Slashdot Mirror
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.
... are made for suicide and for well-known highly-correlated conditions like epilepsy?
In other words, do an Apples-to-Apples comparison, and answer these questions:
* What is the decrease in age attributable to suicide among those without other correlated conditions, compared to those in the general, non-Autism-spectrum population without correlated conditions.
* For each correlated condition, is there an increase in suicide compared to those not on the Autism spectrum who have the same correlated condition? If so, how much does this decrease the overall lifespan for those on the Autism spectrum?
* For each correlated condition, is there a non-suicide-caused decrease in lifespan compared to non-autistic-spectrum-disorder people with the same correlated condition, and if so, how big is it?
* For those who have neither a correlated condition nor who take their own life, is there a decrease in lifespan compared to the general population, and if so, how big is it?
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
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
People with autism don't lack the need or desire for socialization, they lack the instinctive understanding of how to achieve social relationships that everyone else takes for granted.
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.
Under the hypothesis that I'm ASD, I beg to differ. I was miserable when I tried to be like everyone else. Once I (hypothetically) figured out what the problem was, I quit trying and am much happier now.
I get some social interaction at work and while running errands, but I don't seek it out, and if anything, I get more than I want.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
They seem to specifically be pushing the suicide part of the story, perhaps because it plays well in the media and elicits the most sympathy. But the article also says people on the autism spectrum are 20 to 40 times more likely to suffer from other brain disorders such as epilepsy - and people affected by that have a life expectancy of only 39 years.
#DeleteChrome
I get some social interaction at work and while running errands, but I don't seek it out, and if anything, I get more than I want.
Then you're an introvert like me. Not necessarily autistic. Now what happens if you have an extrovert autistic person?
I don't read AC A human right
One of the issues with autistic people with no learning disabilities is that they tend to be more analytical, which is why they are often represented in the scientific community.
When you can analyze peoples behaviors, know what they do, why they do it, you'll find it's glaring in day to day activities how selfish people are and how their attempts at masking it are pathetic. The most insulting part is they act shocked as if it would be impossible to know their actual intentions when it's pretty clear. Autistic people don't want to form relationships with most people, because most people aren't worth forming relationships with.
It's not clever either, when you get nailed to change your actions going forward and pretending you aren't as transparent as you really are.
People are very predictable, except it's like knowing the future.
As soon as you know what you are going to do next, the future has changed, as you have new information that is going to change your actions.
It's the same thing when you prove someones predictability. It is as if that is a persons #1 fear, is that you know what they are doing. So they immediately change behavior to try and remain unpredictable.
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.
While "normal" only includes one way of looking at the world you are always going to have others who will be made to feel like outsiders, and if they feel like that it will be harder for them to reach out to others when they do need help.
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.
My boy is on the spectrum, he was always surprisingly outgoing. Chatting up other kids on the play ground and happy to engage in play with just about anybody. But he still couldn't make friends. Mostly that was, I think, because he has the typical autism funnel attention, and only likes to talk about whatever he obsesses about. This typically worked well on adults, and he was able to carry conversations with them way above his apparent age level, as long as they adhered to his interest, but it did not work well with other kids.
He didn't have a friend for the longest time, only now in grade 5 he finally has somebody who always wants him to come over. It probably helps that he now obsesses about Minecraft and video games in general. He is a walking encyclopedia on the history of video games, and the way he now chats up adults is to ask them what their favourite video game was when they were kids.
He is surprisingly also interested enough to attend tap dance lessons, his interest is lukewarm, but so far he is going. He also happens to be quite handsome (of course I am not impartial in that). It is amusing to see how many of the little girls at the dance school go out their way to greet him (while he hardly acknowledges their existence). I think he will be OK.
Chronic stress is known to shorten the life-span of humans. Living in a world that you find confusing, difficult and alien is very stressful, this I know from personal experience.
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.
This. Someone hand that person a mod.
Autistic people are under constant stress. Every single new situation in life is stress. And we're not talking about something the average normal person would consider new, like, say, a new job or having to meet someone important for the first time. ANYTHING that does not fit the ordinary is a moment of stress. Add on top of that any situation you cannot plan for fully in advance. If you want to put an autistic person into full stress mode tell him to "just wing it".
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
That's exactly the problem: Autistic people do not want to be alone. They just can't stand the company.
Or rather, more often than not, the company cannot stand them. Detach yourself from the picture of that heavily impaired child that can't even accept a hug from his parents. Yes, that's part of the autism spectrum, but only one rather small aspect of it. You have a lot of people who appear "normal", until you have to interact with them. They are smart, sometimes exceptionally so, generally well adjusted (at least as adults, their childhood is usually a mess, but the eventually learned to "play a role"), yet they have incredible difficulties dealing with social situations and even more intimate ones.
For obvious reasons. These people had to learn social interactions the same way you'd learn a foreign language. Body language makes no sense to them. And neither do they "speak" with their body sensibly. Which in turn is VERY unsettling for "normal" people. Worst of all, you can't even put your finger on it because it's fully subconscious. You don't know WHY that odd fella is giving you the creeps. He just does.
And while you can somehow, eventually, emulate social protocols (because frankly, social situations are in the end just another form of process to be followed and a routine to be observed), that does not apply to anything involving more intimate or closer situations. You don't really get to watch and copy a lot here. Not to mention that people enjoy a responsive partner, something such a system based on mimicry of course cannot provide.
And yes, despite everything they're still humans and they would still like companionship. There just is no defined process for it that could be followed.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Disturbed in knowing that while the aspergers you know have well paid jobs you have to flip burgers for a living? Poor snowflake ;-)
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
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.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
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.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Not bad, 8 out of 4,000,000+ users. You show 'em tiger. ;-)
'Snot my fault you got shunned. You're the goober that kept posting the same thing over and over again and stalking people. I can't say that people haven't warned you enough times - you should have known it was coming.
Did you figure out what they filtered you on/with or what? It'd be funnier than hell if you figured out a way past the filter. I must confess, I'm kind of rooting for it to happen. I'd be systematically figuring out what was filtered and what wasn't but I'm a bit tedious like that. Actually, got a link to one of your older posts with all the words in it? (From before the shunning.) I might get bored and sit down and figure out what words they put into the lameness filter.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."