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Back at it again with pretending autistic people don't become adults and can't communicate at all?

• PhasmaFelis 9y ago
  Some of us don't. The article mentions a "14-year-old who had not spoken a complete sentence in 12 years". As an autistic adult, it's really frustrating how high-functioning autistics and caretakers of low-functioning autistics constantly talk past each other and refuse to acknowledge that the other exists.
  • OscarTheGrinch 9y ago
    As one of the aformentioned caretakers I can attest that a certain narrowing of focus on one's own issues is part of the deal. I also have an autistic adult friend who is constantly dismayed by the focus on child autisim, so I can relate to what you are saying. The focus on children is likley caused by the medical siloing of patients into pediactric and adult. Also researchers may want to focus on harm reduction, ie by preventing or amelirating autisitic symptoms in children it is likley to also prevent the downstream effects to their nervous systems. But certainly if researchers want to get a better understanding of treatment efficacy, adults should also be included in trials. Our current diagnostic grouping of symptoms into an autisic spectrum is imperfect, I would be very supprised if autisim as we understand it today is caused by one thing. So if this research becomes a treatment it will likley only be benificial for a certain percentage.