Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation & Asperger's Syndrome.

Post Reply New Topic

NPR Article: "What An Hour Of Emotion Makes Visible".

The article goes through the usual recital of personal experiences (which we all seem to share to a greater or lesser degree), then the revelation of AS, then the actual TMS experiment.

Kim's experiences in her own words:But, there is a down side ...Indeed. TMS treatment provides only temporary effects that last only about an hour.

What's your perspective on TMS? Would you undergo 30 minutes of treatment for only an hour's worth of contextual insight? Is this type of experimentation even ethical?

I don't think it would be healthy to have such a window into what we are missing out.
Then we will crave these to a higher extent than some already do.
Personally I would not go through that treatment just for an hour,if somehow it was made permanent or for a major period of time I might reconsider my choice.
Edit:
Ethically it depends on the person.
I have no problem with this since we can assume these individuals are volunteers and accept any chance of something going wrong.I may not personally pursue this but I have no problem with others.

It will be interesting to see the direction these tests could take.

Miniaturization of components so you wear it as a hearing aid?

Permanent implants?

Or maybe they'll just discover what's going on that gets changed and
change it another way?

Sky's the limit at this point.

The writer of that article can kiss my tushy. Human beings have sought to alter their perceptions since we've been human. In fact, its so natural to desire this that even some animals will deliberately eat plants in order to change their state of mind. Look at cats for example, and catnip. Archeologists have found evidence that humans used of mind altering substances tens of of thousands of years ago. Many of these drugs do exactly what that magnetic simulator claims to do - it opens the user to experiencing what it is to have a dormant or slow part of their brain be very active.

Why should be autistics be any different? Why shouldn't we want to expand our point of view, even if it temporary?

He's saying that maybe we shouldn't use this technology because it would be too cruel to let us know how awesome it is to NT. Really? I have NT friends. They aren't skipping around picking daisies all day long. Its not like they live in paradise and I live in hell, and maybe its just better if I don't know what I'm missing.

Would you deny a paraplegic an hour to know what it is to walk? Or a Deaf person to experience sound? What about the other way? Wouldn't you be fascinated to know what it is too live without sound for an hour? Especially if you could magically know sign language, too? How many kids put on a blind fold so that they can get a feeling for what it is to be blind? Just for a little while, to step into the perspective of another human being's experience.

I would love an opportunity to see the world from a NT POV. Doing so might help me understand them better. If it didn't come with risks, I would jump at the chance.

I would worry about how safe the treatment was. Other than that, it could be interesting to see what it was like.