some ASD rambles.

[emmacrew]

I don't know how the "OMG THE MMR VACCINE MAKES KIDS AUTISTIC" folks (and boy, there are an awful lot of them) explain things like the UW study where specialists from their early autism treatment program watched video from the first birthdays of a number of children, and were able to tell from those videos which of the kids had grown up to get ASD

Comments

[hippybngstockng]

I actually saw a report on the news, and almost posted about it, about how they've looked at the evidence and cannot support the theory that vaccines might have anything to do with ASD.. Apparently this is a pretty well known fact now in the medical community, but the media is still reporting it the other way in many cases.

[emmacrew]

Yep, there's no demonstrable link that any of the studies show so far, but people grab hold of the "well, we can't disprove a link" that scientists say (because, duh, you can't prove a negative) as "SEE! SEE! THEY CAN'T PROVE IT!"

[sandthistle]

is a society that values extraversion and finds something wrong with introverts, people who tend to get unusually interested in limited areas of knowledge, people who have difficulty "reading" other people or making chit chat... yeah.

You've just described some of the most successful people I know, most academics, anyone who's really focused on any major intellectual challenges...

The lines are fine, sometimes, I think...and at others they look vast...dunno, Emma, but you sound like you're in a good place to me...

[emmacrew]

(quoting the DSM-IV)
(3) restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities as manifested by at least one of the following:
(a) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus

...That's pretty much every grad student on the planet, no? ;-)

[sandthistle]

Describes me to a T. :) And did *before* I went to grad school!!

I also love the sort of general description of insanity that circulates every so often: Repeating the same behavior, expecting different results. THAT describes EVERY Department meeting I've ever attended...

[poodlgrl]

And my chorus concerts when I was pregnant, when he was flipping all over the place during the loud sections? Yeah, he does pretty much exactly the same thing now when faced with loud noises. It's quite possible he was trying to get away (which makes me feel a little bad).

Don't feel bad, Violet did this too and now she says "LOUDER LOUDER!". Although she is much more introverted than myself, so I have to concentrate sometimes on what things mean to her.

The no-immunizing thing really boggles my mind. I can see staggering them, which I know some folks have done (but then , GO BACK AND GET THE NEXT ONE which they don't). I agree completely with you, it's another way to blame the parents - a modern day version of 'failure to thrive' diagnoses.