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First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

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Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#31

Post by PhasmaFelis »

BadCookie wrote: post #16
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Be careful about that kind of wording I have friends on the spectrum. I happen to agree that mildly autistic behaviour is more akin to a personality difference than a disorder. That said, I don't think it's fair to admonish someone for using the colloquial norm. The comment might read better if stated less as "careful, you're doing something wrong" and more in the tone of "here is another viewpoint you may find hel…

To add to your comment, I wish that high-functioning ASD people would stop ignoring the more severe end of the spectrum. If you are high-functioning, then maybe ASD just makes you quirky and different. But for the lower functioning people, ASD can profoundly affect their lives in extremely negative ways. For example, my son almost starved himself to death because of sensory difficulties. He is four years old and stil…

Absolutely. One of the biggest problems in autism advocacy is high-functioning people (like me) and (the guardians of) low-functioning people constantly talking past each other. Some people are perfectly happy as they are and don't want to be changed, some people are desperately unhappy and could really benefit from treatment or even a "cure". The spectrum is far too broad for a single approach to work.

> I've had people get mad at me for saying that I have a son with autism when I apparently should have said that I have an autistic son.

I honestly can't remember which one of those I'm "supposed" to be. I could make a case against either: "person with autism" might sound like it's some outside affliction, "autistic person" might sound like the condition matters more than the person. But extreme concern over small details is a defining trait of autism, and I do it too on other subjects, so I suppose I can't be too judgmental...

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#32

Post by gowld »

cosmojg wrote: post #6
jmcgough wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be careful about that kind of wording. I and friends who're on the spectrum don't consider it a "mental disorder". It's simply a physiological difference, one that theoretically can be tested for.

Doesn't that reasoning apply to any disorder? Medically, a disorder is simply "a disruption of normal physical or mental functions." So, having any disorder makes one abnormal, unique, special, and possibly above average or below average, but certainly not average. "Disorder" and "special physiological difference" are synonyms.

Disorder is deviation from a declared healthy norm. "Difference" is more symmetric.

A disorder is a condition that causes suffering.

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#33

Post by gowld »

jmcgough wrote: post #5
scythe wrote: post #4

Very surprising result. I don't think I've ever heard of a blood test for a mental disorder -- at least, not one that actually works.

Be careful about that kind of wording. I and friends who're on the spectrum don't consider it a "mental disorder". It's simply a physiological difference, one that theoretically can be tested for.

And other people suffer from an inability to engage and thrive in the world. If you don't have a disorder, that's great. Some do.

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#34

Post by gowld »

throwawaymath wrote: post #29
arkades wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Disorder” is explicitly pejorative. I’m not sure where I stand wrt the position that autism is just a non-inferior neurovariant, but let’s not pretend we don’t understand the difference between asserting it’s a value-neutral variant and a disease.

No, "disorder" is explicitly clinical. The words "retarded", "dumb", and "stupid" are pejorative. Calling autism a disorder is an accurate paychiatric description, not a value judgement designed to insult a person's identity. An insult can be targeted at a person's autism, but not simply by describing it according to clinical terminology. I sympathize with people who don't believe autism should be considered a disord…

"retarded" and "dumb" are also clinical terms. They only stopped being clinical terms because people attached connotations.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/euphemism_treadmill

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#35

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

hhh wrote: post #27

This is quite interesting. Being on the spectrum myself, and many of my friends being so as well, it is very important how different everyone on the spectrum truly is. For high functioning people like myself I see Autism more akin to a mental super-power that can be crippled by small things. The difference in thinking is magnificent, and it aids in my success in most things that I do, but is an absolute disaster when…

> spectrum is of infinite width and infinite height

If this were true, everyone is diagnosable.

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#36

Post by magic_beans »

smt88 wrote: post #20
amelius wrote: post #17

Does this also work in reverse? I.e. take supplements/drugs until the test is negative, and then be (temporarily) autism-free?

I don't know, but there's preliminary evidence that autism can be reversed by dosing children with oxytocin and by using TMS on adults. Because those approaches are considered to be fairly low-risk, I suspect research will continue in those directions until they hit a wall of some kind.

What does it even mean to “reverse autism”?

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#37

Post by robrenaud »

Statistical reporting is often pretty frustrating.

> “We are able to predict with 88 percent accuracy whether children have autism,” said Juergen Hahn, lead author

> It is estimated that approximately 1.7 percent of all children are diagnosed with ASD

    def has_autism(child):
      return False
apparently has 98% accuracy.

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#38

Post by hhh »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #35
hhh wrote: post #27

This is quite interesting. Being on the spectrum myself, and many of my friends being so as well, it is very important how different everyone on the spectrum truly is. For high functioning people like myself I see Autism more akin to a mental super-power that can be crippled by small things. The difference in thinking is magnificent, and it aids in my success in most things that I do, but is an absolute disaster when…

> spectrum is of infinite width and infinite height If this were true, everyone is diagnosable.

It was more for the aesthetic of the sentence, but if you have a spectrum including 'normalcy' that is infinite width and infinite height, with x being ability (a combined measurement of communication ability, sensitivities, etc) and y being level of function, it is possible to include 'normalcy' as it is defined at the farthest top right corner.

This could even have more dimensions to it, represented as 0-1 on each. If we're creating a diagnosis of a spectrum that directly affects function, does it not make sense for the general acceptance of normalcy to be represented as either all 1's or a number in-between? If being a savant gives someone greater individual knowledge, should this not be represented in a diagnosis of autism? Do they not instead become above that of normalcy by having this increased ability for specialized knowledge? This almost extends the idea of the spectrum into an extensive representation of a human's ability to function. With the idea of the spectrum being so wide, having a system to classify a human's ability to function over certain categories can aid in the ability to define normalcy and otherwise. The more pieces of information we have in this essentially matrix allows us to have a clear-cut understanding of what most people fall under. To limit this to 3-dimensional space helps as humans to visualize this, but to limit a tool to what we can visualize can hamper its ability.

(I am not a doctor)

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#39

Post by olh »

magic_beans wrote: post #36
smt88 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, but there's preliminary evidence that autism can be reversed by dosing children with oxytocin and by using TMS on adults. Because those approaches are considered to be fairly low-risk, I suspect research will continue in those directions until they hit a wall of some kind.

What does it even mean to “reverse autism”?

it is like moonwalk but more autistic /s

Re: First physiological test for autism proves high accuracy in second trial

#40

Post by mcguire »

jmcgough wrote: post #5
scythe wrote: post #4

Very surprising result. I don't think I've ever heard of a blood test for a mental disorder -- at least, not one that actually works.

Be careful about that kind of wording. I and friends who're on the spectrum don't consider it a "mental disorder". It's simply a physiological difference, one that theoretically can be tested for.

Essentially all psychological differences vary from a behavioral quirk to a disabling disorder. The distinguishing line between psychological difference and psychological disorder can (probably) vary from person to person: the only valid distinction is if the psychological difference causes problems for the person.
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