Autism

[Beyer]

Autism, is not a flaw.

Agreed, Autism as whole is not a flaw. However, there are certain traits in Autism that can be called flaws. Same as there are traits that can be called pros.

They excel in all fields, creatively, academically, scientifically.

ALL fields? These are just people with certain traits. They are not super-humans which is what I feel like that is implying. They are just people! I have met various autistic people and I can say, from personal experience, that they do not excel in ALL fields. Same as me and I am assuming, same as you.

If you were half a normal person, you'd realise the people with Autism, do so much for the world we live in, with out autistic people, we wouldn't have electricity, or the light bulb, or such great music.

That is true but we do not need to acknowledge them as autistic people for they are just people who did great things. We should be focusing on and appreciating their work. Creativity and originality does come in more forms than autism.
Also, what is normal?

all of the great minds in history had autism

There is that word ALL again. I simply cannot believe that. As I said above, creativity and originality come in more forms than autism. I am not denying that there have been great minds that have been autistic but I just can't believe that ALL of them were.

because quite frankly people suck and should die.

You are a person, remember that next time you decide to write that.

MIND OVER MATTER (matter being friends)

My friend's are my source of joy and happiness in my life. I am fine with you putting intelligence over friends but I am not, please respect that.

In conclusion:
Autism as a whole is not a flaw, nor is it a pro. It is a mix of both beneficial and hindering traits.

 

[Random Queen]

The underlined part is wrong; not all the great minds in the history of ever were autistic. You will have to go and research that.

This is 100% correct...The only great minds I know of that were theorized with Autism is Einstein and Newton. I know there might be more but those are the only 2 I know of....

And both of you are right in saying that Autism isn't a flaw. I don't know what I'd do if my bro didn't have it, since he's had it all his life pretty much.

And yes, feeding the trolls are bad. That's one of the reasons this thread died -.-

 

[LongLiveLife]

This is 100% correct...The only great minds I know of that were theorized with Autism is Einstein and Newton. I know there might be more but those are the only 2 I know of....

The guy who invented the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell; the guy who made the most contributions to our current understanding of the atom and quantum mechanics, Niels Bohr; the guy who became the figurehead for the science of genetics, Gregor Mendel; and the guy who most regard as the father of the theory of evolution, Charles Darwin. All are not autistic, but nevertheless, they are still great minds who have made significant contributions to our knowledge in their respective fields.

Being autistic is not a requirement to having a great mind.

 

[MomentoMori]

I agree with so much of what you wrote. My best friend recently said a similar thing to me about labeling. He too has aspergers and I have been helping him get used to socialising (isolated himself for years and it has really affected him).

My two cents? Well, I think everyone diagnosed with autism, aspergers at the least, can overcome or at least weaken the severity of the cons of the...,disease sounds like a bad word but you get what I mean , just like I would try to work on my flaws. In my opinion, they are just flaws. Of course, treatment for helping get rid of these flaws is a tricky issue....

I am probably not making sense

Autism is not a disease, it is a type of learning disability. Frankly, having a brother who has high-functioning autism and a good friend who has a child with severe autism, I find it offensive that you would refer to it as such. Autism isn't a sickness or illness.

Autism in itself isn't a flaw. Some of the symptoms could probably be considered flaws, but honestly, autistic children just tend to live in their own little world.

 

[stephaknee]

Since it seems like most people here who have personal experiences with Autism have only dealt with high functioning autism and Asperger's Syndrome, I'll share my experiences dealing with a young child with pretty severe autism.

I live with my boyfriend. His younger cousin lives upstairs. He's six years old. He is very, very speech impaired (at least 3 years behind). He still can't pronounce "Chris." He throws himself off couches. He punches himself. He screams and cries and throws tantrums almost constantly-- his mother can't leave him alone because he hurts himself. They can't get him to go to school (he's 6 and, like I said, can't even speak right. Definitely can't read or write). They've tried-- he didn't even make it a full week. We couldn't even sing Happy Birthday when he was around because he screamed and started pulling his ears.

Essentially, it's hard to see that Autism makes him a "unique person" because he doesn't have a personality. He can't communicate. He can't interact. It's not just a quirk. It's a disability.

 

[MomentoMori]

Since it seems like most people here who have personal experiences with Autism have only dealt with high functioning autism and Asperger's Syndrome, I'll share my experiences dealing with a young child with pretty severe autism.

I live with my boyfriend. His younger cousin lives upstairs. He's six years old. He is very, very speech impaired (at least 3 years behind). He still can't pronounce "Chris." He throws himself off couches. He punches himself. He screams and cries and throws tantrums almost constantly-- his mother can't leave him alone because he hurts himself. They can't get him to go to school (he's 6 and, like I said, can't even speak right. Definitely can't read or write). They've tried-- he didn't even make it a full week. We couldn't even sing Happy Birthday when he was around because he screamed and started pulling his ears.

Essentially, it's hard to see that Autism makes him a "unique person" because he doesn't have a personality. He can't communicate. He can't interact. It's not just a quirk. It's a disability.

He still has a personality. Just because he can't express it or himself doesn't mean it isn't there.


My friend's child is like that. He's 6 or 7 and he still can't speak in whole sentences. He does throw temper tantrums, he does scream and cry. He's sensitive to loud noises.

 

[stephaknee]

He still has a personality. Just because he can't express it or himself doesn't mean it isn't there.


My friend's child is like that. He's 6 or 7 and he still can't speak in whole sentences. He does throw temper tantrums, he does scream and cry. He's sensitive to loud noises.

If you are severely cognitively impaired then, no, you don't really have a personality.

 

[MomentoMori]

If you are severely cognitively impaired then, no, you don't really have a personality.

You make it sound like he's not even a person.

 

[stephaknee]

Just trying to illustrate how severe Autism can be because people in this thread are completely naive when they say "it's not a flaw." It can be tragic and devastating. When people face severe mental incapacity their whole lives- when they can't go unsupervised and when they can't even understand the concept of communication then, yes, that is a flaw. It's a handicap.

And to RandomQueen, before you even post because I already know what you're going to say, yes, when you ask your brother if he would change, he'd answer "no." But let me emphasize a very important point. Your brother is cognitively impaired. His "sense of self" is cognitively impaired. Essentially, it's like asking a young child or chimpanzee if they'd like to change (and no, I'm not saying all autism people have the cognitive capacities of a monkey But they certainly aren't as normal). They don't fully grasp the concept.

And just for clarification, cognition includes processes such as memory, association, concept formation, language, attention, perception, action, problem solving, mental imagery, emotion, and one's awareness of strategies and methods of cognition (copied from Wiki).

 

[MomentoMori]

Just trying to illustrate how severe Autism can be because people in this thread are completely naive when they say "it's not a flaw." It can be tragic and devastating. When people face severe mental incapacity their whole lives- when they can't go unsupervised and when they can't even understand the concept of communication then, yes, that is a flaw. It's a handicap.

I know how severe autism can be. I've seen how severe it can be. I baby-sit a child with severe autism a lot, and I'm the only one his mother would trust to watch over him and not get nervous or freak out whenever he starts throwing a tantrum.

Just wondering, have you guys talked about getting Chris some in-home help? I think there are some programs that could arrange some special education workers to come and work with him.

 

[stephaknee]

Double posting.

http://med.brown.edu/neurology/articles/ss15205.pdf

Deficits in executive functioning (cognitive control) get worse as Autistic patients get older. So this means they develop more problems integrating information, shifting attention, analyzing situations and responding properly. The executive function is what makes us essentially "human." It is (from wiki) a collection of brain processes which are responsible for planning, cognitive flexibility, abstract thinking, rule acquisition, initiating appropriate actions and inhibiting inappropriate actions, and selecting relevant sensory information.

 

[stephaknee]

I know how severe autism can be. I've seen how severe it can be. I baby-sit a child with severe autism a lot, and I'm the only one his mother would trust to watch over him and not get nervous or freak out whenever he starts throwing a tantrum.

Just wondering, have you guys talked about getting Chris some in-home help? I think there are some programs that could arrange some special education workers to come and work with him.

His mother doesn't help the situation. She's in denial.

 

[MomentoMori]

His mother doesn't help the situation. She's in denial.

Well, you can always google it if you ever want to check it out.

 

[Random Queen]

The guy who invented the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell; the guy who made the most contributions to our current understanding of the atom and quantum mechanics, Niels Bohr; the guy who became the figurehead for the science of genetics, Gregor Mendel; and the guy who most regard as the father of the theory of evolution, Charles Darwin. All are not autistic, but nevertheless, they are still great minds who have made significant contributions to our knowledge in their respective fields.

Thank you.

Edit:

And to RandomQueen, before you even post because I already know what you're going to say, yes, when you ask your brother if he would change, he'd answer "no." But let me emphasize a very important point. Your brother is cognitively impaired. His "sense of self" is cognitively impaired. Essentially, it's like asking a young child or chimpanzee if they'd like to change (and no, I'm not saying all autism people have the cognitive capacities of a monkey But they certainly aren't as normal). They don't fully grasp the concept.

Just got home and was too lazy to refresh so I just saw this...

To you're point, some people who have a disability are perfectly aware of the fact they do. I know I have a disability...My brother knows exactly who he is and what he has...I have someone in one of my class who has a more sever disability then my brother...He has hearing problems and has to wear hearing aids. He thinks it's funny to mess with people even when they say "stop"...and honestly...he's only talked to me twice. Once in church yesterday and then today in class...In church he said, "I know you from high school". I merely smiled and said "Yeah" and today he said, "I saw you at church". I just smiled. His speech is not all that great...but he can talk.

In my honest opinion, instead of categorizing people, no matter what they have, as flaws...you should be taking the time and talking to them personally...if they can't talk...but can write, then talk to them and have them write what they would say to you. If you do that, you'd learn that disabled people aren't too much different then what people classify as "normal people". The only difference is that they can't do everything "normal people" can do.