Board index › General Discussion › General Autism Discussion

Child abuse theory

Page 2 of 2 [ 24 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

Previous topic | Next topic

igorama
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 30

13 May 2007, 9:36 pm

krex wrote:
I have only read 2 of your posts but you dont seem to like people with AS.

Do you mean to say I don't like myself? Sometimes I don't, but I've grown to be content most of the time. I'm just not happy with my social life.



igorama
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 30

13 May 2007, 9:48 pm

agentcyclosarin wrote:
igorama wrote:
I think Western medicine doesn't understand the mind-body connection which cannot be explained by the current state of science and our society tends to dismiss anything that it cannot explain. I wouldn't be surprised if abuse could cause neurological changes. Adults sexually abused as children, for instance, have frequent throat and vaginal infections, even though abuse stopped long ago.

It would also be wrong to blame all abuse on the parents. There are plenty of other people who can abuse a child, moreover, some things done to a child that are not considered abuse could still be traumatizing. Some medical procedures can be pretty horrible experiences even if they're necessary and there is no other way to do them.


I for one am quite aware of the mind-body connection, its screaming obvious. There are a lot of psychological disorders that effect the body as much as the mind however bullying and abuse effects the mind more than the body of course, that makes sense. Does it effect the neurological infrastructure of the mind?

I like far fetched theories and I like bringing logical conclusion and connection to light with them. However given the logicality of this situation, the knowledge and the current patterns of our understanding its by far unlikely.

Also.. while you've brought out a good point on abuse, what the hell does it have to do with the 'development' of AS with the theory that one is BORN either NT or Autistic considering the significant amount of research pointing to the idea that yes, this is a neurological issue. You can't "catch" it or "develop" it like you can psychological illness.


I question continuity of the "spectrum." Neurological changes are detected in severe cases of autism and even if we can assume they're purely genetic, the Aspergers end of the spectrum is wildly divergent and I think there could be purely psychological as well as genetic cases and anything in between. No one has developed a test for newborns yet, so at this point we can't tell with certainty where the condition comes from. I think in some cases you wouldn't be able to tell autism from a severe psychological trauma.



agentcyclosarin
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Apr 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 746
Location: Above

13 May 2007, 9:56 pm

igorama wrote:
I question continuity of the "spectrum." Neurological changes are detected in severe cases of autism and even if we can assume they're purely genetic, the Aspergers end of the spectrum is wildly divergent and I think there could be purely psychological as well as genetic cases and anything in between. No one has developed a test for newborns yet, so at this point we can't tell with certainty where the condition comes from. I think in some cases you wouldn't be able to tell autism from a severe psychological trauma.


In some cases this can be very true indeed, point well brought up.
Normally psychologists would make a habbit to test for everything psychological before covering something like Autism however. As complex as PTSD is it can be 'treated'. There is a huge link between HFA and PTSD though, for good reasons too, many have it.


_________________
Just give him a kiss on the cheek.


kittenfluffies
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Feb 2007
Age: 43
Gender: Female
Posts: 519
Location: Gulfport, MS

13 May 2007, 11:11 pm

My parents didn't even believe in spanking. I wasn't abused at all.


_________________
Mew mew mew, mew mew mew mew? Mew. Mew mew mew mew, mew. Mew mew, mew. Mew!


Ticker
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Age: 55
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,955

13 May 2007, 11:39 pm

I believe people are either born autistic or their not. The abuse comes from being autistic and frustrating caregivers because one is different or just being an easy target for abusive type people. I have home movies of me at 6 months old and I was acting very much like an Aspie then. I would not make eye contact with anyone, was ignoring people and off in my own world. Most babies are wild about making eye contact and will stare at you forever whereas I didn't. I see a lot of autistic traits in family members on both sides of family hence I think its genetic.

Alot of Aspies and HFA do have PTSD. But that's likely from being heavily abused because they were different. I don't doubt I have PTSD though I've never been diagnosed with it. I was 4 when I was held underwater by a cousin and left unconscious on the bottom of a swimming pool until a complete stranger rescued me. A babysitter locked me in a shed in the hot summertime and I passed out unconscious because the heat and inability to breathe got to me. Some other kids were able to finally get the shed unlocked and me out of there. I developed PTSD because I was tortured as a child because I was an Aspie and an easy target, not the other way around.



likedcalico

14 May 2007, 2:31 am

I was never abused when I was a baby except my parents failed to have tubes out in my ears so I had hearing loss. Does that cuase autism?

When I was almost two, my parents would take me to someone's house which was a daycare this lady ran and one day she out me upstairs in a crib and it was real hot out and the room was roasting and she didnt have any windows open or a fan on so I got real hot and my face was beat red when my mother came to pick me up and I was screaming and crying in the crib. I was sick for a week from being overheated and my parents didn't pay the lady nor took me back to that place again.



Litguy
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Aug 2005
Gender: Male
Posts: 649
Location: New Jersey

14 May 2007, 8:51 am

Quatermass wrote:
I would say that your theory is dubious about the cause of AS, but I would consider such abuse as exacerbating AS and autism, as I was never abused as a young child.
That's the same thing that I was thinking.

I can quite assure you as the father of two children diagnosed with autism and as a self-diagnosed aspie, that:

1) Autism is genetic
2) My children were never abused, by anyone.

I do see, however, where a less than emotionally well-balance parent might become abusive with an autistic child and where that abuse would aggravate the child's situation.



poopylungstuffing
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Mar 2007
Age: 49
Gender: Female
Posts: 6,714
Location: Snapdragon Ridge

14 May 2007, 9:19 am

I dunnow....I do have a history of abuse (from teachers and other kids mostly) AND there are people in my family who i believe have AS symptoms...um..I don't doubt that I have suffered from PTSD as a result of things that have happened to me...but it is hard to make the connection as to the extent to which it has affected my development into the piece of work that I am today.

I would gather that not all people who have a history of abuse develop into auties....
and perhaps lots of auties may have a history of abuse...
The various things seemed to happen to me because I was different...or too trusting...or what have you...but it is really hard to gauge...I WAS after all, a kid at the time.

Lots of kids in the world have it really rough....not all kids are very well protected...there are all kinds of thing that can happen to a kid...

I was always "different" but maybe I was more on the path to becoming a more "normal" and "functional" "different" kid before I developed my PTSD symptoms...it is really hard to say.....

sorry..not very coherant this morning.