Autism test 'could hit maths skills'

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I saw this article on the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7736196.stm

I found the idea of a pre-natal test for autism, which could lead to terminations, somewhat disturbing.

one out of nine aspies are female? I thought it was one in four!

...it's quite sad that that was all I got from the article, in my excuse I'm pretty tired right now...

males outnumber females by four to one.

And among those with Asperger Syndrome, males outnumber females by nine to one.

though the stats seem off

I find this test to be very disturbing (i.e. the idea that people can pick and choose not to have an autistic child). Like it or not without autism the human race would stagnate. Anyone else agree?

This is the reply I wrote to the BBC. I wonder if they will publish it.

My wife observed last night that a world of only NTs, where there is no one with any psychological conditions whatsoever, would be like the book "Brave New World". It would be a society without creativity, imagination, or variety, and a society of conformists. There would be no breakthroughs, just sameness all the time.

I posted the following comment to the BBC article. I don't know if it will get published:

As someone with mild autism (Aspergers Syndrome) I fear such screening would be the thin end of a dangerous wedge. Many of us feel that we are not "disabled" or "defective" but merely different. And yes, despite the problems of social interaction many of us have above average intelligence and find ourselves working in highly technical jobs.
As screening techniques advance there may eventually be genetic tests for various none-average brain functioning and personality types and parents choosing to tamper with the brain development of their children? Could they destroy the next Mozart or Einstein?

Other than the fact this guy makes no sense and what he says has nothing to do with reality, he's great.

If Asperger's is the extreme male brain caused by prenatal testosterone, how come male aspies have so much difficulty fulfilling expectations of male behavior? Like this is subtle or something? He reminds me of an alcoholism expert who's never been around an alcoholic.

Uhh... isn't the composition of the amniotic fluid determined by the female parent, not the genotype of the fetus?

I'm kinda sick of hearing about Einstein and that handful of other aspie superstars. For every one of them, there's a hundred thousand other aspies, plain ordinary aspies.

It sometimes seems like we're viewed as sort of a cattle industry, kept alive because some of us provide intellectual and artistic meat for those others who really matter.

I agree. Many of our greatest geniuses were Aspies, Bipolar or Schizoid. If the human race were entirely sane we would still be living in caves.

ruveyn

I agree. Many of our greatest geniuses were Aspies, Bipolar or Schizoid. If the human race were entirely sane we would still be living in caves.

ruveyn

Epidemiological data is currently too sparse on ASDs to be able to make such claims with very great reliability.

The correlation between fetal testosterone levels and autistic traits is an empirical observation. The "extreme male brain" is Baron-Cohen's pet theory on autism, and it has much better support behind it than was expressed in this short article, as there were more important things to address here.


You don't have to be an "aspie superstar" to lead a worthwhile and fulfilling life. The purpose of pointing out such exemplary individuals is to point out that success is possible for autistics, so people shouldn't write us all off as hopeless.


I'll take that over complete annihilation any day.

I agree. It is definitely not an easy life being born different. Perhaps it is a little easier nowadays that at least Asperger's syndrome is a known quantifiable thing. When I was a young kid in the 1960's I was just a kid who didn't fit in, who got bullied and was often excluded from class for reasons I could not understand - and it was very clear I thought different to everyone else. However, without my Aspergers I would not be the same person at all. It colours my life completely, good and bad. No Aspergers - I'd be someone else.

If screening of embryos starts to filter out people who are different to the statistical norm the world will be a very poor place. It would probably be the beginning of the end of human beings as we become seamless unthinking cogs in the systems of society.

Granted, there are people who have had a much rougher deal out of autism then me and I can't speak for them. Maybe there are some who feel their lives are so miserable they would prefer to not have been born or to have had their brain "corrected" by drugs while they were still in the womb. It's a tough one. You can't ask the embryo for its opinion.

Its not a test at present, its IVF designed to allow families who already have an Autistic close relative to gender select (by having a female instead of a male). Listen to the audio bit - you will notice that one of the participants is a Professor Delhanty.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 676000.ece

Personally I find the idea to be hilarious.

How long does it take BBC to post comments?

I don't know. They still aren't showing any comments at all. I have low hopes of getting my comment shown though. It would the first time ever if they did. I guess they probably get thousands of posts to some topics, so the probability of being shown is low.