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Big Fat Rant: What is ASD

Elan

I'm having a rant. Bear with me.

Great you have ASD, we don't know what it is, we don't know what causes it, we don't know how to diagnose it, we don't know how to catergorise it, (change 'we don't know' to 'we disgree on' if it makes you feel better) but you have it, good luck.

Pyschatry, the DSM, Baron-Cohen are fluffy enough, but trying to grasp anything definitive from the hypothesis, abstractions, speculation and incomplete data out there is something else entirely, I wonder if the fluff of ASD is just giving people jobs.

What /is/ ASD?

Is it a word for quirky people whose accompanying commobidities means they require support?

Is ASD it's own commbodities e.g. PD, ID, MD, ND, LD, SD, AD, GC which taken together equate interactional difficulties? ~

Is it a collection of disorders whose symptons just happen to be very similar?

Is it the result of an interruption in usual brain development?

Is it an altnerative form of common brain development? 

Why is it a disability?

Does anyone even know?

It's so fluffy to me. In terms of agreement I see ony 3 unanimous phrases: 

difficultuties with interacting, hetergenity, (brain) developmental problem. 

To unpack - 1 major characteristic is difficulty with interacting. And then the hetergenity of ASD means you could have a few, to several to none of the other commonly associated characteristics -which in themselves would show up in a variety of ways according to the individual and to varying degrees on top of that.

Right now to me this is looking like a fun interpretitve guessing game for a doctor  

However the reson for this difficulty interacting is meant to lie in something wrong happening in the brain of an ASD person while it was still developing - but who gets their brain checked when they are being diagnosed? Right, it's down to your doctors opinion, maybe if you're unlucky even their mood. In fact ASD is often called a syndrome, I asked wiki what a syndrom is, here's what it said:

'A syndrome, in medicine and psychology, is the collection of signs and symptoms that are observed in, and characteristic of, a single condition.' So basically you're depending on your doctors observational and interpreting skills--well good luck--might as well go to an astrologer.

There are so many theories my head hurts, lets hope that if your doctor is farmilar with any, it's the one you can actually relate to -

Androgen Theory

Theory of Mind

Executive Function

Weak Central Coherance

Multiple defciet account

Female Protective Model (chromosone version vs wiring version)

Social Bias Theory 

There's the risk factors to take your pick from too

Epigenetics (a number of genes whose combination increase suscetability)

Inheritance

Prenatal to childhood theories inc:

Parental age

Illness

Exposure to particular substences/chemicals/hormones 

Childbirth complications

GI

Nutrition

It's a bloody study discipline isn't it? Individuals go undiagnosed, the diagnosed go poorly supported or unsupported and then we just have fluff, lot's of talk of fluff, fluffity fluffity fluffity-

----------------
~ Physical Disability, Intellectual Disability, Learning Disability, Mental Disorder, Neurological Disorders (e.g. epilepsy), Sensory Disorders, Attention Disorder, Genetic Conditions
Parents

  • Just an example. There's a lot of talk of empathy (thanks TOM) does anyone know what anyone is actually talking about with regards to ASD and empathy, no, do the 'experts' know, no they don't, do those that composed this theory know, no they don't, does anyone with ASD know, no, does the introduction of affective empathy and cognitive empathy to clear up the nonsensical mess make anything any clearer--no it doesn't.

    Are we talking about compassion, sympathy, actual empathy, the capacity or ability to moment by moment guess anothers thoughts?---feelings? To do so after the moment? Are we talking about understanding nonverbal language? Expressing non-verbal language?  Responding in a particular way to certain cues? The physiological reaction to anothers phsyiological feelings? The ability to express responses to others physiological feelings? What the heck about context--and peoples ethnic, economic, religious, social, moral backgrounds and expierences? 

    And this fantastical idea that if you're not ASD you have this dimension of empathy that I have never witnessed on my time on this planet in any human being, people generally suck at empathsiing, reading and understanding others, thus the drama, misunderstandings and suffering in the human condition, and since when is it okay to go around assuming you know what other people are thinking and feeling anyway, why is this an okay stand that ASD *lacks*. Who comes up with this shi-

    And then there's the fact it doesn't matter. Why? Because ASD is heterogeneous anyway. There probably is as many expressions of empathy among the ASD populalation as there is the general population.

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  • Just an example. There's a lot of talk of empathy (thanks TOM) does anyone know what anyone is actually talking about with regards to ASD and empathy, no, do the 'experts' know, no they don't, do those that composed this theory know, no they don't, does anyone with ASD know, no, does the introduction of affective empathy and cognitive empathy to clear up the nonsensical mess make anything any clearer--no it doesn't.

    Are we talking about compassion, sympathy, actual empathy, the capacity or ability to moment by moment guess anothers thoughts?---feelings? To do so after the moment? Are we talking about understanding nonverbal language? Expressing non-verbal language?  Responding in a particular way to certain cues? The physiological reaction to anothers phsyiological feelings? The ability to express responses to others physiological feelings? What the heck about context--and peoples ethnic, economic, religious, social, moral backgrounds and expierences? 

    And this fantastical idea that if you're not ASD you have this dimension of empathy that I have never witnessed on my time on this planet in any human being, people generally suck at empathsiing, reading and understanding others, thus the drama, misunderstandings and suffering in the human condition, and since when is it okay to go around assuming you know what other people are thinking and feeling anyway, why is this an okay stand that ASD *lacks*. Who comes up with this shi-

    And then there's the fact it doesn't matter. Why? Because ASD is heterogeneous anyway. There probably is as many expressions of empathy among the ASD populalation as there is the general population.

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