autism

[Lanolin]

Does anyone suffer from this OR friends with someone who has this?

What are the difficulties and do you try and compensate? What special needs do you need to be aware of?

I find the people I know with autism can be wonderful but it can also be frustrating because they can be extremely focused singleminded on something that nothing else can deter them from their pet topic...but maybe that is also part of being a genius?!

From what I know its a sensory issue, like people with autism get so over stimulated with things they need to stop and focus on ONE thing so as not to be overwhelmed. It must be hard to go through life with no filter though. But I can kind of understand that they need to do that to protect themselves.

 

[Lanolin]

Apparently Steve Jobs had aspergers, which is a mild form of autism, they call it being 'on the spectrum'

Some children at school need a teacher aide to help them learn, if they are diagnosed, they need more on one one time to help them navigate being around a lot of people.

I always thought it interesting that, those with autism might find social cues extremely hard to navigate, but they may respond to colour, like they can 'hear' colours and 'see' sounds. More than other people. Whether thats to make up for a neuro deficit elsewhere I dont know. Maybe its just hyper sensitivity.

In the end it might just become something like blindness or deafness where those afflicted learn other ways of doing things. Temple Grandin, one of the most famous autistic adovocates invented a hugging machine. I think thats brilliant, I'd never thought that you could invent something like that.,!

 

[Lanolin]

ok maybe nobody here

its ok just thought I would ask

neurodiversity isnt really understood. I mean even I dont fully understand it...let alone the ppl suffering from it themselves.

I mean I can explain something like myopia, to someone who doenst have it. Imagine going through life and everything far away is a blur. You cannot see clearly without putting on correcting lenses ie. glasses

when you wear glasses, its fine, but...there are some downsides to wearing glasses all the time and there are certain things you cant really do that a person with 20/20 vision can do naturally. And so your body compensates for a these things maybe you become really good at reading up close rather than things that involve judging distances far away.

 

[Magenta]

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of complicated, rapidly growing neurodevelopmental and behavioral disabilities, which comprise autistic disorder, Asperger's syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, and childhood disintegrative disorder. These disorders are characterized by repetitive and stereotyped behavioral patterns; restricted interests or activities and impairments in social interaction. Many of the pediatric autonomic disorders are apparent at birth or within the 1st year of life. Some of these occur as a result of developmental abnormalities caused by specific genetic mutations, and others as a result of generalized central dysfunction. The onset of ASDs is found early in childhood and lasts throughout a person's life. ASD prevalence among 4-year-old children in the United States was approximately 1 in 59 children with nearly four times higher incidence in boys than girls, suggesting that these disorders pose “an urgent public health issue.” ASDs are said to be increasing at an alarming rate in the Indian scenario as well with a prevalence of 1 in 100 children as of April, 2018.

Literature suggests that behavioral and language disabilities as seen in ASDs may arise from abnormalities in cerebral cortex, amygdala, and hypothalamus that interpret sensory input and process language associated with ANS. Autonomic dysfunction is often overlooked as a feature of several pediatric neurodevelopmental disorders. Symptoms of autonomic dysfunction such as mood instability, resistance to change, hyperactivity and inattention, sensory disintegration, sleep disorders, and gastrointestinal dysfunction have been previously recognized in children with ASDs. source

iow: Teens and adults with autism are more likely to have attention-deficit hyperactivity
disorders, intellectual disability, anxiety disorders, depression and bipolar disorder.

Researchers have concluded that having autism itself is an "independent risk factor to attempted
suicide regardless of the presence of psychiatric [conditions], including depression, bipolar disorder,
and alcohol and substance use disorders." Taiwanese researchers urged doctors to monitor "suicide-
related symptoms," as well as mental and behavioral disorders, in patients with autism. source

 

[Magenta]

I have nieces and a nephew with autism, and also a niece who received her M.A.
and Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with autism as her main focus/field of research.

 

[Lanolin]

I have nieces and a nephew with autism, and also a niece who received her M.A.
and Ph.D. in clinical psychology, with autism as her main focus/field of research.

how do you connect with your nieces and nephews Magenta?
are there any special ways you reach out to them?

 

[love_comes_softly]

I think one of the biggest things to realize and understand about Autism is that it truly is different for every child/adult; the spectrum is very large. Unfortunately, there is no one way to address everyone.

It takes time in getting to know someone to learn and understand how to best communicate/relate with a person that has Autism.

 

[Lanolin]

Im not concerned if its a genetic mutation or whatever or the whys and wherefores

possibly the suicidal component is because those with autism get frustrated because they are unable to communicate and make sense of their world

treatment is there but its super expensive, I heard ...apparently music therapy is beneficial

 

[Godsgirl83]

Temple Grandin,

Temple Grandin, she is a wonderful resource for learning from someone firsthand or about as first hand as one can get watching/listening to youtube.

 

[TamLynn]

Check out Temple Grandin to learn more about autism.
She is an American scientist and animal behaviorist.
Amazing lady!

As love_comes_softly mentioned the Autism Spectrum is huge and each person has a different experience with it.

I'm privileged to know several people on the spectrum and they're all quite wonderful. ❤

 

[Lanolin]

I looked at Temple Grandin website

'the woman who thinks like a cow"?!

I dont know about that, but sometimes I think like a cat

hmm

speech delay is nothing new though, some children also choose NOT to speak, its called elective mutism, because theyve had some kind of trauma, or they were told to keep quiet by their parents, because the consequences if they spoke out would be severe.

thinking in pictures as well as words is not new either...education used to be very rigid and so not everyone could learn in the same way, thankfully, educators look at the whole person now instead of just test scores.

the other thing educators miss, is they sometimes teach things lopsided, and not in step by step fashion, If you miss a step, you actually miss out on further learning. Its finding the key that will unlock everything else though

 

[Lanolin]

huh Temple Grandins book is called

'unnwritten rules' of social relationships

might be one to read

its hard to relate to someone autistic, well the one I know, he might be older than me but still when its his birthday he'll list everything he received, and when he writes he tells me everything he bought, hes a bit obsessed with that, as well as remembering the birthdays of everyone hes ever met. Christmas is also a big drama because of all the gifting involved
To me it seems birthdays are super important to him..I had a special needs girl at school constantly remind me her birthday coming up, expecting gifts etc.

not to say birthdays arent important but seems like a bigger deal is made of them out of proportion to what they are. Although I think some children dont even get birthdays, their parents dont do anything, which is sad

 

[Lanolin]

i think if your mother gave birth to you then thats one person who'll always remember your birthday

Im very bad at remembering everyone elses. But I get reminders...yes..unless Im reminded I guess I would forget...and if not throwing a party I supoose I wouldnt tell anyone.

always a bit awkward to be reminded lol
or asked 'what are you doing?' well...still breathing and alive hooray

 

[Deus_Vult]

I don't know anyone with that condition in my country, however it seems like it's pretty common in your country... Maybe they are poisonining your children.

 

[Lanolin]

I don't know anyone with that condition in my country, however it seems like it's pretty common in your country... Maybe they are poisonining your children.

my friend whos eldest son is autistic said he might have picked up some chemicals while she was pregnant with him cos shes a hairdresser and they use a LOT of chemicals in their hair dyes etc.

also roundup isnt banned here...still. I refused to use it when I applied for a gardening role so didnt get one job. They use it to spray everything cos they too lazy to mulch or do proper gardening.

I dont know what else is affecting ppls systems. These days most people live in a synthetic soup

 

[Magenta]

how do you connect with your nieces and nephews Magenta?
are there any special ways you reach out to them?

I come from a very large family and live pretty far from most of them, so I have had very little opportunity to interact with them. The two girls who have autism are actually my grand nieces, being the daughters of my oldest brother's daughter. I get brief reports concerning them from one of my sisters, who lives very near to them, but that's about it. The older one is much more affected by autism than the younger one. They are both very young yet. My nephew is all grown up.

 

[Lanolin]

top 10 chemical exposures that can affect neurodevelopment in the womb

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120425140118.htm

I dont know what half of them are...but they might be common everyday household items
In the 70s people smoked, used asbestos in buildings, took all kinds of drugs, sprayed everything with chemicals, cleaned wth chemicals, thought plastic was the bees knees, painted things with lead, had mercury fillings, sniffed glue and injected themselves with whatever while drinking alcohol and eating hormone soaked burgers stuffed with nitrates, preservatives and artificial food colouring

hair dye is one of the most toxic chemicals you could use (most come with a warning label) I dont understand why women insist on bleaching then dyeing hair with it when there natural dyes that arent toxic

also, lipstick contains coal tar which is carcinogenic and heavy metals you are putting it ON YOUR LIPS. ?!

 

[JohnDB]

I hate to discuss this,
but apparently there's some sort of correlation between children's childhood vaccinations and autism.

Where correlation is not causation. Something is going on with this.

And where we like to believe that these scientists know...they really don't.

There has to be a trail and train of logic to understand why there's a link between the two. Is it fragility? Genetics? Or something else that is causing the epidemic in some people groups. What are the identifying characteristics of those susceptible to this disease?

Asbergers syndrome usually affects a person's morals....as in they won't have any. (The CIA loves these sorts when they are brilliant )

Autism usually causes them to not talk so much...they would rather do anything other than talk...even chores. (There's hay to be made here)

30 years ago they had nothing for leukemia other than blood transfusions. Now it's "Take these pills and go back to work."

They used to have no cure for influenza...now they have Tamiflu.

There used to be no cure for shingles and Chicken Pox. Now they have several treatments.

It's going to take time and lots of research to make gains on this stuff as these things aren't exactly easy to even understand much less treat or prevent.

 

[Lanolin]

mm no I dont think so, autism actually presents itself BEFORE childhood vaccinations. It is not based on scientific evidence.
the correlation doesnt mean anything.
sorry. you can dismiss that one right out, just another one of those scare tactics that some paranoid believers have.

 

[JohnDB]

mm no I dont think so, autism actually presents itself BEFORE childhood vaccinations. It is not based on scientific evidence.
the correlation doesnt mean anything.
sorry. you can dismiss that one right out, just another one of those scare tactics that some paranoid believers have.

I didn't say that there was any causation...only correlation. Nobody has proven anything either way of causing or not causing .