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Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

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Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#231

Post by TylerE »

nradov wrote: post #227
dkga wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. ASD or not, everyone would surely benefit from following a nutritionist-set diet based on the person’s own requirements.

Nah. Most "nutritionists" are clowns. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist with no formal training or certification. The whole field is mostly filled with frauds and grifters. There are some legitimate people with a Registered Dietician credential who can work as part of a care team to treat medical conditions. But most of us don't need them either. We know what we're supposed to eat, we just don't do it.

Exactly. No point in playing someone to tell me to eat more leafy greens.

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#232

Post by ModernMech »

squigz wrote: post #214
wizzwizz4 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which "autistic community" are you talking about? Do you mean "parents of" Facebook groups?

Obviously I'm a spokesman for Autism Speaks.

I agree, I'm always happy to step out my bubble. That's why I'm here on HN -- this is not a safe place for autistic people. That said, it was not obvious to me you are a spokesperson for Autism Speaks.

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#233

Post by TylerE »

RobotToaster wrote: post #35
Der_Einzige wrote: post #11

I know of at least one book written by and for autistic people who advocates for a gluten free diet. They claim in the book that this significantly reduces their symptoms. I don’t know if I believe it or not, but the notion of gut-brain axis seems to imply that a good diet should help a bit, right?

Gut issues are a common comorbidity with autism, it could just be he had some kind of gluten sensitivity and treating it allowed more energy to compensate for autism.

The other really big comorbidity one is ADHD - I’ve seen claims that the rate is high as 80%, maybe even 100% if you allow for very mild cases that probably wouldn’t be independently diagnosable.

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#234

Post by selimthegrim »

ModernMech wrote: post #232
squigz wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously I'm a spokesman for Autism Speaks.

I agree, I'm always happy to step out my bubble. That's why I'm here on HN -- this is not a safe place for autistic people. That said, it was not obvious to me you are a spokesperson for Autism Speaks.

I believe their tongue is firmly planted in their cheek.

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#235

Post by steve_adams_86 »

TylerE wrote: post #230
__turbobrew__ wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a very strong inverse correlation between obesity and elevation above sea level, the higher you go the thinner the people. One of the thoughts is that environmental contaminates are in higher concentrations the further down the water cycle you go, and these contaminants cause obesity.

There’s a much much simpler reason. Living at altitude is hard. People who are out of shape move away.

I’m not sure it’s so simple. Socioeconomic studies indicate that the worse shape you’re in, the less social mobility you are likely to have. Moving on a whim might not be possible for many of these people.

On the other hand, contaminants concentrating further down stream is a known phenomenon and we known we’ve inundated many places with hormone disrupting substances. It doesn’t seem all that complicated or far fetched.

Both could be factors, and I’m not aiming to be contrarian so much as investigate the possibilities a bit. It’s an interesting topic

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#236

Post by MajimasEyepatch »

ModernMech wrote: post #183
MajimasEyepatch wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My ability to type this message and read is not a constant. There are times when I am non verbal. There are times when I cannot read because the letters are all jumbled in my head. When I'm able to read and write and speak, society values me. When I'm not, society devalues me. You want to take autism out of the equation so that I can be valuable to society. > What I'm saying is that society needs to be reoriented s…

> If someone can’t communicate, how exactly are they supposed to participate fully in society? It's not that autistic people cannot communicate, it's that we communicate differently. For example, I cannot talk on the phone. I just can't. I could explain all the reasons why, but I feel very dismissed here so I'm not going to be vulnerable anymore, but suffice it to say it's something I cannot do, and a lot of autistic…

Thank you for sharing that. I’m not going to address every example in your comment, and I agree that there are many ways society could be more accommodating. But I also think that not every difference can be accommodated in every situation, even if disability advocates don’t always want to admit it. Some jobs require you to talk on the phone, just like some jobs require you to lift heavy boxes. Not everyone can do that, and that’s ok. I can tell you with absolute certainty that I could not do my job as an engineering executive if I could not talk on the phone or video calls, since so much of my job is about making emotional connections with other people, understanding subtle cues and subtext, and influencing people. I have colleagues who I know are on the spectrum, and I greatly respect them and do try to accommodate them where possible. But some things require a level of social skills they simply don’t have.

Beyond that, I have to be honest: reading about your struggles with communication, lights, noise, etc. it’s frankly hard me to fathom why anyone would not want medication that can alleviate those symptoms. I was diagnosed with ADHD in my 30s, and my whole life suddenly made more sense. Stimulant medication dramatically improved my executive function, attention, concentration, impulsivity, etc. but I am still in every way myself while medicated. I am just more in control of myself. I realize there is no medication like that for autism yet, but if there was, I simply can’t imagine someone not wanting it when my life was improved so dramatically by treating my much-less-severe condition.

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#237

Post by ElFitz »

hirvi74 wrote: post #170
ElFitz wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a quote about how some people stop living their lives long before their body dies. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/11/03/not-buried/

But what does the have to do with Autism? That quote seems to be more about people not finding fulfillment/confirming to social expectations/wasting their lives vs. a neurodevelopmental disorder.

Not the GP, but since they mentioned high-functioning autism I’d guess they meant people with autism able to (very) successfully adapt to social expectations will likely forgo self-fulfilment in order to conform, without even necessarily being fully aware of it.

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#238

Post by MajimasEyepatch »

tsoukase wrote: post #155
MajimasEyepatch wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s so much brain development that happens in the first few years after birth that there’s absolutely no way you can say that with confidence.

No developmental anomaly can start after birth. It must preexist but is not detected. Proof: heavy cases of autism are diagnosed at birth, so the beginning lies sometime in uterus. The same holds for the lighter cases too.

Nonsense. Developmental disorders can be caused by any number of factors in early childhood, like stress, neglect, infection, injury, and exposure to substances in the environment like lead. A multifactorial disorder like autism may have many different causes, and we don’t know enough to say for certain that they all originate before birth. I’d wager they do not.

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#239

Post by sureglymop »

Tijdreiziger wrote: post #121
somenameforme wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then people should stop conflating the two. This whole "spectrum" nonsense is nonsense. Your coworkers are not autistic - they are weird or whatever other more PC term you might want to use, and that's great - many, if not most, great engineers are!. There is no need to pathologize differences in people. Your relative, by contrast, is. If you have a habit of feeling sleepy at work, it's not like we say you're on the…

I got my autism diagnosis in my early 20s (from a licensed psychologist, before you ask). It was a life-changing experience for me. Suddenly I was able to understand and validate my experiences and shortcomings, and to improve myself based on that understanding, instead of resigning myself to the fact that I’ll always just be a ‘weird’ human with ‘weird’ opinions, feelings and experiences. I suppose though that since…

Same here. After a diagnosis, one is able to give in and learn how to cope with it instead of fighting it, struggling and letting it lead to self deprecation.

Strategies and research about it aside, the fact that one can come to "accept" oneself despite that condition is very important for general mental health.

I still wouldn't wish it on anyone but personally I'd always accept my self as a valid human with a valid life despite that.

Re: Metabolism of autism reveals developmental origins

#240

Post by sureglymop »

ModernMech wrote: post #183
MajimasEyepatch wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My ability to type this message and read is not a constant. There are times when I am non verbal. There are times when I cannot read because the letters are all jumbled in my head. When I'm able to read and write and speak, society values me. When I'm not, society devalues me. You want to take autism out of the equation so that I can be valuable to society. > What I'm saying is that society needs to be reoriented s…

> If someone can’t communicate, how exactly are they supposed to participate fully in society? It's not that autistic people cannot communicate, it's that we communicate differently. For example, I cannot talk on the phone. I just can't. I could explain all the reasons why, but I feel very dismissed here so I'm not going to be vulnerable anymore, but suffice it to say it's something I cannot do, and a lot of autistic…

I have ASD and a lot of this rings true.

For me personally, I can get to quite high levels of "socialness" depending on mood and practice. I can get to muster up the courage to do calls, interact more socially, flirt with someone etc. It does take an extreme amount of energy though.

Where I think it differs for me, is in that if I don't do this type of "social training" constantly, it completely goes away again. If I didn't call my doctor/the post office/relatives in a few months, the ability to just do it normally is gone again and I start from 0. Everytime.

My psychiatrist helps me get to that point again but over time has realized that "exposure therapy" doesn't really work because every few months we have to start from 0 again.

Now having all of that said, for most people these types of interactions and things in life are just... normal. They don't require even a second thought. And that, I would imagine, removes a lot of friction from their lives because these interactions are needed to be a self standing, emancipated, contributing member of society.

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