Autism and Underdevelopment

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Autism and Underdevelopment

It is true that many adults with autism are underdeveloped. They are described with the "low-functioning" moniker.

At the same time, many adults with autism refuse to be "cured" from autism. Big names include Temple Grandin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin , as well as Alex Plank of Wrong Planet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Plank . John Elder Robinson http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Elder_Robison also has stated: "As an adult with autism, I find the idea of natural variation to be more appealing than the alternative – the suggestion than I am innately bad, or broken and in need of repair." And of course, there is the neurodiversity camp, typified by an organization like ASAN http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autistic_S ... cy_Network .

Can we really reconcile the two facts: (a) many adults with autism are underdeveloped, and (b) many adults with autism refused to be "cured"?

Is autism a medical issue? Or is autism just a variation of human beings, just like there are left-handed people? Where do we draw the line and decide who is sick and who is not?

Instead of “drawing the line,” I would rather separate the two things completely: underdevelopment as one thing, and autism as another thing. To me, autism has nothing to do with underdevelopment: the one does not imply the other. I view underdevelopment as an issue totally separated from autism. Underdevelopment is solved by developing the affected children, be them neurotypical or autistic. And I include sensory development as part of the overall development. I view underdevelopment in children with autism as a problem of parents and educators: parents and educators need to learn to communicate with their children. The children are fine. The problem is with us, the adults. The children don't need to change. The adults are the ones that need behavioral correction and learn to communicate with their children.

I know many people would tell me: "But neurotypical children just don't become underdeveloped!" I beg to differ. Neurotypical children also become underdeveloped (including sensory underdevelopment), if they are raised without communication (like being confined to a cellar during childhood.) If parents and educators keep failing to communicate with their children with autism, that is no different than raising these children "incommunicado." There is little wonder that these children become underdeveloped. The fault of the failure to develop does not fall with the children. The fault of the failure falls with the adults.

It is in this context that I invite anyone to take a look at my new posting on "Fourier Transform and Autism" at http://www.eikonabridge.com/fourier-tra ... and-autism .

Underdevelopment is an issue. So we should address it as such. Autism is a totally different issue. To me, there is nothing to "cure" about autism. Viewing autism as a disorder/disability is an easy way out for adults: blame the children for the failure of adults to develop them. This "evasive maneuver" of adults is the evil that detracts us from solving the real problem: underdevelopment. By viewing autism as a medical issue, we forget to develop tools to communicate with our children. We forget to learn to speak the language of these children. We become arrogant and view these children as low-functioning, as second-class citizens.

I am actually rather positive about children with autism, even if they have reached an older age. If I am right, due to the additional connections inside the brains of these children, they are more "plastic": they have synaptic connections to spare, and should be able to learn and improve at any age. (The enhanced plasticity of the autistic brain is well-known. See e.g. http://www.icare4autism.org/news/2014/0 ... nd-autism/ . I don't fully agree with their overall model, but I do agree with them on brain plasticity of people with autism.) Still, the earlier the parent-child communication happens, the better.

The problem with autism is not with the children. They are fine the way they are. The problem is on the other side. We need to build up our arsenal of tools to communicate with our children. We are the ones that really need to change. And that's my point of view.

Well considering there is not a cure, not entirely sure how one with autism could refuse to be 'cured' in the first place. Also though I cannot fathom any cures that would not carry a very high risk of irreversible brain damage since it would involve somehow physically re-wiring the neurology in an attempt to make it neurotypical neurology. As for temple grandin from what i understand she has been in treatment and takes medications for her condition to help her function....so its not like she's giving the message 'oh I have autism and can't do anything and refuse any helpful treatments'. But yes considering autism is a developmental disability I would imagine many adults with it are in some ways 'underdeveloped' however I do not really like that term too much there is probably a better way to word it.

Also autism is a disorder, not the same thing as being sick...its a variation in neurology that can make it harder to function in society and in general its not like a sickness or being ill. For instance if someone is in a wheel-chair it doesn't mean they are 'sick' per say there are numerous things that aren't exactly 'sicknesses' that can cause that. But I do agree with your point that parents/educators of autistic people should work on how they communicate with them...instead of just expecting the child to entirely change and become normal if pushed hard enough. But that is not to say people with autism get a free pass to be jerks and not make any positive changes in themselves where needed....but the focus should not be on being 'cured' or getting rid of the autism but rather developing into the best autistic adult they can be for intance.

Sweetleaf: points well taken. Most people here are on the spectrum, so it's a lot easier to communicate here.

One thing though: many people on the spectrum not only don't like the words disease, disorder, but many don't even like the word disability. It suffices to google for "autism is not a disability" to see my point.

See for instance:
http://www.experienceproject.com/stories/Have-A-Child-With-Autism/158536
"Autism Is Not a Disability, It's a Different Ability
...I don't really consider autism a disability but most of society does. I have 16 year old autistic son who has a difficult time getting around in what we call the typical world. According to him, we neurotypicals (nt) are the ones with the problem."

And many, many more. We the autistic grown-ups have been telling the world for some time now. The problem with autism is not on our side: it's on the other side. Until the day people wake up and admit that the so-called "low-functioning" manifestations are NOT related to autism but to underdevelopment, the society will keep failing at communicating with these children and keep failing at helping these children to develop. To me, there is no such as thing as "low-functioning form of autism." Autism is autism: it comes from existence of additional synaptic connections, which itself is not a bad thing. (All on the contrary, it can be a very good thing.) You can't get rid of autism unless you cut those gazillion synaptic connections. And in doing so you basically are destroying the very person. Underdevelopment is a totally different issue from autism.

I will provide an example of "learning disability." In my native Chinese dialect, there is a "g" sound that I never learned to pronounce in my childhood, even as I was 12 years old. At that moment my family moved to South America and I started to learn Spanish, which has the same "g" sound. I learned that "g" sound the very first day. What my parents have failed to teach me in about ten years, I learned it in one day. What made the difference? I learned Spanish visually, by going through its alphabet first. Once I could visualize the "g" sound with a letter, I had no learning disability whatsoever. Ten years versus one day. You get the picture.

Children with autism are visual. The adults are the ones that needs to build up tools to communicate with their children, visually. Ten years or one day, the choice is yours.

The same thing is true with tantrums. I really can't stand watching parents and educators communicating with their children without visual cues. It makes me want to scream. So many conflicts can be resolved by just drawing one simple picture. Parents and educators constantly complain that autistic children have the "lost look," that they are unable to capture people's emotions. The very same parents and educators never drew one single picture for their children, never made one single video clip for their children.

Parents and educators really ought to stop looking at autism as a learning disability. The children are fine the way they are. The disability is on the other side.

Again, here is the link to my posting on Fourier Transform:
http://www.eikonabridge.com/fourier-transform-and-autism

Temple Grandin is a proud autistic
She went through lots of therapy and recommends educational help.
You can have a good sense of self and still want better for yourself or children.

I think every parent is different but your example of Temple Grandin shows that in fact her mother tried very hard to help her. Developmental delays are a hallmark of autism. We as parents often do what we can but it doesn't mean we can develop our children's brains.