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Rewiring the Autistic Brain
sciencehabit writes "Signs of autism — such as impaired social skills and repetitive, ritualistic movements — usually begin to appear when a child is about 18 months old. Autism is thought to result from miswired connections in the developing brain, and many experts believe that therapies must begin during a 'critical window,' before the faulty circuits become fixed in place. But a new study (abstract) shows that at least one malfunctioning circuit can be repaired after that window closes, holding out hope that in some forms of autism, abnormal circuits in the brain can be corrected even after their development is complete."
Who will write our file systems??
Most symptoms of an ASD can be patched over with a little studying & practice & I know this from experience.
Great, now we'll be able to fix all of them! We really need that! /sarcasm
I for one find this very offensive. It's like telling all autistics they're malfunctioning.
...any experiments along these lines will lead to the subjects developing terrifying mental powers, leading to a series of events ending with the callous lead scientist having his head explode.
For decades it was thought that no new nerve cells could grow in the brain. In the last few years we have discovered that the nervous system is more plastic than we thought.
That said, it is obviously more flexible the younger you are, so if you can spot signs of neurological problems early and devise treatment regimens to offset, balance, or repair those problems it makes sense to do it as early as possible, even if it can be done to some degree later.
Silence is a state of mime.
Wow. How soon until the story in "The Speed of Dark" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_Dark ) becomes real life?
Time for a car analogy!
My car has shitty gas mileage but is fast and powerful. Should I fuck around with the engine so it performs more like the societally accepted "norm" of a Jetta?
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
'Autism' is simply
Wow, three words in and you've already got it wrong ;)
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
PS Should have said this in the post above, but if anyone mods the GP down, feel free to mod my posts down too so even less people see this.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Seriously, and with all due respect, fuck you very much.
Where do I sign up?
They're made of neurons. There's no wiring involved.
They are curse words used by idiots to describe what used to be called "nerds" or "geeks" or "Poindexters". These fake diseases need to stop. Seriously. Stop hiding between made-up bullshit diseases. I'm probably going to be called an "ass-pie" or "assburger" now, but... no. I suck at attracting females and a bunch of other social things, but there is no need to label that with a disease. I am fully aware of it and don't try to hide it. I don't need a fictional "condition" to hide behind.
The worst, however, are people who proudly announce themselves to have these fake "diseases". They are even worse than the dumb people who use them as insults.
+5, Insightful
Wow, you sir or madam are a piece of work. Your entire stance is based on prejudicial opinion and a book from 1967. Your concept of the terms "fact" and "truth" is intriguing and your use of a character attack right after mentioning logical fallacies is brilliantly timed; assuming you are trolling.
At least you have the temerity to post as anonymous. It helps clarify how much we should care about your opinion, while illustrating just how serious you are about a subject you have no idea about. I thought the vaccine blaming crowd was bad...
Or... as the previous attempts at rewiring the brain did.... lobotomies.
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Oh you pretty things (oh you pretty things)
Don't you know you're driving your
Mamas and papas insane
Let me make it plain
You gotta make way for the homo superior
David Bowie 1971
Posting as AC, since I don't want my employer to read this.
I have been diagnosed with aspergers. Anyone I have encountered in over 40 years on this planet that has any form of autism, mild or not, has to use their conscious brain functions to "patch" what "neurotypicals" have woven into their subconscious brain. People that think they are "superior to neurotypicals" in general don't realize what the part is they are missing. They are mistaking a high IQ for superiority while in practice, people with lower IQs as themselves but not with autism, tend to be more successful in life; in procreation, in happiness and in fortune.
Sure, their higher IQs may make them "better citizens", but their high IQ and the decisions they make because of that, are not directly because of their autism. There are plenty of people with autism that don't have a high IQ, they get diagnosed with other forms like "classical autism" because they lack the brain power to consciously pick up the lack of social adaptation. This is a classical case of correlation is not the same as causation. I'm getting tired of those autistic people thinking they are superior just because they (once again) fail to see the point of social skills. The ones claiming this are usually not independently wealthy happy fathers, but rather single male workforce people that have individualistic jobs with no leadership requirements. Very few are female, but other than the single bit, they tend to be rather unhappy and not incredibly well off.
Regarding the OT, I am skeptical about actual repair. I do hope it is possible since it takes a lot of energy to get by in normal life, even if you are "well adapted" like I classify. However, I think that if you only look at behavioral results, you may mistake conscious learning and decision making for actual instinctive behavior. Further testing will have to be done before claims should be made.
I feel your suffering, now if you would just let those who know what they are talking about rearrange some of your brain wiring, we would all be in a lot less pain.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
But isn't putting additives in fuel the same as prescribing supplements / drugs to correct a perceived flaw? My engine is fine, does what it was designed to do and does it well. It wasn't designed for urban pootling in low gear, unless I give it drugs to "correct" this "problem" (quoted because it isn't a problem that needs correcting in my opinion; it's my car, not some focus group's)
"Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
"If you gain social intelligence at the cost of creativity, have you been improved? If you can suddenly understand the opposite sex and get them to sleep with you quickly, but no longer do (basic) math in your head, is that a good trade?" Notice the word Basic. Let's change that to "Complex".
Maybe, and this is in a sense exactly what the Autism *spectrum* is all about. A word from the New Age lit is useful here: Esoteric. Autistic people often tend to like esoteric things. The word has connotations of "obscure but with mystique wrapped in with it". Looking at the item I re-quoted, what "Creativity" are we referring to? Nice, socially understandable Creativity like a nice song? Or living in a room where the spatial layout of everything is symbolically congruent to the XOR of observed behavior in a particular bee hive and a particular ant hill that the person studied and recorded? Isn't that "Creative" too? Sure it is. But doing XOR insect calculations in your head doesn't help you in a conversation with a budding romantic partner.
So suppose the autistic person can do seven different types of that kind of creativity. None of them help with a date. He might indeed be willing to trade those kinds of calculations for "slowing down" and "magically" seeing better social results.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
There is a huge contingent of medical practitioners, particularly nutritionists, who believe that ASD symptoms are the result of the liver being inadequate to filter toxins from the blood. Diet modifications have been documented to alleviate many ASD symptoms.
Just saying.
Here is an interesting article on Gut Bacteria in the Economist.. Autism is mentioned as well.. worth a good read.. http://www.economist.com/node/21560523
Have you fscked your local propeller head today?
There is a huge contingent of medical practitioners, particularly nutritionists, who believe that ASD symptoms are the result of the liver being inadequate to filter toxins from the blood. Diet modifications have been documented to alleviate many ASD symptoms.
How is that colon cleanse going? Solved your heavy metal problems yet?
So suppose the autistic person can do seven different types of that kind of creativity. None of them help with a date. He might indeed be willing to trade those kinds of calculations for "slowing down" and "magically" seeing better social results.
He might, one definition/distinction I read between autism and Aspergers was that a true autistic wouldn't care, where an aspie would give anything to be "more normal."
Diversity is strength, suppression of diversity has led to some dark places.
But you did such a nice job of putting him in his place!
If I used a sig over again, would anyone notice?
You sound jealous! It's just too bad not everyone can be HFA.
If I used a sig over again, would anyone notice?
Great, now we'll be able to fix all of them! We really need that! /sarcasm
I for one find this very offensive. It's like telling all autistics they're malfunctioning.
Parent of ASD-diagnosed kid here.
You raise a good point. My wife and I recognize that we're walking a bit of a line in treating him. There are definitely those who subscribe to "The Einstein Syndrome", arguing that when you have a son of a computer geek and a banker, he just may be a little reclusive (I use that word, because it goes beyond being introverted), and that's fine. He's not broken. I see their point.
On the other hand, humans are social animals. Reclusive people are mostly unhappy, and Einstein was ridiculed mercilessly as a child. Maybe that's why he spent so much time reading physics texts and not interacting with his peers? The happiest and most content people seem to be to be the ones who have warm relationships with family and friends. Not the smartest or richest or anything else.
We decided to treat our son, from about age 1.5, with some pretty intense play therapy (no medication or anything like that). We immersed his entire life in progressively more abstract symbolic thought, under the guidance of his behavioral therapist. The entire process was amazing to watch. It really did seem to be building a part of this brain that he wasn't using before.
Some observations:
Looking back, I believe that we did the right thing for him. Like I said, humans are social creatures. It was important to us to try to make him more balanced.
They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock