I've been following this family on youtube

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http://youtu.be/XdPSDaLT0PU



They have tried everything.

I've seen her videos before. Clearly she could use more support to help with her son.

It's pretty disturbing that she's so possessive about autistic spectrum diagnoses that she sets out to undiagnose so many people from the spectrum, including three by name. How can she know? Why is this something she feels entitled to do? Does having a severely autistic son mean that she needs to lash out to "protect" autistic diagnoses from people who are not, in her inaccurate and inexpert opinion, severe enough for her standards?

That sounds pretty mean-spirited and small minded...

Wow, that is sad. I can remember my husband telling me something about it too. he told me some people are so severely autistic they are in a wheel hair and can't even feed themselves or drink on their own.

Yeah.

I don't mean to diminish her son's need for assistance, but this is a bit over the top.

Last edited by Verdandi on 18 Apr 2011, 2:10 am, edited 3 times in total.

I wish her & her son the best, but I don't understand what she is trying to accomplish with that? To show that there is serious misdiagnosing/showcase her son's autism? I don't doubt that some people do get misdiagnosed... I dunno. Seems odd to me, that she feels the need to go and undiagnose people because they don't fit her definition... She goes on to recognize that there are different levels of Autism and yet she goes on about certain traits that must be present? It seems like she is saying that Autism is only one thing, and yet at the same time somehow recognizing there are differing levels of Autism? And what exactly does she think about Asperger's Syndrome, which is recognized as related to Autism? (Isn't it going to stop being a diagnosis next year or something and just being classified as HFA?)

Additionally I find her reference of the Piltdown Man interesting or perhaps erroneous, there actually were experts who saw it as a fake in the beginning, but (unsurprisingly) there were media people or people who 'thought they knew better' who accepted it because it offered them a simple and (maybe) profitable solution to a big question

I'm just a little confused as to her intentions with that video... Perhaps I'm just tired

Last edited by Vigilans on 18 Apr 2011, 2:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

She said Temple Grandin isn't autistic because Temple Grandin said she has Asperger's. I don't recall coming across such a statement by Dr. Grandin myself, but that she said it implies to me that she doesn't see AS as being autism. And also, because Temple Grandin is not like Rain Man, she is not truly autistic.

Also, I removed video because I am not entirely comfortable leaving it linked here.

Np about the video
I hate that rain man fallacy...
I wonder what Dr. Grandin would say?
Ah well, I can go on living happily whatever she says, I think all of us are capable of knowing ourselves better then her

Oh, definitely. Her opinions don't affect me, just troubling.

I hope her son gets more support.

WHOA.


I wonder if Amanda has seen this and responded?


Just. Whoa.

I'm speechless.

No, I'm not speechless due to this thread--it was my initial response to the Youtube link in the OP.


Temple Grandin refers to herself as autistic, and does not claim to have aspergers. I've seen her in person a few times.

I guess I'm speechless because this of this Mom's misery and bitterness towards people who aren't disabled by their autism.

I still don't know exactly what I want to say about it other than that.

She seems to think her situation is unique ("...has NEVER been shown to the public the way we show it") and everyone is against her. Security guards, christians, Autism Speaks. She thinks they're all as appalled by the sight of a disabled person as she is ("Warning: Disturbing behaviour"). No, we don't have to bear the responsibility, but there's clearly more to it than the hard work she does every day. I can't help but to wonder how the son would do with an emotionally stable carer.

Last night I dreamt about being James' (the man in the videos) carer.

I can't remember much, except that I felt calm and was waiting for James to be ready to get out of a pretend tree in their house.

I wonder: can he communicate? What have they tried in terms of communication technology.

Why does she rant on and on in front of him?

I have no experience with self injury.

To be perfectly fair... She has a lot of really "good" points about autistic self advocates. Her child IS too "autistic" to be used in any of their marketing material. They would decline his story in fact. ASAN only presents their idea of "positive" autistic image which pretty much equates to NT-looking. At least that has been my experience with ASAN so far. THIS sort of thing IS the reason why I so strongly am PRO cure and research. This child and others like him who self-injur and who are clearly so hard to keep need to be in our thoughts as we stand on the mountain tops declaring how much we should keep autism around. As a "blanket" statement, that neglects another side...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgbr8lTsrCA[/youtube]

This was actually the first ASAN video I've seen. I'm not even sure if there are other videos beyond protests and interviews with Ari Ne'eman.

I don't get your point with posting this video. ASAN representing their side while proclaiming that the "old" stero-types have no validity is what this video says to me. The Old Sterotypes have a WORLD of validity and we all have to accept and embrace both sides IMHO.