General Autism Discussion

One problem I have (re: "conservative parents of autistic kids can be stupid") is the idea that "Flu vaccines cause Autism, so don't vaccinate your kids!"

Not only is it stupid on the flu part (You're perpetuating a serious disease that can be avoided) — it's also stupid on the Autism end.

Even if flu vaccines do give kids Autism (there's no evidence for it), that's a small price to pay. You can work around Autism. You can't work around death.

</rant>

Does anyone even still believe that? I thought it was like Bigfoot or Nessy at this point.

edited 23rd Apr '14 8:37:26 PM by Rem

The point is, people did believe that. And I'm sure there are some nuts who still do. There are still people who believe in Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, so it's possible.

There are people who believe everything.

There are still people who believe the president is Atheist/Muslim/the Antichrist, in some cases simultaneously.

If people were more receptive to evidence and logic, the world would be a much better place. It's mostly a difficult to avoid part of human psychology, but it's still highly regrettable.

edited 23rd Apr '14 9:11:13 PM by storyyeller

There are massive amounts of people who don't vaccinate, most because of the autism scare.

I used to know a website that kept track of how many children would be infected and/or die from vaccine preventable issues thanks to Jenny Mc Carthy's antivaccine campaign.

You can throw all the science at people and they're still going to believe what they want, especially about emotional things like family.

Like my gluten free kid, I told his parents that diet is more suited to cater to people with certain stomach and intestinal disorders. I told them that their son's autism wasn't something that needed to be cured because that was just how his brain was programmed to function. I tried to explain his progress so far and recommended some medications that had been proven to help others with his particular problems.

Their retort: we will bring in groceries just for him. All theybrought were cookies and crackers. They didn't bring anything of substance. But then they complain of all the write ups we have to do from their son stealing food.

It's what my mum calls "wig syndrome": a little old lady in the geriatrics ward had had a stroke that left her bright as a button, but unable to use her mouth. She kept throwing her wig off and making distressed body language. Family and staff kept replacing the wig and worrying that the stroke had had more of an effect mentally than had first been the case...

Call in the shrink (Mum). Mum noses around a bit... and, finds out that this new wig somebody got her to help improve her mood has a lining she's actually allergic to. Hence the constant throwing it off in distress. And, the bad scalp rash nobody bothered to notice.

She'd been trying to tell them the whole time, but nobody had even bothered with the yes/no question-answer session or anything similar and just assumed that Everything Is To Do With The Stroke.

Cue Mum's epic rant both to family, friends and staff about not interacting with the patient in a way that'd help mitigate the effects of the stroke sufficiently to achieve what had been a decent prognosis at the start (but, which now wasn't anywhere near as rosy thanks to the neglect). Or, they'd have bloody noticed what was actually wrong.

edited 24th Apr '14 3:49:38 AM by Euodiachloris

One thing I tend to notice is that Autistic people tend to have a liking for Japanese animation, japnaese video games, and more fantastical media, more so then the average person. myself included.

I've always wondered why that is.

I noticed that, too. I think it could be the whole "relating to people is harder" problem: Fantastical scenarios are much easier to understand because they're less grounded in what people already know. Maybe it's because: since each viewer has the same information (exposition), the playing field is leveled, meaning it's easier to relate to the characters on the screen because they (autistic people) understand what they're going through.

And it's probably a similar thing with anime: Characters wear their emotions on their sleeves, thus making it easier to understand what they're going through and why they're doing what they are. And Shōnen has a lot of explain-y monologues in the middle of fight scenes.

There was something I'd read before about how gluten is converted into opiates in an autistic's body, and some number of autistics actually have their symptoms become less severe when kept away from gluten, milk and/or soy. Also, I'm intolerant to all three of those myself, though when I removed them from my diet, instead of becoming "less autistic", I stopped having food intolerance reactions (which were quite severe, and had started out of nowhere ~5 years ago).

Anyway, I'm not into anime. Precisely because I can't relate to it. I don't relate to all the social-minded shows either; I tried Veronica Mars, but high school-related things are all foreign to me. A fantasy world is easier to relate to. But I still can't relate to Japanese culture. As for Japanese video games, yeah, I like those a lot more, though more of the Mario and Sonic variety than any story-oriented RPG.

Ironically, people have told me that the character relationships in the webcomic I write are well done. But it's still something I can't actually achieve in real life.

For a long time, I loved Sherlock Holmes, because the was the closest I could find to a character I could identify with (though not perfect, his IQ is way higher than mine!).

I think I identify most with Tony Stark, especially in the first movie.

I'm not quite as socially inept as Sherlock.

Harry Potter from HP Mo R is also close, but he's way more arrogant (admittedly partially justified by the fact that he's basically superhuman) and also really good at reading people and acting, two skills I do not have at all.

edited 24th Apr '14 9:17:36 AM by storyyeller

If we can include characters who show signs of being on the spectrum, the book version (not movie version!) of Harriet the Spy is worth a look. She shows so many signs of being on the spectrum that it's quite obvious today, even if no-one knew it then. I suspect the author may have been undiagnosed and wrote what she was familiar with into her character.

edited 24th Apr '14 10:43:00 AM by BonsaiForest

I never read those. At that age I was a "Tom Swift: Boy Inventor" fan (yeah, I know, ouch).

I connected a lot with Harry Potter but that's more due to the fact that I have a "saving people thing" and because Harry is a teenager not particularly bothered about sex and getting a girlfriend.

I was referring specifically to HP Mo R!Harry.

I know, but since people were talking about the characters they related to I wanted to add mine.

I relate to Abed Nadir, but that's probably because he has Aspie traits (canonically it's "undiagnosable") and because he's meta.

Now, with autism being more recognized, what effects do you think it will have on society? I'll give my views after I've seen other people's responses.

I'm not certain that there will be any effects on society. The current trend in "recognizing" autism feels more like a fad to me and I dont expect it to last.

In a lot of ways the Autism Awareness crowd reminds me of Occupy Wall Street: What do you guys want in the first place?

Some people have said they want to curb bullying. Okay, fair enough, but in both my personal and medical experience, bullying is less because the person is Autistic and more because that kid is just an ass.

I know it's not like that everywhere, but even when talking to other sources out of state, this doesn't seem to be a huge issue.

Another point is discrimination. Well, considering having Autism is a medical diagnosis now which can qualify you for social security, if you do find yourself the object of true discrimination of any kind, you are a federally protected class and have all the backing that goes with it. And again, I have not heard of this as being a widespread problem.

So it's like, what is your point? Yes, there are probably local problems that need addressing but overall it's not that big of a deal.

EDIT: I try to be patient with people, especially family members trying to help give their child the best support system. But I do want to just shake a few of these people and say, "You're kid is fine. They're barely on the spectrum. Stop acting like they need a hospital or constant accommodation."

edited 25th Apr '14 2:34:38 PM by Gabrael

I would say that what people on the autism spectrum want is better guidance and support. It's more a question of figuring out what society wants of them, and how to meet those expectations in a mutually constructive way, because on their own the nature of their conditions makes it extremely difficult to figure that out.

Secondly, if people could start making a distinction between actually having HFA on the one hand, and just being an asshole on the other, that would be a significant step forward.

Society expects people to be decent citizens and stay out of the legal system.

Again, I fear we are going to have to be more specific.

Society often expects things from people that they dont have the capacity to deliver. Or that they dont have a right to expect. And it's a little unfair to ask the people who are suffering from a disorder to figure out the solution to that disorder. That's what experts are for.

I didn't know there was some huge push for people with Autism to cure themselves.

If anything, there seems to be a strong drive for finding a cause and making sure those with Autism are not ostracized.

With the medical and social instruction going on, Autism in some way is becoming almost a sexy disorder for older people and an endearing crux for younger children.

This site alone hosts plenty of people who are genuinely diagnosed and have various levels of difficulty. Then their are those who lie and use it as a crutch for their own issues instead of just admitting they have a punk attitude and self esteem problems.

Like I said, of many disorders, in general Autism seems to have a better support system and certainly an almost rabid cheer leading squad compared to other causes.

EDIT: I don't think this is a bad thing though. I am grateful that there is more support and accommodation for a group who deserves it. I don't want that to change, just mature and spread to other groups.

I much rather people assume a child having a tantrum is Autistic and react with compassion instead of just shrugging or muttering, just as I would rather people find Sherlock sexy instead of creepy.

I just don't want people to undermine the capability and personal strength of a person with Autism regardless of the spectrum placement. I love my patients. I just don't want to see anymore people in my facility who really shouldn't be there.

edited 25th Apr '14 7:15:20 PM by Gabrael