Live data from Hacker News

Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

npr.org

11–20 of 214 posts

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#11
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are multiple dimensions https://getgoally.com/blog/autism-spectrum-wheel Along with many comorbidities (adhd, ocd, depression, etc) which are more likely but not requisite This leads to the saying "if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism"

Then the spectrum would refer to the magnitude of any vector in multidimensional “autism space”.

Sure, but saying two people are the same magnitude is very different from saying they have the same level of touch sensitivity

Two complex numbers can have the same magnitude & be very far apart. Assuming we stick to the positive/positive quadrant it's not so bad. This metaphor (which, the spectrum itself is a metaphor, making this a metaphor of a metaphor) is to a 2d space tho, complex numbers are much more comparable based on magnitude as a result

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#12
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are multiple dimensions https://getgoally.com/blog/autism-spectrum-wheel Along with many comorbidities (adhd, ocd, depression, etc) which are more likely but not requisite This leads to the saying "if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism"

Then the spectrum would refer to the magnitude of any vector in multidimensional “autism space”.

That name would make for a really interesting bar.

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#13
post #4

This seems to bolster the theory that autism is modulated by the gut-brain axis. Being given antibiotics at such an early age will probably severely dysregulation gut microbiota. And GABA actually does cross the BBB but in small amounts. Perhaps at such an early age, dysregulation in GABA produced in the gut has significant effects on brain health - over stimulation, learning memory issues, etc.

Reading the article, it turns out the one twin who is "more autistic" had a hole in his heart that surgery had to correct. So I suspect the actual issue here is something simpler like a difference in brain development because of the difference in the amount of blood flow.

Isn’t it common to be given a lot of antibiotics when you get a surgery?

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#14
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are multiple dimensions https://getgoally.com/blog/autism-spectrum-wheel Along with many comorbidities (adhd, ocd, depression, etc) which are more likely but not requisite This leads to the saying "if you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism"

Then the spectrum would refer to the magnitude of any vector in multidimensional “autism space”.

Kinda like how color spectra have multiple dimensions as well: RGB, HSV, YCbCr, etc.

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the article, it turns out the one twin who is "more autistic" had a hole in his heart that surgery had to correct. So I suspect the actual issue here is something simpler like a difference in brain development because of the difference in the amount of blood flow.

Isn’t it common to be given a lot of antibiotics when you get a surgery?

It is.

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the article, it turns out the one twin who is "more autistic" had a hole in his heart that surgery had to correct. So I suspect the actual issue here is something simpler like a difference in brain development because of the difference in the amount of blood flow.

Isn’t it common to be given a lot of antibiotics when you get a surgery?

A friend underwent operation of his aorta. Post-surgery inflammation is an absolutely common complication and they dumped a lot of antibiotics into him precisely to reduce the risk. (If I understand correctly, it wouldn't be probably fatal, but very, very unpleasant.)

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t it common to be given a lot of antibiotics when you get a surgery?

It is.

I think blood flow to the brain >> impacts of antibiotics is the likely order of magnitude of impact - though tough to tell.

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#18
post #2

> identical twins at opposite ends of the autism spectrum. I understand this is just a figure of speech, but this wording suggests that there are "two ends" of the spectrum and (as I understand it) autistic communities are trying to fight that myth.

I mean... that's literally the definition of "spectrum"

From a few random dictionaries:

>2. used to classify something, or suggest that it can be classified, in terms of its position on a scale between two extreme or opposite points.

>a range of different positions, opinions, etc. between two extreme points

?????

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading the article, it turns out the one twin who is "more autistic" had a hole in his heart that surgery had to correct. So I suspect the actual issue here is something simpler like a difference in brain development because of the difference in the amount of blood flow.

Isn’t it common to be given a lot of antibiotics when you get a surgery?

a lot and a heart artery drip for 30 days are orders of magnitude different in quantity

Re: Identical twins both grew up with autism, but took different paths

#20
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then the spectrum would refer to the magnitude of any vector in multidimensional “autism space”.

Sure, but saying two people are the same magnitude is very different from saying they have the same level of touch sensitivity Two complex numbers can have the same magnitude & be very far apart. Assuming we stick to the positive/positive quadrant it's not so bad. This metaphor (which, the spectrum itself is a metaphor, making this a metaphor of a metaphor) is to a 2d space tho, complex numbers are much more comparab…

> Two complex numbers can have the same magnitude & be very far apart.

Only if their magnitude is large; the maximum possible distance between two complex numbers of equal magnitude is double that magnitude.

And this limit is independent of the number of dimensions in the space you're working in; no two equal-magnitude vectors are ever farther apart than opposite vectors are.

If you stick to the first quadrant / octant / whatever n-dimensional division of space where all coordinates are positive... I don't think the number of dimensions makes any difference there either? Any two vectors define a plane (or a line, or, if they're both zero, a point), so two vectors in a 500-dimensional space can't be farther apart from each other than is possible for two vectors in a 2-dimensional space. Those 500-dimensional vectors are already embedded in a 2-dimensional space.

Post reply on HN