Beware Doctor Mario.

Post Reply New Topic

Do you all remember the NES game Doctor Mario? I remember how strange it was to see this PLUMBER pretending to be a doctor. I mean he is a plumber with no medical education. And that game? It wasn't really medicine, it was TETRIS with a fighting germs twist. You know TETRIS, the most annoying puzzle game ever devised--it had nothing to do with Mario! No turtles to stomp or mushrooms to eat!

Anyway, most autism boards have a Doctor Mario or two hanging around. They almost without exception lack a medical or science education, but they will be all full of pseudoscience about the origins of our condition. Such as vaccines, or intestinal tract bacteria, or wheat or milk protein. Despite lacking a medical degree, they will often advise courses of treatment such as a special diet and purges and etc. And almost without exception, this has NOT cured THEIR autism. Also, like that Tetris game, they wont usually SHUT UP about this crap, just keep dropping more and more bricks on you until you just want to throw the game away.

Did you just cast you line with a big juicy worm on it ?

I'm sure you'll get a bite soon

Thanks for the PSA then dude.

I don't think I've seen people like this around, but maybe they sometimes have a point.

Not that they know everything, but pointing people in the right direction to researching conditions can't hurt. I don't believe anything you listed causes autism so I agree on that part.

All I mean to say is that you can be educated on a subject and not be a professional. For example, we know the Earth isn't flat but we're not cosmologists. Does that make us wrong then?

Oh, rats. You mean bleach enemas won't fix me?

There are well-meaning but misinformed individuals who suggest all sorts of things. Some of them are relatively harmless and some (like the above) can be hazardous to your health.

The worst misinformation has just a kernel of truth which lends it enough credibility that people will buy it. For example, it is an established fact that there is a relationship between one's gut microbiome and mental wellbeing. But that opens the door to all kinds of wild claims and fads.

Some people are well informed and do have helpful advice that can improve one's overall quality of life. Those people don't make exaggerated claims though and are able to cite reputable sources, such as peer-reviewed studies from legitimate medical journals. Some people have shared things that worked for them and may or may not help others. However the plural of anecdote is not anecdata, so proceed with caution.

IMO anyone claiming that they can outright cure autism through diet, avoiding vaccinations or shooting industrial chemicals into their rectums is selling snake oil. They are also putting people at risk.

You do realize it's just a game?

Also Mario has taken on many different roles in various games. He was originally a carpenter, and he's been a race car driver, a golfer, a baker, a basketball, hockey, and baseball player, an Olympic athlete ( how does he manage to play so many sports and not be as skinny as his brother?), a boxing referee, and a dancer. He even once played the villain in Donkey Kong Jr, where he locked up DK, and his son (whom I think grew up to be the modern Donkey Kong) had to rescue him.