Public Hysteria about Autism

[erithianopius]

During the presidential campaign, I followed all of the presidential debates, the vice-presidential debate, and a lot of speeches by not only Obama and McCain but others who supported one candidate or the other. I couldn't help but notice just how much autism came up, always in a negative context. It even got more mention than gay marriage and

Comments

[roshismomma]

I guess I see it two ways

1. As a non neurotypical person, I agree, the voice of the autistic people is lost in the hue and cry. This is very sad and yes, the whole thing was based somehwat on fear, at least on the (now I will get a mite political, forgive me) McCain/Palin ticket where fear seemed to be more of a motivator.

2. I hope that if anything good comes out of it its more comprehensive support for kids on the autism spectrum. As a parent, I am so frustrated with how much my daughter falls between the cracks (and I don't mean I am trying to "cure" her, I mean in getting the support she needs to learn at school and develop appropriate self care skills, etc).

[idiotgrrl]

Don't you know? We're poor hapless victims of a hideous disease that locks us away and makes us good for nothing, so why ask our viewpoint? Does Jerry Lewis ask the viewpoint of his crippled poster children? Do our various aid programs actually ask the 3rd world peasants what they want or need? Come on, get with the program!

P.S. on Jerry Lewis: if you can find an old, old story by Theodore Sturgeon called "The Comedian's Children, get it. And read it on Labor Day. And laugh yourselves sick. (Or else barf, depending on how dark your sense of humor is.)

[old_cutter_john]

My impression is that Obama's position is that we ought to be given such support as we need to live our own lives. To the extent that his position actually gets implemented, it will be implemented by people who have been hired into the government bureaucracy in the traditional way, and the hiring process tends to exclude autistics. On the other hand, the hiring process doesn't specifically select curebies, and a policy of support is much better than a policy of cure, so we've got the best result we could reasonably hope for.

But yeah, the politicians have discovered autism as an issue, and the American tradition favors the view that autism is a problem that needs an extreme solution. That's definitely worrisome.

[roshismomma]

this is what I see as well. His page on "disabilities" on his new website implies such:

http://change.gov/agenda/disabilities/

but.... its always bad when people start seeing your life as a problem that needs an extreme solution, really.

[redcalx]

I think we have to distinguish between being on the spectrum and being on the extreme autistic end of the spectrum - the extreme cases are probably something medical science should be looking into. I agree with what people are saying about aspies being just a type of personality that isn't in need of medical intervention.

[zaecus]

Ask those you would consider at "the extreme autistic end" how they feel about it.

Go ahead. Some of them are members of this community.

[sr_rivka42]

ITA. I don't know if the issue was just pandering or what, but the debates were frustrating in that regard. I agree that McCain did seem more blatantly pro-cure (as well as incredibly uninformed). Since Hillary Clinton is disgustingly pro-cure, neurodiversity advocates probably got the best candidate out of all of the main choices. What actually happens with autism policy over the next four years remains to be seen, but I do hope we are able to make the new administration aware of the fact that we exist as a political constituency.

Why all the attention on autism now? What has happened?

[erithianopius]

Nobody is addressing the main point of the question. Why is there this sudden hysteria about Autism NOW? Why is it suddenly a bigger deal than abortion, gay marriage, immigration, or gun control? Count the times each issue is mentioned - autism equals or beats out all the issues I listed, all normally much more highly emphasized. Why is there SO MUCH attention on autism? Where did this come from?

A guess

[old_cutter_john]

It probably came from Jenny McCarthy and her son being on the cover of so many magazines displayed in the supermarket check-out lanes. I'd imagine she was on television too, though I don't really know, seeing as how I've never owned one.

Re: A guess

[bboyneko]

its ok she cured him. Lol.

Re: Why all the attention on autism now? What has happened?

[precious_muse]

I think it's mostly due to the rising prevalence in just the past few years, shooting suddenly up to 1 in 166 and then 1 in 150. It probably wasn't raised as an issue last election because the latter prevalence was announced a year or two ago. There are other factors too, like Jenny McCarthy and the vaccination debate. Probably also because the chairman of Autism Speaks is also head of NBC Universal and is making sure the media gives a lot more coverage of it (apparently the most negative they can find).