Category: Autism

Subtitle 1: “Why yes Dorothy everyone including me!”

Subtitle 2: I like the Wizard of Oz starring Dorothy and her friends… 🙂

Currently circulating on the autism related Facebook groups is an op-ed critiquing Dr. Temple Grandin written in 2013 by a well known autistic blogger by the name Lydia Brown.

A lot of my tribespeople respect this blogger and I’m beginning to think that her opinions are considered sacrosanct based on the comments that I’ve read.

I don’t agree with her opinions about Dr. Grandin but she is entitled to express them.

However in the manner that this particular op-ed was written, it was more than a critique and almost painting Dr. Grandin as an anti-autistic activist. 🙂

Under the title of the op-ed was, “Trigger warning for ableism”. Really? 🙂

I’ve read all of Dr. Grandin’s books on autism, read many of her essays and interviews, and watched several of her videos including her TED talks.

Dr. Grandin does speak for a lot of us autistics in the way that she frames issues helping many of us to identify with what she’s talking about.

Most of the time Dr. Grandin is repeating the same suggestions about how to help autistics which includes helping autistics be the best at what they like to do, period.

It’s pretty basic but needs to be regurgitated often to get the point across.

At other times, Dr. Grandin talks about how her mother helped her to get to where she is today and my mother did the same for me.

And one thing that her mother did and my mother did too was to teach me good manners.

In order to teach a child good manners, whether autistic or not, requires discipline, repetition, and brain conditioning. 🙂

Apparently that type of training is considered a form of ABA Therapy by this blogger, at least that was my take on it based on reading others’ remarks.

What really annoyed me about this op-ed was the way that the blogger twisted the facts regarding Dr. Grandin’s messages and presumed to know exactly what is going on in Dr. Grandin’s mind about other autistics, especially those considered severely autistic.

After thinking about that, my reaction was that this particular blogger at that point in time in 2013 was a little jealous that Dr. Grandin is more famous than she is. That’s my opinion.

The bottom line is that many autistics including myself are pushing the concept of Neurodiversity which embraces the notions of Acceptance and Inclusion opposed to just being ‘aware’ that we exist.

Furthermore, most autistics identifying with Neurodiversity also identify with the Autistic Union’s set of principles.

One of those principles addresses using sound scientific research in order to mitigate the comorbid health conditions that are often associated with autism.

If one agrees with both aspects above, then there is room at the table to discuss “fixing” certain aspects related to autism without deleting our existence.

That’s my opinion on this slightly old but currently discussed op-ed and I recommend that you form your own after reading it.

[To be continued…]

‘Critiquing Temple Grandin‘

‘Trigger warning for ableism’ 🙂

Subtitle: a) blue, b) gold, c) red, or d) all of the above

Happy Autism [insert here] Day !

Reporting from Mexico:

I turned on the news last night here in Mexico where I live to watch our main TV news source, Televisa, and the second news story was all about World Autism Day.

Everything was in blue including the background in the newscast along with a blue ribbon in the corner of the screen.

It got me thinking about how The United Nations has motivated countries around the world to place Autism as one of the most significant health issues to be discussed by creating World Autism Day, and the rest of the world has co-opted the color blue from Autism $peaks to represent that.

The vast majority of autistics have been striving to move beyond the notion of Awareness to Acceptance and I’m one of them.

In order to achieve that goal, we autistics have adopted the color gold in place of blue to represent ‘Acceptance’. I don’t know the history of choosing the color gold, but I suspect it was done to supplant the color blue which was introduced by Autism $peaks.

However, it doesn’t really matter because it’s different here in Mexico. Autism $peaks has little to no presence here, and Televisa the media conglomerate runs the main autism non-profit organization called Teletón Fundación. And that foundation only provides services and support to autistics and their families; the notion of a ‘cure’ is not ever discussed.

In Mexico we’re still trying to educate the populace about autism which includes educating parents about the signs to look for and that requires a lot of ‘awareness’ about a complicated subject.

What struck me about watching the news article last night was all of the children with their parents coming together for a common cause. It didn’t matter to anyone where they might be on the autistic spectrum, all that mattered was that there was unity amongst all of them and they represented that unity by everyone wearing blue shirts and lots of blue hats. 🙂

But I did get a little pleasure when I saw the newscast focus attention on lighting up the Televisa Tower in blue located in Chapultepec Park, the dead center of Mexico City.

As the tower lit up blue right next to it was the Televisa Building and it was lit up in gold! 🙂

Maybe we are making a little progress with our Light It Up Gold campaign!

Happy Autism Acceptance Day 2016!

Subtitle1: Are you scratching your head yet?

Subtitle2: People are fed up, period.

I am truly overwhelmed by the passion that I see on autism related Facebook groups related to the current US Presidential election, especially the involvement by my tribespeople from other countries; I wish they could cast a vote! 🙂

How is autism related to the current US Presidential election?

The majority of thinking autistics abhor Autism $peaks and the question is why?

It started with the marketing by that organization that autistics are less than human, broken and need a cure, and that autistics cause devastation within families often leading to marital breakups.

Autism $peaks has toned down those offensive doctrines in the last few years but not their mission statement.

The biggest thorn in the side of most autistics is that Autism $peaks has managed to take control of the narrative about autism. They control the majority of donated money towards autism services and research. They influence how US federal and state governments spend taxpayer money towards autism. And most infuriating, that organization is viewed as the mouthpiece for all autistics by the media and the public.

In political jargon, that’s called either an oligarchy or a plutocracy.

That’s the same problem in the US currently and has been for decades. Big business and the very rich control both US political parties which culminates in political favors often leading to tax breaks, subsidies, or getting away with stuff that should be illegal.

Since the inception of Autism $peaks, they have refused to include autistics in the decision making process of programs or how donated money is spent, whether on research or family services. They pretend that autistics don’t know what they need nor what is in their best interests.

How are thinking autistics responding to that?

April has become Autism Awareness Month, autistics that are motivated Light It Up Gold instead of Lighting It Up Blue, and autistics blast the internet with the slogan Autism Acceptance Month.

In essence, autistics are trying to spark a revolution and take back control of the autism narrative globally just like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mr. Donald Trump are doing with their supporters, trying to take back the US for its citizens.

That’s politics in action by the people and for the people.

That is also the definition of a Democracy.

The two fringe US presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Mr. Donald Trump, use similar tactics to gain supporters and share some similar philosophies. The main common philosophy shared is inequality and that resonates with their respective supporters.

The word ‘inequality’ is the common denominator between fed up US citizens and fed up autistics.

Autistics are fed up feeling disenfranchised from the non-autistic world.

Autistics are fed up being treated as second class citizens.

Autistics are fed up that their voices are drowned out by the constant barrage of Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) by Autism $peaks and the money that fuels that organization.

And autistics are fed up not being ‘accepted’ as contributing members of society and viewed as broken things needing to be ‘fixed’.

What can autistics learn from the current US Presidential election cycle that share this perspective?

Autistics need either an autistic Sen. Bernie Sanders or an autistic Mr. Donald Trump to bring us together, to represent how the majority feel, and to create a revolution on this tiny round planet.

And that requires either a celebrity figure or a powerful business mogul that has finally figured out that they’re autistic too.

I’m sure there’s at least ONE out there! 🙂

That’s the missing piece of the puzzle, not some illusive or renegade gene! 🙂

[To be continued…]

Definitions:

de•moc•ra•cy ( dɪˈmɒk rə si )
n., pl. -cies.
1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.
2. a state having such a form of government.
3. a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.
4. political or social equality; democratic spirit.
5. the common people, esp. with respect to their political power.
[1525–35; < Middle French démocratie < Late Latin dēmocratia < Greek dēmokratía popular government; see demo -, -cracy]

ol•i•gar•chy ( ˈɒl ɪˌgɑr ki )
n., pl. -chies.
1. a form of government in which power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique.
2. a state or organization so ruled.
3. the persons or class so ruling.
[1570–80; < Medieval Latin oligarchia < Greek oligarchía. See olig -, -archy]
oli•gar′chic, oli•gar′chi•cal, adj.

plu•toc•ra•cy ( pluˈtɒk rə si )
n., pl. -cies.
1. the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy.
2. a government or state in which the wealthy class rules.
3. a class or group exercising power by virtue of its wealth.
[1645–55; < Greek ploutokratía =ploûto(s) wealth +-kratia -cracy]

I’m autistic and old, over 60.

Being autistic has certainly had its challenges including a lot of comorbid health issues.

I’ve survived horrendous bullying in grade school and high school, I’ve survived sexual and emotional abuse, I’ve survived a bad marriage and divorce, and I’ve survived a serious autoimmune disease which includes its own comorbid condition of frontal lobe epilepsy.

I’m still alive, enjoying most days, and I plan to be around for awhile.

Therefore, the attached article caught my attention especially since it was posted by numerous websites and my Google Alert newsfeed was inundated by it.

Do you agree? Autistics die younger than non-autistics?

I suspect it is partially true, but I doubt we can generalize with such an ominous prediction.

Furthermore, like many autistics, I suffer depression daily, and this kind of news tidbit could really fuel that comorbid condition.

[To be continued]

Washington Post article:

People on the autism spectrum live an average of 18 fewer years than everyone else, study finds

Subtitle: finally………well……….sort of 🙂

In a previous post on February 29, 2016 I wrote about a phenomena that I experienced while taking anti-inflammatory medications. I noticed that some of my autism traits/behaviors were taking a break during that Rx marathon.

Good news! They’re all back and functioning just as usual! 🙂

I’ve also mentioned that I use the Google Alert tool to keep me informed on all articles about autism on a daily basis. And often there is at least one article that is worth investigating.

That happened today but not what I expected.

There was an article on Aging and Autism which also referenced the broad autism phenotype (BAP). The latter was foreign to me so I was hooked on clicking on it.

In the abstract of that research paper it referenced neuroinflammation as a cause of autism.

BINGO!

So I then Google’d “neuroinflammation and autism” and I got a zillion hits!

I’ve already read a dozen of those papers and most are concluding the same thing, that neuroinflammation is the most likely cause of autism and it is now the number one research interest of neuroscientists studying autism.

I bet you’re thinking “So what? It doesn’t change my life!”

And if you are, I agree with you…almost. 🙂

The majority of autistics that I’ve come to know are quite content with being who they are, myself included.

I like my quirky self, I like my routines, I like sameness, I like my obsessions, aka “hobbies”, I like the fact that I’m very detailed oriented, and I especially like my savant skills. I have tons of fun with those! 🙂

However, like many autistics, I have no idea how to make friends nor maintain an intimate relationship should that ever occur again.

And as hard as I try, when I do have the opportunity to have conversations with someone, I still lose control and get off on tangents and onto my soapbox.

Did I mention my Obsessive Compulsive Behavior (OCD) issues? Or my over-the-top Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD)? Or the fact that it took me the first thirteen (13) years of my life to learn how to enunciate words and put them together cohesively to communicate? That’s called Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia.

Being autistic is great, BUT there are a few little annoying characteristics that I wouldn’t mind being left out of the paradigm.

To wrap this vomiting of words up, the neuroinflammation that occurs while being gestated in the womb and during the first few years of life is not going to change who we are at this point in time.

But learning how to mitigate neuroinflammation during the fetal process just might help future autistics, and if so it also might help those of us after the fact if neuroinflammation is affecting our lives as adults.

My attitude: Keep the good autistic stuff and get rid of the crappy autistic stuff, assuming that could be done. 🙂

Therefore, get out that Ibuprofen or Advil and take your daily dose! According to my doctor, one can take 800 mg per day but you might end up with a tummy ache over time! 🙂

[To be continued…]

Paper: Relevance of Neuroinflammation and Encephalitis in Autism

ARC Paper: From molecules to neural morphology: understanding neuroinflammation in autism spectrum condition