So-called 'recessive' genes (such as attached earlobes have been designated) aren't necessarily so much a BIOLOGICAL 'regression' as much as they are a SOCIALLY negative connotation designated for less-common phenotypes (at least, in the usage such terms and targeted descriptions receive in the mainstream... 'mainstream' equalling a group of the 'public' who've not been trained beyond a shallow, generalized level of subject material knowledge). Attached earlobes are no more an accurate indicator of regressed, 'inferior', 'backwards', or just plain 'difference signaling' of/for human characteristics than are a 'widow's peak' (vs. dominant 'straight' hair line), blue eyes (vs. dominant brown), presence of long palmar muscle (vs. dominant long palmer absence), genotype tt (vs. dominants TT or Tt...ability to taste PTC), on and on...
As far as I've seen, there isn't truly a PHYSICALLY VISIBLE aspect of humans to unmistakenly 'clue' one in on the presence of Asperger's or being on the spectrum in some way (unlike being able to determine someone, for example, as having Down's Syndrome). It pretty much seems the focusing on 'investigatings' such as brain scans - brain research in general - and longer-term 'techniques' (such as being in conversation with a person often enough/long enough to bring about an in-depth study of communication patterns) brings us closer to some answers...though the answers one gets often relies rather heavily on the questions being asked. If the question in this case turns out to be 'what's a quick way to determine if someone's an Aspie just by determining presence of a certain physical attribute', then the 'research' question and its results are basically doomed from the start.
In a society that (overly) depends on visual cues to not only determine presence of a 'condition' - but also uses visual cues as a measure of VALIDITY (and/or level of escalation)- it's really no wonder some of us keep searching for external signs indicating our Aspie 'condition'. For example, if one has dark skin, it can't really be denied if/when claims are made that the individual is (at least partially) of African-American descent. Birthmarks or gesturing mannerisms may be used for establishing one as being of a certain family/lineage, certain skin conditions or eye discolorations may indicate a specific illness, a certain 'knobbiness' may hint at Arthritis/Bursitis/Gout.... But, for an Aspie without visual cues of any sort, a very large piece of our very nature is scorned and denied in too many situations -- and, most especially, in situations where such credibility is a crucial factor of a life-altering decision/event. There is no visual 'shortcutting' to our diagnoses. No 'shorthand' process for determining if we 'have' it or not. And that lack of a more immediate 'yes' or 'no' brings its own special kind of 'hurt', its own anxiety and distress, to a people who need that clear-cut 'yes' or 'no'...perhaps more so than others.
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It's your Dae today
25 Nov 2011, 12:29 pm
