Does new Autism study undermine neurodiversity?

[Natapoc]

As for the "lighter forms of autism", they're just personality traits, and, as such, don't even deserve to be mentioned. Calling them "syndromes" - thus placing them on the same level of real illnesses that cause real suffering - is just an insult to suffering people, a pathetic excuse, and a more than a bit of attention whoring.

So what would you cure? Just things like severe autism and schizophrenia? You wouldn't force me at gunpoint to burn all my physics textbooks, watch reality TV 2 hours a day, and attend at least one party a week lest I not fit into the norm? Because I honestly do fear any enforcement of conformity. I wish to be left alone completely.

You seem to believe that your love of physics and your dislike of reality TV and parties are a function of your autism. There is no real evidence of this.

It's perfectly normal for a person to enjoy or not enjoy any number of activities and subjects. Obsession with physics is perfectly healthy.

Enjoying reality TV may be a sign of mental illness

Liking or not liking parties is a personality trait.

Ability to understand non verbal communication is a learned behavior.

Edit: Also you are lying about your desire to be left alone completely. Your posting on NSG is proof of your desire to socialize

[Dopeonia]

Don't you think it's a little funny how autism is being redefined as "an inability to socialize?" It used to be a diagnosis for people who were very disabled (for example someone that cannot speak at all, can't understand language, ect) but who sometimes are lucky enough to have a skill that they are genius level at (often music, or yes, mathematics)

It's because of all the self diagnosed autists on the web, it's what we associate with autism now

[Lackadaisical2]

So what would you cure? Just things like severe autism and schizophrenia? You wouldn't force me at gunpoint to burn all my physics textbooks, watch reality TV 2 hours a day, and attend at least one party a week lest I not fit into the norm? Because I honestly do fear any enforcement of conformity. I wish to be left alone completely.

You seem to believe that your love of physics and your dislike of reality TV and parties are a function of your autism. There is no real evidence of this.

He doesn't have autism.

[Coffee Cakes]

It's because of all the self diagnosed autists on the web, it's what we associate with autism now

Those people pi$$ me off so bad...

[Risottia]

As for the "lighter forms of autism", they're just personality traits, and, as such, don't even deserve to be mentioned. Calling them "syndromes" - thus placing them on the same level of real illnesses that cause real suffering - is just an insult to suffering people, a pathetic excuse, and a more than a bit of attention whoring.

So what would you cure? Just things like severe autism and schizophrenia?

Yes.

You wouldn't force me at gunpoint to burn all my physics textbooks, watch reality TV 2 hours a day, and attend at least one party a week lest I not fit into the norm?

No, because THAT deviation from the norm doesn't cause you real suffering (by the way, I'm not sure that 2 hours/day reality TV and parties every week is the statistical mode).
And also because of my personal opinions about partying, reality TV and physics. But that's very subjective and quite secondary.

[Risottia]

Lol. I love how some autistic people assume non-autistic people are engaged in stupid chit-chat only.

Other than you got the quote name wrong (it's from me),

Sorry.

that was taken from observations of people taken over the course of my life. I'd confidently say that yes, the vast majority of the communication that you would get done in that time is idle chatter.

I challenge the validity of your statistical sample and the fact that you didn't even bother to define "idle chatter" properly enough to calculate standard deviation.

I have no outright opposition to communicating the necessary facts to others, but I wont enjoy it and idle chatter/"socialising" is anathema to me.

Your anathemata are your own subjective problem.

Interesting study. The main reason that high-function people have it rough is because they have to deal with people. People are idiotic, irrational beings that can't be predicted with very much certain given present computational powers.

Only if you rely on computers. I rely on neurons and glia. They tend to be faster in extrapolating possibile solutions from insufficient data.

[SD_Film Artists]

It's now difficult to trust any autism study because every other middle class kid is being called autistic in order to excuse their behavior (perfectly natural or otherwise)

It's the new favorite of the month diagnosis like ADHD used to be.

Everyone's "on the spectrum!" except for people who have not been evaluated yet

Of course there are people (many people) who really DO have autism and who really do have aspergers. It's just that recent over diagnosis of autism has led me to not believe most studies or interpretations.

The view of what autism is now is totally different from the view of what autism was 20 years ago. Did autism change that much? Did that many more people really suddenly get born with autism? Did understanding of it really increase that much? Really?

The view of a broken leg now is the same as the view of what a broken leg was 20 years ago.

As with many things in medicine; research and understanding has changed through the years. Autism used to be thought to be caused by bad parenting, but twins such as me and my brother where one is Autistic and the other is Neurotypical disproved that (not that I was part of those studies, as it was in the 1950s). What's really needed is better understanding and acceptance, as I'm sure you're aware of that need in your other causes.

What do you guys think of this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWnDPpfpLmM

Very nice to see, especially since its from America where all the Autism Speaks bullshit used to come from.

[Salandriagado]

I've done all these things (taught myself programming at a young age and I also graduated with a very high GPA with a degree in computer science)

I'm published and have done research published in professional journals. Am I autistic? Or do I just have some things I'm interested in like everyone else?

You misunderstood the point. Those are not the sum of my achievements. Those are the things that I did in the time that was saved by being unable to do "normal" things.

[The Atlantean Menace]

It's because of all the self diagnosed autists on the web, it's what we associate with autism now

Those people pi$$ me off so bad...

I always thought they were just awkward people who wanted an excuse to be awkward and to cash in on the "higher intelligence" symptom of Asperger's.

[Writwar]

I have a short story about a girl named Kate. This wasn't actually written by me, but it's quite interesting.

When Kate is born, she can’t walk, talk, understand what is said to her, or feed herself. Being that this is the case, her parents are well-armed with early intervention and treatment strategies. She gets Breastfeeding Intervention, and later immense, unprecedented progress is made and she graduates to being spoon-fed. She gets Speech Therapy every day in the form of talking to her all the time in a particular specialized way designed to elicit interest, understanding, and speech. Her treatment also includes giving her interesting toys to treat her incredible lack of fine motor skills and to hone her perceptual skills and eye-hand coordination, as well as many other interventions.

These early intervention and treatment strategies are successful, and she eventually begins to walk, talk, and feed herself. But there is a lot she does not know about the world that she lives in. Beginning at the age of four, she is sent to a taxpayer-funded institution for several hours a day of intensive therapy designed to teach her about various aspects of the world. This treatment is wildly successful and in a few years she can read, write, add, subtract, and so forth, and is even capable of comprehending some amount of science and history.

When she is not in the institution, she is doing play therapy and music therapy. Play therapy consists of supervised play with other children who are also in play therapy to get their exercise, learn social skills, and learn more about how to function in the world they live in. She is dropped off once a week for one-on-one music therapy in which she is painstakingly taught the rudiments of the piano. She is, of course, highly limited in her ability to play the piano, but it is thought that this will be beneficial to her emotional and intellectual well-being. Sometimes she also goes to a day program called Girl Scouts with lots of other girls her age.

To teach her responsibility and daily living skills, there is an intervention at home called the Chores Method. Her parents delegate certain simple instrumental activities of daily living to her, such as washing the dishes, vacuuming the carpet, and cleaning her room. If she does not do these things, then a privilege such as watching television or going out to play with her friends is taken away from her.

When Kate is seven years old, the doctor discovers that she is lactose intolerant, a relatively common condition. This explains her crankiness and the regression and stomachache she experiences whenever she drinks milk. When this is treated, her behavior improves both at school and at home. Her parents view this treatment just the same as they view all the other treatments they have been through to get their daughter where she is today.

As Kate grows older, the treatments and interventions are changed to reflect her age and increased progress and maturity. As she reaches the transition to adulthood, she is given pre-vocational training and encouraged to think about what kind of job placement she might want.

She is also encouraged to choose between one of several residential placements. She ends up electing to move to a group home with two other adults who share the same apartment and support each other with paying the bills and daily living tasks. They receive extensive assistance at home from plumbers, electricians, and repair people who are all trained to do what is outside of these individuals’ capacity. Farmers grow, raise, harvest, and slaughter the food that the poor limited souls cannot grow for themselves, and truckers take that food to special facilities called Grocery Stores staffed by even more people. While they have undoubtedly made extensive progress since they were born, it clearly takes a lot of support just for these young women to get through their days and they are highly dependent on other people for their survival.

Now, what do you think is wrong with Kate? (If you already know this story don't answer.)

It's fairly obvious. She is a human, in need of special supports like everyone else.

Just... She's neurotypical, so the supports are second nature for HER caregivers. We need to educate so that the typical ones think similarly of us Neurodiverse, and it also becomes second nature to give us equal opportunity.

[SD_Film Artists]

Those people pi$$ me off so bad...

I always thought they were just awkward people who wanted an excuse to be awkward and to cash in on the "higher intelligence" symptom of Asperger's.

That's why people with Aspergers/Autism hate them, as well as because they often mistake Aspergers for Terretes, making us look even worse.