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Startup Tests Drugs Aimed at Autism
An anonymous reader sends in this link from Technology Review about a startup company testing drugs that may help those with autism-spectrum disorders — even adults. "Seaside Therapeutics, a startup based in Cambridge, MA, is testing two compounds for the treatment of fragile X syndrome, a rare, inherited form of intellectual disability linked to autism. The treatments have emerged from molecular studies of animal models that mirror the genetic mutations seen in humans. Researchers hope that the drugs, which are designed to correct abnormalities at the connections between neurons, will ultimately prove effective in other forms of autism spectrum disorders. ... The company is funded almost entirely by an undisclosed family investment of $60 million, with $6 million from the National Institutes of Health. [A spokesman] says that Seaside has enough funding to take its compounds through clinical testing and approval."
If that were the case then natural selection would have taken its course long ago and we'd all be autistic. But it's an amusing question to philosophize nonetheless.
The issue is one of impairment of functioning. This, of course, means that many self-proclaimed 'Aspies' are not what this drug targets.
A child that is not capable of communicating with its parents is autistic. A child that leads his parents by the hand to something instead of pointing to what he wants is autistic. Even dogs are capable of shared attention (pointing at an object is a concrete example) while autistic children are not. Shared attention is of course necessary for language communication as verbally expressing ideas is based on shared attention of ideas and concepts - and these kids can't even point to a toy or cookie.
An 8 year old that learns to program in C++ at the age of 8 is exceptionally bright, not autistic. At this same age an autistic kid will be spinning the wheels on a car (as opposed to playing with it) or stacking blocks for hours on end. They may play in the same vicinity as other children, but almost never with them. You see these same tendencies in normal children up to a certain age - an 18 month old will play in the proximity of other children but not with them. A 3 year old plays with other children instead of simply being in the same vicinity. Autistic children never reach this stage.
Autistic adults social and communication issues are simply an extension of these milestones that were reached significantly (or never) later than other people because of neurological problems. A geeky guy that enjoys chatting on Ventrillio while raiding in World of Warcraft for hours on end is very likely not autistic given how social using voice chat and raiding is. An autistic adult isn't very likely to frequently visit comic book or Star Wars conventions either. Just because these activities are stereotyped for males with social phobias or other social issues doesn't mean that they're indicative of autism.
True autism is a very real and very impairing condition, not a matter of having odd interests and being a bit socially awkward.