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In search of a truce in the autism wars

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Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#81

Post by everdrive »

_Microft wrote: post #30

There's an observation I made a while ago: pretty much all people that I heard stating that they are "on the spectrum" were americans. Why is that? I never checked but I would be surprised if the prevalence is higher than in other western countries. So what is it? Is it better diagnosed or just wrong (wrong diagnosis, self-diagnosis, pidgeonholing bc it's cool to be non-average,...), or maybe there is an issue that p…

My impression is that not all cultures demand extroversion so much. See Japan, Austria, etc as some easy throw away examples. No one there is considered strange for being a bit stiff and un-expressive.

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#82

Post by solipsism »

NeoBasilisk wrote: post #52

I fully acknowledge that conditions affecting the brain will have a much larger impact on one's identity. That much is obvious. That being said, if I had the option to "correct" most of my personal atypical genetic "variations," I would do so. Colorblindness? Yep, I don't want that. Congenital flat feet? I don't need those. IBS? No thanks. Hair loss starting at 17? Nope! Weird neurological symptoms no doctor has ever…

You'd pay almost any amount of money to make your color blindness go away? Do yo have one of the ultra rare varieties that severely impact your sight? As a person with run of the mill red-green color blindness, it doesn't affect me much at all.

Edit: read it wrong, sorry!

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#83

Post by kop316 »

solipsism wrote: post #82
NeoBasilisk wrote: post #52

I fully acknowledge that conditions affecting the brain will have a much larger impact on one's identity. That much is obvious. That being said, if I had the option to "correct" most of my personal atypical genetic "variations," I would do so. Colorblindness? Yep, I don't want that. Congenital flat feet? I don't need those. IBS? No thanks. Hair loss starting at 17? Nope! Weird neurological symptoms no doctor has ever…

You'd pay almost any amount of money to make your color blindness go away? Do yo have one of the ultra rare varieties that severely impact your sight? As a person with run of the mill red-green color blindness, it doesn't affect me much at all. Edit: read it wrong, sorry!

I was thinking the same thing. In the genetic lottery, I have colorblindness and 20/13 vision. I would much rather that than normal color vision and 20/20 or worse vision.

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#84

Post by [deleted] »

_Microft wrote: post #30

There's an observation I made a while ago: pretty much all people that I heard stating that they are "on the spectrum" were americans. Why is that? I never checked but I would be surprised if the prevalence is higher than in other western countries. So what is it? Is it better diagnosed or just wrong (wrong diagnosis, self-diagnosis, pidgeonholing bc it's cool to be non-average,...), or maybe there is an issue that p…

[deleted]

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#85

Post by therealforsen »

fwip wrote: post #61
komali2 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>evolutionary explanation Hmm... I hope someone more knowledgeable than me in biology jumps in to lend their thought, but I'm extremely skeptical of takes like this - another one I see a lot online is that somehow homosexuality has "evolutionary explanations." It doesn't jive with my understanding of how evolution works. Statements like that seem to imply there is some sort of intelligent force or plan behind evoluti…

Evolutionary pressures aren't as simple as "if it lowers your chance of reproducing it's bad." You can read "The Selfish Gene" for more info. Consider a gene that promotes compassion, selflessness and sharing. While it may lower your individual fitness, groups with some individuals with this gene may fare better as a whole. Same as autism. For example, say autistic people see connections that other people don't. Havi…

Why would an individuals fertility be increased because the fertility of his group is increased? The gene would not propagate unless he has more children than his peers. There is no evidence of evolution by natural selection to begin with, though.

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#86

Post by jetrink »

solipsism wrote: post #82
NeoBasilisk wrote: post #52

I fully acknowledge that conditions affecting the brain will have a much larger impact on one's identity. That much is obvious. That being said, if I had the option to "correct" most of my personal atypical genetic "variations," I would do so. Colorblindness? Yep, I don't want that. Congenital flat feet? I don't need those. IBS? No thanks. Hair loss starting at 17? Nope! Weird neurological symptoms no doctor has ever…

You'd pay almost any amount of money to make your color blindness go away? Do yo have one of the ultra rare varieties that severely impact your sight? As a person with run of the mill red-green color blindness, it doesn't affect me much at all. Edit: read it wrong, sorry!

I think that that list was in order of decreasing desirability and his opinion of color blindness was "I don't want that" and his opinion of weird neurological symptoms was that he would pay anything to make them go away.

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#87

Post by sbenitoj »

NeoBasilisk wrote: post #52

I fully acknowledge that conditions affecting the brain will have a much larger impact on one's identity. That much is obvious. That being said, if I had the option to "correct" most of my personal atypical genetic "variations," I would do so. Colorblindness? Yep, I don't want that. Congenital flat feet? I don't need those. IBS? No thanks. Hair loss starting at 17? Nope! Weird neurological symptoms no doctor has ever…

What have you tried?

At least 2 of those are autoimmune conditions which can be greatly improved with the auto-immune protocol.

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#88

Post by dmm »

keenmaster wrote: post #17

We’re probably all better off because some people have autism. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an evolutionary explanation for its prevalence. However, there are so many consequences to being “abnormal” that most neurotypicals would refuse to be reincarnated as autistic if given the choice. If you have autism, the traits conferred by the condition have become part of your identity. You very well may not see it as…

> most neurotypicals would refuse to be reincarnated as autistic if given the choice.

The autistic people you know are the lucky ones. 80% of people with autism have intellectual disabilities(low iq) and as many as 50% are non-verbal.

It's more than not wanting to be someone perceived as quirky or strange.

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#89

Post by bsder »

everdrive wrote: post #81
_Microft wrote: post #30

There's an observation I made a while ago: pretty much all people that I heard stating that they are "on the spectrum" were americans. Why is that? I never checked but I would be surprised if the prevalence is higher than in other western countries. So what is it? Is it better diagnosed or just wrong (wrong diagnosis, self-diagnosis, pidgeonholing bc it's cool to be non-average,...), or maybe there is an issue that p…

My impression is that not all cultures demand extroversion so much. See Japan, Austria, etc as some easy throw away examples. No one there is considered strange for being a bit stiff and un-expressive.

Why would you mention Japan when the word hikikomori exists?

Re: In search of a truce in the autism wars

#90

Post by lazyasciiart »

therealforsen wrote: post #85
fwip wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evolutionary pressures aren't as simple as "if it lowers your chance of reproducing it's bad." You can read "The Selfish Gene" for more info. Consider a gene that promotes compassion, selflessness and sharing. While it may lower your individual fitness, groups with some individuals with this gene may fare better as a whole. Same as autism. For example, say autistic people see connections that other people don't. Havi…

Why would an individuals fertility be increased because the fertility of his group is increased? The gene would not propagate unless he has more children than his peers. There is no evidence of evolution by natural selection to begin with, though.

The gene can be propagated by individuals who did not express it - it could be sex-linked, it could be recessive, it could require two or three conditions to be met, etc. (Also, propagation doesn't require 'more children than his peers', it just requires children that go on to reproduce).
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