BS: April is Autism awareness month

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Penny S.
Date: 05 Apr 11 - 01:19 PM

Perhaps we should also think of Gary McKinnon, and the officials who want him to "fry".

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Mysha
Date: 05 Apr 11 - 01:42 PM

Hi,

'I've also read and viewed about half of last year's thread: "A Wish for Autism".'
Old mistake. I shouldn't have done that, even though I could cope with reading it. Today is a bad day because I can't cope in giving it all a place in my thoughts.

"It's indeed highly emotional, but not about autism, but about who is right." So I thank you for not addressing each other in this thread in that tone of alphabet. Please, don't go "You say .. but" on this one.

One thing I wrote yesterday stuck, and I tried to work it out further to give it a place and to give me a focus:

Once there was a woodsman, living in a small cottage on the edge of the woods, nor far from a small village. He fell in love with a lady from the city, one day, and knew he had to wed her. He wooed her for three years, and finally she consented to come live with him as his legally wedded wife. Exactly nine months after they were wed, she was delivered with a fine baby boy. But that day the weather was hot, and she being from the city she didn't know that when it's black moon, as it was that night, you should close the house. So she left a window open so the tiny room where they had bedded the little boy would be cool.

She didn't notice it in the course of the babe's first night, but on later nights, as she watched the child she wondered whether the face she saw in the moon light was the same she had seen on that very first day. Somehow, it seemed like she no longer felt that overwhelming joy she helt felt was she had received him. Still she cared well for the baby, as did the woodsman, and they raised him as well as they could. But there were strange things about the boy. Even in his first years, he would hardly ever talk, though he could always talk quite well for his age, but if left alone he'd let go agonising series of wails, asif he were singing to an unknown world. He'd never look you in the face, yet without looking he would always know where you were. And his skin was paler than that of any human in the nearby village, and he never wanted to play the games of other children; when he did walk about his movements were awkward, but he preferred to stay in that now really tiny room that he had so far spent his life in.

As the boy grew a bit older, the parents began to wonder whether they had done the right thing in raising this child that seemed too different to be their own. But nevertheless, the father started taking his son with him into the woods. To his fear the woodsman found that his son knew everything he wanted to teach him immediately. The boy didn't even seem to be looking at what his father was showing him, asif he had already known before hand. And this grew even worse when he started to roam the woods alone. Now he did no longer want to come into the house when normal people did, and if forced the young boy would fight so vicious that both his parents were needed to get him inside, asif in the wild he was gaining the strength of the animals. Then came the day that the two of them could no longer control them, and after throwing them against the cottage wall, he fled into the woods.

After that had happened, the parents went to the priest in the village to tell him what had happened, and he berated them for not telling him sooner. When he heard the mother had left open the window on the child's first night, and a black moon night at that, he knew what had happened: Their own child had been taken by the fay folk, and the child they had raised was a changeling. And with all that howling he probably was a wolfkin. But all was not lost; if they could get the changling child to admit it was not human, before it changed into a wilf for the first time, then the fay folk would have to accept that the switch had failed, and would have to return the human child. So the priest went into the wood with a group of strong men following him at some distance. And when he found the child howling loudly, he went to it very carefully and gently, and talked with it until it confessed that the world of humans was not his own.

Then the priest called up the men, and the changeling just stood there and waited for them. But when they grabbed him it took four grown-up men just to keep him from moving, and two more two wrestle him to the ground. Then they called for the parents, and as darkness fell, they started a fire, and hung the changeling over it. The mother could hardly stand it, but the priest took her away a bit, and explained that while they still heard the boy howl at the fire, it would be the changeling, but if he called for his parents, the fay folk would have come and would have given back the human child. So from a bit of distance, through the night they prayed and waited and listened to the howling, until a bright light shown from the place where they changeling hung. After that, they heard the boy call for his mam and dad.

The parents were overjoyed, of course, even though the fay had maliciously thrown the human child into the fire when they took their own. But they nurtured him back to health as well as they could, though he would never heal completely. The boy also kept walking somewhat bowed, almost subservient, from his growing up in the low halls of the fay folk and under their command. But the fay folk would not be able to touch him again as the priest protected the house with strong prayers that would keep them all safe for all the days as a family. Their real son never talked much about the ordeal he must have gone through among the fay folk, and it's no surprise his behaviour was somewhat odd because of what had happened to him. But everyone in the village understood and his parents were simply glad to have a son that did what they asked and didn't howl at the moon.

For a few year, the parents were happy with their son. However, on the morn of the day at which the boy was to be apprenticed to his uncle, also a woodsman, the villagers found the fay folk had come and burned the cottage to the ground. In the night they had taken their revenge on the parents, and had once more taken the son, on the very last night in their house. The villagers tried to follow the tracks, such as there were, but in the woods they lost them. And try as they might, they never were able to find the hill of the fay folk; the magic making it invisible to humans was too strong, even for the priest. The parents were buried; the cottage was never rebuilt, the son was never seen again. But sometimes at night, the villagers would hear the changeling howl in the woods, and they'd close their windows more securely, and shuddered at the thought of the baby who was stolen from his parents.


I know: Fairy tales are just anecdotal.

Bye,
                                                                Mysha

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Wesley S
Date: 08 Apr 11 - 06:45 PM

According to Autism Speaks:


The 10 best places to live if you have autism

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Mysha
Date: 09 Apr 11 - 12:59 PM

Hi,

Except that it seems to be "Parents of Autism Speak", and it's where the parents find caring for autism easiest. They may be right, but from what I see quoted - I don't see the actual top 10 - it looks like those parents would chose to live where the noise level may sometimes make it impossible for their children to even think.

POV, I guess,
Bye,
                                                                  Mysha

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Mysha
Date: 11 Apr 11 - 04:20 PM

Hi,

Strange. After that tale, the least I would have expected was "OMG, were those really the signs of a changeling?"

And the answer being: I interpreted part of them, but basically: Yes, they were." If you had such traits, I don't know what would have happened to you.

Bye,
                                                                  Mysha

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 04:22 AM

Sometimes though when I see how some people without Autism behave I appreciate my son's diversity and honesty with no hidden agenda. It has been hard but only because of the lack of help or understanding around him during his assessment.

I would be interested to know the ten best places in UK for care and support, I bet it wouldn't be South Gloucestershire that's for sure.

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Penny S.
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 07:55 AM

Mysha, I've only just got back here and saw your story. I noticed the likeness of changeling children in stories to autists some time ago, and have mentioned it to others, with the OMG, how many of those children were burned in the hope of recovering the "stolen" child, comment as well. It was the language of parents describing the change that alerted me. Awful.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Penny S.
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 08:01 AM

Mysha, and anyone else, have you come across this organisation?

Treating Autism?

A friend who is head of a new school for children with learning problems had a mother turn up whose child had been funded for their process, but who had had the money withdrawn on moving to Kent. (Which had placed a lot of money with Landsbank...)

I read it up and wasn't impressed, as were not a number of autistic people who had not gone through the scheme. But I couldn't find any comments from the children who had been treated and come through, without which I couldn't form a complete opinion.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: maeve
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 08:18 AM

Hi, Mysha. I just read your story. Yes; I do see the connection between the changeling stories and autism. Thank you.

CapriUni has started a thread and a blog on a very similar subject, here.


Maeve

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Mysha
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 03:06 PM

Hi Penny,

I don't know them.

I tend to judge people by their truthfulness. So, a comment like "View New Inspiring Video Testimonials Every Week!" is in instant hit with me, as you can easily verify it by checking today and a week from Friday. The fact that some of the testimonials are repeat performances does create some doubt, though.

(On the other hand, it seems that they are very truthful about there being no "no risk to your child" if you start with this, as the starter kit doesn't seem to actually involve your child at all.)

Other than that:
- There are preciously few "cured" autists giving testimony. (Or should that be "there is"?)
- Have you seen the film Split Image? The protagonist is sucked into a cult; during his time there he is more or less told that he is happy, and he speaks of his ante-cult self in a distancing way. It may be any little detail, but the "cured" autist triggers that memory for me.
- Yes, I believe certain aspects of autism can be modified. Maybe working very intense with children at the age when they absorb the world will allow changing them. But I doubt that any such program could merely switches on some allist characteristics, without severely reshaping the child's mind.

If someone really would have found a cure for Autism, even if it involved very intense treatment, it would have been all over the media last week, and every year over. As that hasn't happened, and with the associations I get from it, I wonder what they are trying to do to us?

Bye,
                                                                Mysha
(I should go do something else, now.)

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Wesley S
Date: 12 Apr 11 - 06:41 PM

Check out Carly's Blog. She's a girl with autism and a lot to say.


Carly's Blog

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Wesley S
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 07:32 PM

From Robert MacNeil of PBS

Causes of autism

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Wesley S
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 08:01 PM

Other Robert MacNeil stories:

His grandson Nick


Exploring the increase in Autism

The national emergency

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: maple_leaf_boy
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 08:09 PM

The last two weekends, they were showing the movie "Rain Man" on a few channels. Last weekend, also there were documentaries on Autism on the
PBS.

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Penny S.
Date: 21 Apr 11 - 04:40 AM

There was a piece on the BBC Radio 4 yesterday on some work linking autism with anorexia. They were very careful to say that a) not all anorexics have any autism, and b) not all autists have anorexia, but beleived that a link had been found in some cases. In particular, where the anorexic has embarked upon a course of action which turns out to be unhelpful, but finds themself unable to change it. It was suggested in order to make sure that the treatment offered to anorexics was appropriate to their condition.

It is on this programme though not in the blurb

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Mysha
Date: 21 Apr 11 - 08:15 AM

Hi,

Those Robert MacNeil stories are probably all at PBS - Autism Now. They seem rather disease oritend, though.

On the other hand, Carly's blog gives you some glimpses of insight.

Bye,
                                                                Mysha

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 21 Apr 11 - 10:54 AM

My son was diagnosed at a very late age and is now comfortable about his autism. I would be reluctant to confront him with anything that would seem like a cure. In his mind he tends to think that it is all his fault and needs constant reasurrance. He is in the position at last to meet with people who understand. However, not all care workers themselves know all about the different aspects of autism unless it is their particular field we had to track down a particular person who specialised in it. He also has an occupational therapist (not specialised in autism) who occasionally has to be re-reminded about some of the issues regarding autism and so as soon as there is another hiccup (putting it politely) we have to sort it all out again. The worst thing is when he is promised that something is going to happen and it falls through. With my son he has to have structure something concrete to focus on rather than cures or wishy washy promises.

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Mysha
Date: 22 Apr 11 - 10:08 AM

Hi,

When I'm told something is going to happen, it's like a clear straight road, where I can make speed towards the target. When thinking through what will happen, I can go in one step from today to that future event, and think through from there, as I know the path from now to then is a certainty.

Obviously, this has advantages, but it also means that it's <screeching tires, cars spinning around, everything flashing past the windshield and ending up beside the road and in the wrong direction> when just in front of me a car appears from a hidden side road; read: "when the thing is not happening as it was supposed to." The impossible occured and that's not easy to adjust to.

I'm not stupid (as far as I know); I'm just used to thinking in terms of what is certain. The situation in traffic is normally no problem, as I can recognise hidden side roads because/when they are clearly marked, which will warn me beforehand. In life, some things are much easier for me to deal with if I've been warned in advance that they may not go as expected.

Things are, almost by definition, different for other autists, And anyone speaking of "cure" around an autist should probably be asked whether they have a "cure" for their own unconventional way of thinking. But sometimes, it may help to address the possibility of failure beforehand, even if that means starting with talking about what to do for an imaginary cousin/neighbour in a similar situation who needs a way to compensate the last 5% after a promise came only 95 % true.

Just my view from inside the lighthouse.

Bye,
                                                                                                                                 Mysha

Subject: Rainman
From: Mysha
Date: 22 Apr 11 - 10:46 AM

Hi,

I was thinking of writing: "If you've seen Rainman, you know that Raymond is not stupid, and can adjust, He just has a number of certainties that are so absolute that he has no way of even contemplating the possibility of them being only relative - at the time they are eminent. That doesn't mean he could not have reevaluated the future, just that evaluating the situation from scratch would take longer than the time available."

But I left it out, for one thing, because such an example should have shortened the explanation, and this one wouldn't have. But also because I suddenly realised we only know Charlie's impression of his father. Charlie apparently thinks his father is treating him harshly because he disapproves of Charlies behaviour. But his father had trouble showing his emotions, and he is very strict in his actions ...


Returning to the previous message: This is only mild, but I had accepted something as true, and now I had/have to reevaluate it; find a way to merge the two truths based on the same data.



Bugger.





Bye,
                                                                                                                                 Mysha

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Greg F.
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 09:47 AM

The connection between vaccines and autism was fueled in the late 1990s when a study by British physician Andrew Wakefield claimed to identify a clear correlation. However, that study was later refuted, and Wakefield was eventually stripped of his medical license in Great Britain when it was revealed that he fraudulently misrepresented statistics from the report.

Since Wakefield's flawed study, 18 separate studies have investigated the possible connection between autism and vaccines.

Alison Singer, founder and president of Autism Science Foundation and a mother of a 13-year-old with autism, points to those research efforts as the evidence needed to emphatically support the use of childhood vaccines.

"They have all come back showing the same thing," Singer said in an interview published at CNN.com. "There is no link between vaccines and autism."

http://pressrepublican.com/0100_news/x570927067/Local-pediatrician-disputes-connection-between-vaccines-and-autism

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: maple_leaf_boy
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 12:29 PM

Of course he's not stupid, the the complete opposite, a genius. His extraordinary abilities with numbers and memorization clearly indicate
he's a smart man. When his brother asked him how he solves complex
math problems so quickly in his head, Raymond said he "sees it". He
didn't know what he meant by that, but I know what he means.

I believe that Asperger's which I was diagnosed with can turn into a
combo with another condition or evolve into another completely.
One characteristic of Asperger's is that one has limited interests, and
is intensely taking part of those few interests. With me, sometimes
I still like those things, but have periods of energy loss, and a lack
of taking part in those interests. This is why I think that clinical depression may be involved, too. I'll probably mention that to my
new therapist. My previous one was listening more to my family members's reports. Which is why he thought that it may have been P.S.

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 05:07 PM

The 'real' Rain Man not only remembers everything he's ever read, but also reads with his eyes independant of one another, thus he can read two pages simultaneously, one with each eye.

Documentary - Part 1 of 5: (all are on Youtube)
Kim Peek - The Real Rain Man - Part 1

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Jeri
Date: 26 Apr 11 - 06:01 PM

Kim Peek died in 2009. He was a perfect example of Kim Peek. He wasn't autistic but was born with congenital brain abnormalities. Wilipedia article on him.

Subject: RE: BS: April is Autism awareness month
From: Greg F.
Date: 27 Apr 11 - 09:14 AM

Now, there ya go, Jeri, interjecting them pesky facts into the discussion.........