Autism - Comments

This article made me smile. I'm glad people like you are giving information about autism. My older brother has autism, and surprisingly, not many people don't know about autism. So, I thank you for writing this lovely article. I enjoyed, and my favorite part was the ending, "it is most importantly, a way of life".
Amen. :)
Thank you, again, for writing this! :D

Alot of people actually don't understand what autisim is exactly and me having an older sibling who does is autistic will help me personally to explain it more. (I was never good at explaining things) This article was very imformative.

My sister works with low-functioning autistic people in a mental hospital. One boy is her age and can't even bathe himself, nor can he write a full sentence. One of the girls who she's very fond of was placed in the hospital because she tries to kill her autistic sister. Another 12 year old girl tore up a pillow she received from her parents for Christmas and shoved the stuffing up her vagina. Guess who had to take it out?

I fit all the criteria for Asperger's throughout my entire life and was diagnosed several times. I'm in a two year relationship, going to veterinary school, working, and very much functioning on my own despite how "severely sick" I am. Frankly, I think I'm a raging psychopath. But because I can't fit all of my feelings about Asspies in this comment section, I'll post a neat link for all of you to look at.

http://hohotread.livejournal.com/40177.html

@ ScreamForTheStars
An excellent point! I've noticed that too ; and what irritates me even more is the fact That with each new end of year budget, special needs services are cut time and time again.

The thing that annoys me is that most people seem to forget that children with autism grow up to be adults with autism.
There are many programs/groups/clubs etc that help children with autism but hardly anything to help adults.
I'm glad we were able to find a support center for my older brother but there doesn't seem to be many around that are willing to help/support them with things they have to do when they do/have moved into their own place.

@ Aly Jones
I wrote a 5 sentence paragraph on the potential causes of autism, and finished it with research continues. How is that speaking so much on the cause of it? I think what you need to look at is the fact that those 5 sentences enticed a conversation about whether or not a cause has/can/will be found.

As a child with aspergers (a milder form of autism, but on the same spectrum), I am offended that you spoke so much on the cause of autism. There is no definite cause! You should've left it at that! Really, now people are going to believe that.

Research that said that vaccines can cause autism have been disproved, and yet people continue to belive what ever they read on the internet.

@starbella

I could have included all of those if I hadn't written a formal article. I didn't include opinion in this article at all. I left opinion to the reader.

If I had included little things like some do this, others do that, I could have written an essay with the mountain of information. But as the lead line said, we hardly touched the surface.

There's been as much praise, as well as criticism. One can't complain. :D

@Tre

I think if you actually included your opinion like this in the article:

Tre.:

"
Also, important to remember, is that the 5-year-old girl you work with is on a spectrum and not the same as every other autistic person. Thus meaning that, yes, she could be quite imaginative; whereas I've seem children who cannot express imagination. It's a spectrum disorder, remember? Their all different.

and explained more about this, it would have really helped the article. By 'touching the surface' you've made austim a very flat, shallow, and black and white diagnosis, instead of a very broad one that you just described here. If you came at it, with adding a bit more of your opinion then what wikipedia says, then it would have more passion and trueness to it.
For example just saying that they have no imagination and not explain why, makes a reader think that they have no imagination. If you explained right after int he article that you have never experienced imagination in people with Autism but that doesn't mean no autistic people have it because it is just a broad spectrum and varies so much, it would be much better. Even including two sentences of how some speak, some don't, some are diagnosed when they are kids, some when they are not and how it is different for every person then it really would have helped.

Maybe this helped, maybe it didn't...
but I think you've been taking all the critisim side from the article very well may I add.

@ The Pies Endure
Of course the spectrum is broad. The traits are far and few. I do find though that autism is a way of life, no matter where you are on the spectrum, because like you said, some of your personal traits are because of autism.

I don't literally mean that 'you are autism, autism is you'. That's too literal. I mean that the way you perceive things in life can be because of autism, therefore it's your way of life. I haven't got autism so I don't find lining things up to be secure and orderly, or clicking my fingers a way to calm myself. But children that I work with use these methods in their lives to feel secure and calm. It's a part of their life, it's how they cope in life. Autism can't be your life, literally, it can't be you; because we're all different, and we all have our own quirks.

@ Tre.
The way you define it makes it seem like autism defines the person who has it. It doesn't. The spectrum is so broad, you can't really make a blanket statement like that. My boyfriend has Apsergers but I wouldn't say that is 'his life' to me he's first and foremost a young man who is a loving, kind, passionate person, and having Aspergers is just one part of who he is. Sure, it may attribute to some of his personality traits, but it isn't who he is.

@ aubree james.
If I had written an extremely detailed article on autism, instead of a brief over lay as this was, there would have been room for discussing every nook and cranny. It wasn't, however.

I firmly believe that autism is a way of life. It can't be cured. It is your life. Its how you think, see, plan etc., That's what I believe.

Thank you very much for contributing your thoughts :-D

@ Tre.
You haven't talked about the different combinations, at all and that's my problem. If I was a person who had no idea what autism was and I read your article because I wanted to 'just touch the surface' then I would walk away thinking that people who have autism are a little bit better then the people stuck in hospitals, because they can't talk, and apparently they don't think. You haven't explained that many people have autism and don't even know it. You haven't explained that some kids have the brightest imaginations in the world. Or that children with autism will most definitely find something they love and obsess over that thing and for that purpose everything they own must be pink.

And how is having Autism a way of life? It's not like being Jewish or Catholic. It's having a 'disability'. It's a difference not a disorder. Being anorexic is a disorder.

You haven't touched the surface. You've basically written some of the symptoms into an article, wrote some other stuff down and then hit submit. This article is unjust.

I will not be responding. Good luck in your future writings.

@ aubree james.
"Important to remember is that autism is called a spectrum disorder, as the problem presents itself in a wide variety of combinations and ranges." This was included to show that not all ASD children are the same, and that there are different ways in which the disorder affects people.

And this, "Whatever the cause of autism, it is important to remember that autism is not just a diagnosed disorder, it is most importantly, a way of life." to show that autism isn't just a buzz word, instead it's a persons life and how they see and live it. I haven't labelled them all the same, as I've only given a brief overlay of what goes on in the spectrum. If this were a research article, that wasn't written in a formal style and just briefing people, then I could have potentially labelled them as something or other. But I haven't. Instead, I was just "Touching the surface on a complicated disorder"

Also, important to remember, is that the 5-year-old girl you work with is on a spectrum and not the same as every other autistic person. Thus meaning that, yes, she could be quite imaginative; whereas I've seem children who cannot express imagination. It's a spectrum disorder, remember? Their all different.

I also chose not to approach this article in a heartfelt way and include opinions etc,. as I was, as the leading line says, just touching the surface.

I also could have chosen from numerous quotes to intro this article, such as "utism is a neuro-developmental disorder that affects the development of the brain in areas of social interaction and communication and is marked by severe difficulties in communicating and forming relationships with people, in developing language and in using abstract concepts. " - IAA; or "Autism is a neurological condition in which a child is unable to relate to people and situations." -IH. I just chose wikipedia. We can't always write to please everyone, y'know.

Thank you for your comment, and becoming involved in the discussion! :D

@ The Pies Endure
*looks at your signature* SIMPLE PLAN. <3

...lol moving on. I agree with you. I've grown out of most of my autistic tendencies too, but I know I won't grow out of it. I've only gotten better because of anxiety and stimulant medications... ._.

@ scarysnowy21
I don't like to be a downer, but one can't 'grow out' of the autism spectrum. You may have just been misdiagnosed? :) ASD isn't something someone grows out of. It can become more easily managed, but it's a part of one's life period.

There is a boy at the childcare centre I work at, he's on the spectrum, he's three years old and his socialisation skills have improved over the 15 months I've been at the centre. He is also able to communicate more. He won't ever 'grow out' of it, but he will improve in hsi ability to interact with people. He has made friends with a couple of the children, and you can tell that he is really attached to them. Who knows how much he will improve as he gets older. But, he won't stop being on the spectrum. He'll just be able to cope more and more.

@ scarysnowy21
If you grew out of it, then how can you say you ever had it in the first place? Autism doesn't just go away.

This article is near and dear to my heart because I 'grew out' of my diagnosis of it 11 days before my 18th birthday and I have a second cousin, 3.5 years old, who has "Class A" autism. Maybe there will be hope for her to grow out of her diagnosis like me :)

@ aubree james.
bless you