Hannah Gadsby on her autism diagnosis

Post by alecst » Sat, Apr 02, 2022, 5:17 AM UTC

alecst wrote: post #40

whodunnit wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think autism has become the IBS of neurodiversity, and will be retired someday just as the diagnosis of “hysteria” was retired as a catch all for women’s issues a century ago.

Autism has a few biological sequelae so I don’t think this is gonna be the case. For example their brains grow faster than normal for the first few years of life but slower thereafter. And you can see differences in their brains under a microscope. Or at least that’s what I read in a book recently, I am not an expert.

Post by qgin » Sat, Apr 02, 2022, 5:26 AM UTC

faeriechangling wrote: post #42

slibhb wrote: post #5

Autism has become a catch-all for "people who are weird". "Neurotypical" is the vaguely condescending opposite. Notice the sneer when she refers to "neurotypical 'experts'". The basic idea is that people who are weird are a subjugated minority, oppressed by people with boring, normal brains. I don't doubt that Hannah Gadsby is weird but I think life is hard for everyone, including normal people. I think the struggles…

I find it bizarre how uncritically the social construct of doubling the ranks of the mentally ill/disordered in the course of decades has been introduced. There is no way in the last few decades the amount of mentally disordered people has expanded so greatly, it must be the case we're simply calling more people disordered. The growth of mental disorders is starting to plateau now but things are still growing. I find…

Post by white_dragon88 » Sat, Apr 02, 2022, 6:05 AM UTC

zeroonetwothree wrote: post #59

thenerdhead wrote: post #3

I have spent majority of my adult life operating under the idea that I'm on the spectrum. I have no problem sharing that detail of my life as I sit in front of a computer for more than 8 hours most days and would identify as introverted and eccentric in my own ways. What I found interesting is that as I experimented with lowering my screen time and doing more analog activities, my symptoms that had me believing I was…

I played a lot of sports and I'm very much on the spectrum. I didn't have any coordination issues though. I do find physical activity makes me feel better in general but it certainly doesn't "reduce" my autism. I have gotten a lot better at dealing with it as I've gotten older though (I guess many would call this masking).

Post by Dma54rhs » Sat, Apr 02, 2022, 7:16 AM UTC

faeriechangling wrote: post #42

slibhb wrote: post #5

Autism has become a catch-all for "people who are weird". "Neurotypical" is the vaguely condescending opposite. Notice the sneer when she refers to "neurotypical 'experts'". The basic idea is that people who are weird are a subjugated minority, oppressed by people with boring, normal brains. I don't doubt that Hannah Gadsby is weird but I think life is hard for everyone, including normal people. I think the struggles…

I find it bizarre how uncritically the social construct of doubling the ranks of the mentally ill/disordered in the course of decades has been introduced. There is no way in the last few decades the amount of mentally disordered people has expanded so greatly, it must be the case we're simply calling more people disordered. The growth of mental disorders is starting to plateau now but things are still growing. I find…

Post by celdon25 » Sat, Apr 02, 2022, 7:30 AM UTC

__blockcipher__ wrote: post #31

barbs wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's a methylation profile? I tried reading the link but it seemed quite technical.

Methylation is a metabolic chemical reaction your body does, facilitated by enzymes, that sticks a methyl group onto stuff. There’s different genetic mutations for more or less copies or less efficient copies of the relevant enzymes. The idea is some people are genetically very low/poor methylaters so they’re methylation impaired. Generally the solution if found to be a poor methylater is to take forms of vitamins th…