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Autism Associated With Shorter Lifespan, According To UK Charity Study
Cognitive Dissident writes: It's only one study, but the results are disturbing. An article in The Guardian describes a study by the UK charity Autistica showing that all people on the autism spectrum, not just the profoundly autistic, seem to be dying much younger than the average. There is no single definable cause, though a higher rate of suicide is one problem, but the aggregate result is a much higher mortality rate than the general population. There is no single cause, but a higher rate of suicide is noted. "Autistic people with no learning disabilities are nine times more likely to die from suicide compared to the rest of the population, the report states." Looks like something that needs more attention and research, which the charity is trying to organize.
With a suicide rate that much higher than average, is it possible that people on the autism spectrum choose to end their life because of the complications that come with being autistic versus the suicide rate being driven by autism as a mental illness?
People on the autism spectrum tend to have a lot more stress in their lives, various types of stress have long been linked to higher mortality rates, be that from suicide to distracted driving to heart attacks to drug use as a coping mechanism to straight up side effects from medication. I would be mind boggled that this is news but when I saw that this "study" was performed by an autism advocacy group, I realized its nothing more than an attention grab.
Personally I'd rather have my idiots at home glued to the TV than out doing idiotic things
Are they also less likely to marry? Because it turns out people die a lot quicker if there isn't someone there to realize they tripped, for example.
For years I have been diagnosed with this "autism" thing after getting prressured into psychological testing. I am in a state of perma exhaution and every time I fall asleep I wake up in pain. If doctors cannot help me then I guess that's how it is but I feel pretty wronged by them with these suggestions that I'm an autistic (that's a medical code word for hypochondriac). I keep wondering if I'm going to end up offing myself one day as it's certain that I'm never going to get any help from anyone or anything ever. Autism means next to nothing scientifically but a lot of people getting "diagnosed" with it these days.
I consider myself extremely lucky to have succeeded in raising my boy, who suffers from a mild type of autism (Aspberger's syndrome), past his 18th year.
At age 6, this boy ran on the frail gutter of a roof, 15 meters from the ground. He escalated a radiator, opened the window and just took a walk on the gutter, and he foresaw absolutely no danger in doing it..
Ten years later, after having narrowly escaped a dozen of such 'accidents', he did it again.
He walked on the roof border from the bathroom window to the room where is computer was locked out.
And again, he did not feel any sense of danger. He told me he just wanted his computer.
There is a reason why autism, even in it's mildest forms, is still regarded as a disorder. It might help you wrap your mind with better intensity around some problems. But that comes at the cost of your awareness to... well, pretty much everything else.
And that doesn't help you to survive, that's for sure.
This is why we have such a challenge getting over the hurdle of doing good science, getting it published, and the understanding of the condition and it's implications becoming well understood enough that we have any hope of doing anything about it to improve the lives of future generations.
The challenge I am speaking of is that of science results being judged as sexist or victim shaming or otherwise prejudicial when nature does not operate that way.
In order to understand complex developmental illnesses and conditions, evidence based approaches need to be implemented and used and yes the truth hurts.
Autism is a developmental disorder and it is not fair, but in order to do something about it we need to accept that those with the condition have certain stresses and unique miseries that need to be examined, addressed and understood in order to have any hope of creating a better life for future generations on this front. That is the truth as plainly as it can be laid out at this point.
This is why people on the spectrum, get so pissed off when normals show up and start throwing around the "oh you poor unique snowflake" shit. Those types are not compatible with progress and they would do well to shut their mouths and stop trying to victim shame, and rather learn to be better people.
Call me a SJW, but this article has been very enlightening on what needs to happen in terms of social change and scientific progress for the world that is coming where cures and treatments for this kind of thing can become real.
Autistica are the British name for Autism Speaks. They are a 'charity' staffed almost entirely by NTs. (they currently have two token autistic board members (out of 40)) They hoover up all the donations from well meaning people but spend only 3% of the money they get on actually helping autistic people. Of the rest, over 40% goes on eugenics research intended to wipe us out and most of the rest on advertising and fat salaries ($400K+ in some cases) for their directors. They also make dehumanising videos about autism which completely misrepresent what it is (for example portraying meltdowns as the norm of autistic behaviour when in reality they're anything but) and are proponents of ABA, an abusive therapy which involves training children like dogs and results in depression, PTSD and worse. Do not believe a damn word they say and ffs, don't give them any money. Give it to ASAN if you're in America or Autistic UK if you're in Britain, both organisations actually run by autistic people.
There is another interesting and potentially very important observation: People with ASD appear to have a gut flora that differs significantly from the average population. This is interesting for several reasons - one being that we are beginning to understand that our gut flora has a very big impact on our general health - diabetes 2, obesity and probably a lot of other things, as well as our mental wellbeing. Our intestines also has a nervous system that in many ways is comparable in complexity to our brain (which perhaps ironically lends a new aspect to the expression 'gut instinct'). Just saying.
There is another interesting and potentially very important observation: People with ASD appear to have a gut flora that differs significantly from the average population.
Bingo!
This! A thousand times this!
Nutrition is the most overlooked factor in the wider ADHD / Autism spectrum. I'm a sugar addict and would subscribe a lot of my solopsistic behaviour that might be classified as sort-of "aspergerish" or adhd to diet. Whenever I make an effort to eat healthy the difference is very notable. I'm more awake, more aware, my mood is better and I'm way better at social interaction.
Excercise is another big factor, as is - for heterosexual men - interaction with women. It's a proven scientific fact that social interaction with women improves mens mental health across the board, autism or not. ... I'm basically addicted to Tango for that exact reason - one of the rare opportunities where interaction of the sexes is still formalised, similar to ye 'olde days. Testosterone goes up, cortisol and other stress-hormones go down. Again, that's scientifically proven. Mood and mental well-being improves measurably. If you're a nerd or geek like me and suffer from the usual social interaction problems, especially with the other gender, you should try it.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
My son (and I) are the same way. Every year, a museum near us has a butterfly house, and every year my son will go into it for a few seconds only. It's not that he's scared of the butterflies. It's that he's scared he might hurt one. They are flying everywhere and some land on the floor so you need to be careful where you walk/move. To my son, it's like you've laid out a minefield in front of him except a butterfly gets killed if he "steps on a mine." His (understandable) reaction is to want to leave the room as quickly as possible so that he won't hurt anything.
Of course, feeling empathy and being able to express it are two different things. I'll often feel extreme empathy towards someone, but won't be able to find the words to let the other person know how I feel. More than once, this has led my wife to exclaim in frustration that I'm being insensitive or don't care about what she's going through. I do care and don't mean to seem insensitive. It's just that what's going on in my head doesn't translate well to what's coming out of my mouth. Typing stuff up is easier because you can take a few minutes and revise your response. People don't expect an immediate reply. (Plus, as much as I like to denigrate emojis, it can be easier to say "I feel sad for what's going on with you" with a crying emoji than to find the exact words to express your internal feelings. Whoever invents real-life face-to-face conversation emojis will be a hero to people on the spectrum everywhere!)
This is the key with Autism. The saying I've often heard is "If you've met one person with Autism, you've met one person with Autism." My son and I are very similar - so much so that I joke that he's my mini-me. Still, he deals with things that I've never had to deal with and takes other things in stride when I struggled with them. For example, he dives head first into social situations even if he doesn't fully understand how he's being inappropriate. I was always more socially-timid, afraid that I'd make a misstep and embarrass myself.
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The same is true of my older son. He's 12, is diagnosed with Asperger's, and has no friends. He's got people he talks to in school and some who even talk back to him, but nobody who he sees outside of school activities. His neurotypical younger brother, on the other hand, has a few friends and one whose house he goes over on a near-daily basis. My oldest can go and play with them, but he wants friends his own age. Given my "experience" getting friends (I have no real life friends myself), I have no clue how to help him get friends. There is one kid from a local Autism support group that he gets along with and they wanted to get together with my son, but things haven't lined up for us quite yet. So apart from that might-be-a-friend-one-day and a bunch of friends-with-people-while-in-school, my son is left envying his younger brother's ability to make friends.
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