocabulary and speech skills, even if they sometimes struggle with social cues or using language in a way that fits the social situation.
