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I Gave My Child Autism

• PsychopompPoet 12y ago
  Fuck this article and HN -- it's all over. Stop coming here. It's officially over. Stop coming here hoping to find something. Go back to your lodge master and ask what to do, because it's not out here any more. This is the sixth sign. There is nothing but an endless arbitrary wall of suburban words for you. This is the wasteland. Go back. Give up. 3D printed kidneys, neo-millenium-entreprenureal hogwash apocalypse. Fuck you and your white family. The grinding of the gears can be heard halfway around the world.
• DiabloD3 12y ago
  As an guy with Autism, this is an absolutely great read.
  • FrankenPC 12y ago
    Aspergers here. Great read. My dad had it really bad. It's amazing in retrospect how much everyone adapted their lives around my dad to compensate for his abhorrent behaviors. Not one person said: "Maybe he's got some kind of psychological disorder". That was the hardest part growing up in my household. The not-talking about it.
    • woah 12y ago
      What were his abhorrent behaviors?
      • scoggs 12y ago
        I'm guessing here that he was nasty and rude as a few students I've worked with were. The real kicker though is that they don't realize what they are doing or saying at all. With adults maybe it's a bit less pronounced but when kids act like that to each other you will hear about it whether verbally or through tears.
        • throwawayaway 12y ago
          nasty and rude = autistic now? god help us all.
          • robwilliams 12y ago
            That's not what they said at all; they said they some autistic students that were nasty and rude without being aware of it.
• elmerland 12y ago
  Wonderful story!
• DanBC 12y ago
  This article makes a point about mis-diagnosis. It's an important point. Look at dyslexia. There are a bunch of different reading disabilities, but school children are mostly tested for dyslexia. If they have dyslexia they get a bunch of help. If they have some other reading disability, well, it's hit or miss whether they get the help or not. So some people with mild dyslexia are geting copious help, while other people with moderate reading disabilities are not getting any help. This is why accessibility is important. The people who meed the help and who need the assisstive tech might not be able to get it. So, please, do remember accessibility.
• nether 12y ago
  What does "autism" even mean today? I've heard it used to describe everything from awkward introverts with technical interests, to kids who are nearly mute with speech disabilities. Do anti-vaxers think they're saving their kids from becoming software engineers?
  • DanBC 12y ago
    http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/hcp-dsm.html http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/hcp-dsm.html http://www.autism.org.uk/labels http://www.autism.org.uk/labels
    • cubano 12y ago
      Diagnostic Criteria for 299.00 Autism Spectrum Disorder Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text): !.Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions. 2. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication. 3. Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understand relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers I am 50yo, am a struggling recovering addict, and I totally suffer deeply from all 3 of these criteria and have for most of my life... No one ever mentioned the word autism to me, and I've been to two high quality, long-term impatient treatment centers in my life. I suffer from these to this day, and can't help but wonder how much of my addiction issues are directly related to them. It feels to me, looking at the list through tear-clouded eyes, that almost all of them are.
      • jat850 12y ago
• wvenable 12y ago
  My son has sensory processing disorder and, it turns out, so does my wife. She was never diagnosed as a child and even though it affects her every day, we never understood it until now. My son also has a host of behaviors that come directly from me. I was also never diagnosed with anything as a child.
• judk 12y ago
  This article is weird. 1. The bizarre * in "retardation", as though it's a slur like "nigger". 2. It overplays "now we know it's all autism". The whole point of "autism spectrum" concept is that it's a name for a basket of symptoms that are NOT understood by current science. We don't have reliable biological tests yet (but there are some great correlates), we don't know the mechanism, we don't now how to reverse it. All we know are some ways to help people meet their life goals by learning ways to work around the skills they lack. The article has the feel of someone with an extreme-seeking personality: he swung from an extreme homeopathic anti-scientist to an extreme "sciencist", assigning magical powers to "science", not understanding what science actually says.
  • kelukelugames 12y ago
    retard has been on the last of no no words for a while now. Lots of co-workers really dont like it. cant tell if i'm on the wrongside of history but i really need a word for when my friends do something stupid.
    • deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    • brighteyes 12y ago
      "Retard" as a derogatory term and/or as a slur is indeed offensive, and people are using it less and less. It's best to avoid it. If you're still using it, you are on the wrong side of history. Find another word instead. But "mental retardation" is a clinical term that is perfectly acceptable, and to bleep it for fear of saying it or spelling it out, is quite ridiculous. This is the first time I've ever seen it done, in fact. It's as silly as bleeping out "Niger river" because it is similar to a slur and shares some amount of etymology.
      • tempestn 12y ago
        In fact the reason why "retard" is offensive, is because it is taking a term for a mental condition ("retardation") and turning it into a slur. It's similar to how calling something "gay" in a derogatory manner is offensive. With "retard", the derogatory use became so much more prevalent than the clinical that even the latter was overshadowed and began to take on a negative connotation (at least, for many people).
• salgernon 12y ago
  There seems to be a movement to accept any and all behaviors of children on the spectrum, and from the comments on this otherwise excellent article ("I resemble that remark!") there are people that see any interventions or attempts to treat these children as abusive. My six year daughter is asperger (or would be if that were still distinct) and frankly her behavior is not just disruptive but absolutely horrible - she tantrums, bites and hurts anyone around her when she can't properly communicate her current "need" - and that need may be something completely unreasonable like ordering that the Santa at the mall be immediately removed from her vacinity. Not all behaviors of autistic children - or adults - is ok and to be be cherished as a "difference". There are some behaviors that are fine - obsessions about dinosaurs, say, but there are many more that must be addressed before the child enters society. Smearing yourself with poo is NOT one of those differences that should be embraced. Sorry, ranty after an afternoon having the shit kicked out of me because I wouldn't forward the Harry Potter audiobook to the correct precise instant she wants.
  • i14ng 12y ago
    As with any child, one can address behavior issues without shaming or hating who the child is. In an adult relationship, it's the difference between "You make me feel bad when you do xyz" and "Why do you always have to be such an a-hole" - these are two very different ways to raise an issue. That's what many (including me) are saying about autism. The point is not to cherish harmful behaviors. The point is to cherish the children who are different. Their differences make it harder for them to learn some behaviors, but they do have a positive side much of the time. My son is awesome and I would change nothing. Personally I find him much easier to get along with than "typical" kids.
    • gress 12y ago
      In addition to this, bearing in mind that people with autism process emotion differently, it is very likely that shaming is an ineffective way to promote learning.
  • jstoiko 12y ago
    > is asperger (or would be if that were still distinct) What do you mean by that?
• guscost 12y ago
  > In fact, the majority of scientists believe that there is no “autism epidemic” at all—that people with autism are no more common than they were 20, or 50, or 1,000 years ago. This seems very possible. Although a fiction, there is a good example in the Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian (Spoiler Alert!): Dr. Maturin's daughter is born while he is away at sea, and it is strongly suggested that she is on what we call today the Autism Spectrum. Naturally, as a legendary doctor ahead of his time, he recognizes that she is not mentally retarded (or an "idiot" in the language of the period). He prevents his less enlightened contemporaries from essentially trying to beat the condition out of his daughter, and takes measures to provide an environment where she can thrive.
• empressplay 12y ago
  Beautiful story and so rare of a parent to be willing to own their child's condition this way. That's one lucky kid.
• SQL2219 12y ago
  http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/cdc-responds-admits-omitting-vaccine-data-linking-vaccines-to-higher-rates-of-autism/ http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/cdc-responds-admits-omittin...
  • Intermernet 12y ago
    I just had a quick look around that site and I wouldn't be referencing it as an argument against anything except good research practices. They seem to love providing all sorts of links to the publications that back up their arguments, but none to the data they are claiming to refute. This leads to the illusion that they know what they're talking about, but they don't link to what they're actually refuting.
• joering2 12y ago
  I stopped reading after this "Now dedicated advocates for vaccines and evidence-based parenting" Suure. If you pro-vaccines then you're "evidence based" mature parent. If you against, you're a monster. For every story like this you will find counter story of children getting all sort of diseases BECAUSE of vaccines. Internet if full of good read, here is an example: http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/48/4/456.full http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/48/4/456.full
  • sp332 12y ago
    I think tenses are important here. It might have made sense to be wary right after that paper got published in the Lancet. But data accumulated in the reverse direction since then, and now the paper has been retracted and the author has apologized. At some point between then and now, people should have gone back to being pro-vaccine.
    • DanBC 12y ago
      Wakefield is a fraud. He hasn't apologised: he repeated his claims that his work was not fraudulent as recently as Feb 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield http://tallguywrites.livejournal.com/148012.html http://tallguywrites.livejournal.com/148012.html EDIT: I normally ignore downvotes but these are confusing. Andrew Wakefield's work has been investigated and thoroughly debunked. The first sentence of the WP article (which obeys the Biography of Living People policy) calls the work fraudulent: > Andrew Jeremy Wakefield (born c. 1957) is a British former surgeon and medical researcher, known for his fraudulent 1998 research paper in support of the now-discredited claim that there was a link between the administration of the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, and the appearance of autism and bowel disease.[1][2][3][4][5] That article's lead details the many different people who've called Wakefield a fraud - English subjects in English publications at risk from English libel law have called him a fraud. The bit about him not apologising is burried in the lead, but is clear: > As recently as February 2015, he publicly repeated his denials and refused to back down from his assertions,[32] despite the fact—as stated by a British Administrative Court Justice in a related decision—that "there is now no respectable body of opinion which supports [Dr. Wakefield's] hypothesis, that MMR vaccine and autism/enterocolitis are causally linked."
• hudell 12y ago
  Great, now I think I may have it too.
• deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
• russianbandit 12y ago
  I don't understand why autism being genetic disproves whatever the anti-vaccination camp says. Do they actually say that the only cause of autism is MMR vaccine? I wasn't aware of that.
  • zo1 12y ago
    I was under the impression (and I could be wrong) that the anti-vaccine individuals are keen to blame anything on vaccines, not just MMR. On a side note, until we have cold-hard evidence that there is a direct link between vaccines and disease X, I am going to clump these individuals in the same group as "naturopaths", "homeopaths", "gem/magnet/chakra healing advocates", whatever. I know I exaggerate a little at this point with the names, but I really have no respect for willful unscientific beliefs. Even more so when they decide to inflict these beliefs on their innocent children. Like these people: http://wonkette.com/580153/paleo-chefs-baby-food-book-pulled-because-it-could-kill-babies-unfair http://wonkette.com/580153/paleo-chefs-baby-food-book-pulled... http://www.bubbayumyum.com/ http://www.bubbayumyum.com/
• narrator 12y ago
  Ok, Saturday night rant time: The most curious things about autism is that A. There isn't much data on prevalence outside the U.S. B. The rise is hand waved off as better diagnosis by autism skeptics. C. Looking at causes of autism has been stigmatized because of the anti-vax controversy. We'll still be sitting here 20 years from now because nobody really wants to get to the bottom of this. Maybe the people who don't use that brand of whatever essential consumer good that causes autism will be the only people who will make it past the next generation and it will effectively breed autism out of the population that way. A whole bunch of people subsistence farming in Africa most likely. This almost reminds me of Bruce Sterling's story "Sacred Cow" from "A Good Old Fashioned Future" where everybody in Britain and the west dies of mad cow disease and the Indians who don't eat cow take over the world.
  • _greim_ 12y ago
    > nobody really wants to get to the bottom of this Don't confuse "nobody takes my speculation and anecdotal stories seriously" with "nobody wants to get to the bottom of this."
  • kpil 12y ago
    I think the situation is very similar in Europe. One interesting thing is that here in Sweden we have a rather large group of refugees from Somalia that have refused vaccinations because they have been rather heavily afflicted by autism. (Several times higher) Interestingly it appears that it does not help - so vaccines can be pretty much rules out, at least as a single cause, just by looking at this a-b test. There is quite a lot of research on this: One research study on this group suggested that it might be related to the low level of vitamin-D in the group, caused by the low level of sunshine in Sweden, combined with that the women is covered for religious reasons. Elisabeth Fernell have published a few articles on this.
    • narrator 12y ago
      So is anyone doing a vitamin D supplement trial for expectant mothers? I wonder how long they'll just leave that speculation out there before anyone tries an experiment. I'll push the snooze button on this one. Society doesn't seem to need a better answer on this than "More diagnosis" or "Because they're muslims".
• chrismcb 12y ago
  What is with the misspelling of retard? Is it so someone can't search for it, or because of the connotations behind the word? Why even use the word at all then? Why not just use one of the other many socially acceptable terms? Personally I find spelling the word this way is a bit offensive. It's as if you are saying you want to use it, but you know it is wrong, so you will just slightly use it.