It looks like some professionals want to make changes to the definition of autism

[OlegL]

Skim through this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/he...-suggests.html . It looks like some folks want to redefine what autism is.

[mjmacky]

Didn't read through, but I would hope it wasn't being redefined by amateurs.

[megabyteme]

Cheer up, Oleg. This could mean you are "cured"*...




*From what I read, people in the medical community have been "worried" by the numbers 1 in a 100 who are being diagnosed with Asperger's. They want to put an "end" to the number of people getting disability. That often means a Conservative group is funding a group of doctors to change the wording in the medical journal. Less money spent, and fewer people drawing disability. Win/win, right?

In contrast to this "flood" of Autism claims, let's look at what 1% of the population means- that's equal to the number of PhD's you come across in your daily life. They are everywhere, aren't they?

Keep us posted on any news involving this, Oleg. That's undoubtedly a big worry for you, and possibly other parents like Chalice.

[Squeamous]

Didn't read through, but I would hope it wasn't being redefined by amateurs.

It said something about counting toothpicks and wondering who's on third base.

Skim through this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/he...-suggests.html . It looks like some folks want to redefine what autism is.

It stands to reason that what is classed as 'abnormal' is going to be whatever occupies a defined portion of the sloping sides of any behavioural bell-shaped curve. And that portion has to be a significantly small one otherwise the behaviour stops being abnormal and becomes typical. So, if we find that a significant proportion of the population are exhibiting a behaviour, that becomes standard and no longer significantly abnormal to require treatment.

Personally I think this is just reflecting public feeling. I think most people are fed up of every little character trait becoming medicalised. A friend of mine recently announced he had ADHD and this manifested itself as being 'unable to focus, particularly on boring tasks'. Duh. You're not supposed to be able to focus on boring tasks. The world would be fucking boring if we were all the same. We could do with more tolerance of each other instead of trying to medicate everyone into a homogenous blend of what makes us least likely to cause trouble and most likely to be economically productive.

[Something Else]

To be fair, some amateurs probably do too.

[mjmacky]

Personally I think this is just reflecting public feeling. I think most people are fed up of every little character trait becoming medicalised. A friend of mine recently announced he had ADHD and this manifested itself as being 'unable to focus, particularly on boring tasks'. Duh. You're not supposed to be able to focus on boring tasks. The world would be fucking boring if we were all the same. We could do with more tolerance of each other instead of trying to medicate everyone into a homogenous blend of what makes us least likely to cause trouble and most likely to be economically productive.

You want to hear something scary? My wife had a class of freshman high schoolers, and 75 % of them would take pills at the same time, during one of her periods*.

*Not to mean her period was the cause, but we call each class session a period here.

[megabyteme]

75 % of them would take pills at the same time

Reminds me of this, but all taking meds...

[Squeamous]

Personally I think this is just reflecting public feeling. I think most people are fed up of every little character trait becoming medicalised. A friend of mine recently announced he had ADHD and this manifested itself as being 'unable to focus, particularly on boring tasks'. Duh. You're not supposed to be able to focus on boring tasks. The world would be fucking boring if we were all the same. We could do with more tolerance of each other instead of trying to medicate everyone into a homogenous blend of what makes us least likely to cause trouble and most likely to be economically productive.

You want to hear something scary? My wife had a class of freshman high schoolers, and 75 % of them would take pills at the same time, during one of her periods*.

*Not to mean her period was the cause, but we call each class session a period here.

I did immediately think you were insinuating she was such a cow she drove them to Zoloft.

There's also another problem here. Children are raised these days to think that they have to be stimulated by their external environment every minute of the day. It's a non-stop round of flashing lights and loud noises for the little fuckers. You plonk a child in front of a TV for hours a day to which it inevitably abdicates all its higher brain functions, and what you're going to get is a child that can't self-soothe. Equally if you're an over attentive parent who provides all manner of toys/games/nannies/playmates, the same thing will happen. What a child needs is to impose itself on its surroundings and be creative. Quietly. Models, books, dolls, puzzles, bricks etc. It also needs a parent at home in its early years who will talk to and engage with it one-on-one in a rational and peaceful way when it does need attention. It will get plenty of excitatory stimulation when it gets taken outside for some exercise or mixes with all the other feral little shits at school/nursery. There are generations of kids currently being raised who don't know how to just sit down and STFU.

[Barbarossa]

You want to hear something scary? My wife had a class of freshman high schoolers, and 75 % of them would take pills at the same time, during one of her periods*.

*Not to mean her period was the cause, but we call each class session a period here.

I did immediately think you were insinuating she was such a cow she drove them to Zoloft.

There's also another problem here. Children are raised these days to think that they have to be stimulated by their external environment every minute of the day. It's a non-stop round of flashing lights and loud noises for the little fuckers. You plonk a child in front of a TV for hours a day to which it inevitably abdicates all its higher brain functions, and what you're going to get is a child that can't self-soothe. Equally if you're an over attentive parent who provides all manner of toys/games/nannies/playmates, the same thing will happen. What a child needs is to impose itself on its surroundings and be creative. Quietly. Models, books, dolls, puzzles, bricks etc. It also needs a parent at home in its early years who will talk to and engage with it one-on-one in a rational and peaceful way when it does need attention. It will get plenty of excitatory stimulation when it gets taken outside for some exercise or mixes with all the other feral little shits at school/nursery. There are generations of kids currently being raised who don't know how to just sit down and STFU.

That's one of the most profound and undeniably true things I've ever read on the internets. Excellent!

[Something Else]

You want to hear something scary? My wife had a class of freshman high schoolers, and 75 % of them would take pills at the same time, during one of her periods*.

*Not to mean her period was the cause, but we call each class session a period here.

Maybe 75% of her students were girls. If you put wymyn together for long enough, their periods start to sync (as well as attracting bears). They probably need pills and stuff to keep the bears away, so that pretty much explains it.