Urgh. When you function as your own editor, it's not unusual to have typos slip through sometimes. But today, my mistakes were too much! I just made 10 different typo fixes (and maybe I missed some). Sorry about that to anyone who read the sloppy writing.
The autism thing is just delusional. I read something written by a Dr this morning that proposed that even though there is a very definite genetic link - there is a probably environmental trigger (deduced from the results of twin studies). And that it would be interesting to see what those triggers might be. But also that’s not going to happen by September 😂
The genetics of ND is becoming clearer by the day, purely looking at my own family.
My 76 yr old father is very definitely ASD. So is his youngest brother, and probably my grandfather. And to be honest, more than one of my cousins. Only one of my youngest cousins has been diagnosed - purely because by 2011 medicine had worked out that girls can be autistic too.
At the age of 44 I have been diagnosed with ADHD (which puts a whole lot of things into perspective, if only my ability to consume huge amounts of coffee).
Not because I’ve “caught” it. But because when I was taken to see a psychiatrist at age 9 in the 1980s - ADHD was not understood and definitely didn’t happen in girls! I was just told I was a perfectionist, and a high IQ made up for any obvious educational problems. It’s likely I would have done even better had it been recognised!
My husband has ADHD, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my mother & his mother had it too, pretty sure both their fathers had it.
None of this stuff is new - it’s just giving a name to the reason why we’re all a bit weird. And honestly - my entire family is a bit weird 😂.
Interestingly my psychiatrist said that ND people attract each other. Which definitely explains my friends (dyslexic, ADHD, ASD) and family. I guess you instinctively seek out people with brains that are also different.
The NIH acquiring private medical data is nothing new. But these data need to be de-identified so that it would be virtually impossible to identify a single individual. This is the law. A registry isn’t the problem. They are used for research all of the time. The concern is that this is not a law abiding administration. And RFKJr. is a deluded, incompetent, dangerous man.
One of my children is on the autism spectrum. I took him to see our GP in the 1990s because someone suggested he might have ADHD (he doesn’t). The GP told me that my son would “grow out of it” (“it” being my son’s behaviours of concern). My son did not ‘grow out of’ any of his difficulties, but he did learn to manage his frustrations in more socially-acceptable ways. As for being able to care for himself, my son was toilet-trained at an earlier age than his siblings; spoke fluently when he was only a toddler; was adept at looking after himself before he started pre-school; kept his room tidier than his siblings kept their rooms and was more conscientious about maintaining good hygiene than his siblings. Yes, he was different to most of his peers, but he was also hard-working, responsible, reliable, conscientious, intelligent, curious about the world, well-read, honest and a good person, with what I termed as ‘idiosyncratic’ behaviours. He was not diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum until he was aged 20, and that was because autism was not widely understood or recognised when he was a little boy. While my son was definitely difficult to raise when he was young, he has grown into a very capable, highly intelligent, well-educated man who is very well-respected by his peers. He absolutely lives independently and definitely works and ‘pays taxes’. He contributes to society in many ways because he is a born-leader and has many areas of interest that he devotes his time to. I value his opinions and insights. He sees the world differently to me and I appreciate his viewpoints because they help me to see things in a different light to what I otherwise would. He helps me to be a better, more well-rounded person.
While my son is ‘different’ in the way he thinks, ‘different’ does not mean ‘bad’. For society to function well and to progress, we need people who can think ‘outside the box’. And autism is a spectrum, meaning people diagnosed with ‘autism’ range from highly intelligent, capable individuals through to individuals who need assistance with all activities of daily living. Anyone who paints all individuals with autism as having the same characteristics is ignorant.
Ignorant people should not be in leadership positions, lest they spread their ignorance. Leaders need to educate themselves before they spout nonsense and spread lies about matters of which they have an incomplete and inaccurate understanding.
We are not American and do not live in America, but from the information I have heard and read, America lacks sensible, well-educated leaders at present, and ignorance is not preventing America’s leaders from spreading inaccurate nonsense and lies. It would be embarrassing if it was not so damaging to individuals and society as a whole. The idea of establishing an autism register is abhorrent. For what purpose? How is this in the slightest bit helpful? I cannot see this as anything other than a means to ostracise and discriminate against a particular group of people. A person’s medical diagnoses are no one else’s business unless such diagnoses may affect others.
Thank you for sharing your thoughtful and well researched thoughts. I appreciate the time you put into this piece. It’s really important for us all to know just how disruptive and disgusting this administration is.
"No, autism doesn’t destroy families. But you know what does? Gun violence." Again, and again, and again.
Pretending to care about our children as they cut women's health rights (which by extention hurts children), deport and separate children from parents, cut education, etc., etc...
Thank you for this reporting on RFK’s autism hoax (gaslight much Mr secretary?).
I’m also blown away by the reporting in Mother Jones about the possible corruption of Bukele and how fear of a trial in NY may have been the impetus for Trump’s deal, sending MS-13 gang members back to El Salvador. Corruption everywhere we look!
"The value of a person is not based on whether or not they pay taxes." Argh, I could almost put a tattoo on my forhead with this quote.
Oh no, then I might be considered a gang member and be deported. Ah, but I am white and live in the happiest country in the world for the eight time in a row. Ok som maybe the tatttoo for me would be safe.
Where on earth does this insane unhealthy obesssion with autism stem from??!! Musk is allegedly autistic, so I guess he needs to be on that list as well...
My brother is autistic or Asperger as he himself prefers to talk about himself. He goes to the toilet by himself. And is very talented when it comes to music and art.
I know several autistic persons, highly talented and with nice careers and good paying jobs. Not that you need any of that to be a human being! As far as I can guess they can go to the toilet themselves as well.
-We need a world wide revolution - this American madness is affecting everyone on the earth! Argh!
A tizzy of aughts. I think we are all ghosts and life has an element that’s kinda like a ghost in the machine that makes none of us really able to connect the ways we’d be able to if this BS from past stuff long ago wasn’t hanging over everything. Everyone is pressured to live from the shoulds and the oughts of what was set up long long ago and is nearing the end of a long cycle. We’re in the last days of what was (old) and in the birth canal of what will be (new). And god is change. It’s about now grieving what was false to begin with and what could have been but never had a chance to be ((yet)). There’s always a YET. Possibilities abound. I wish for good things in the next iteration that will come to fruition for all life. If what I believe is coming is true we are and have been entering into a time of individuality that can allow us each to be able to live without being a slave to some system that doesn’t include everyone and spits out far too many. We are dealing with the repercussions of the IChing gate: Difficulty at the beginning. It’s chaos theory. Sensitivity on initial conditions. From chaos comes order. The caterpillar has all the components but they are completely disintegrated and rearranged to become the butterfly. Never let people dis neurodivergence. It is a gift. In the next part of this life (coming soon) perhaps you are uniquely qualified to help lead the way. Never not believe in yourself. The main person we mustn’t abandon is ourselves.
thank you
It had to be said. I’m glad it was said by you, because you said it perfectly.
Urgh. When you function as your own editor, it's not unusual to have typos slip through sometimes. But today, my mistakes were too much! I just made 10 different typo fixes (and maybe I missed some). Sorry about that to anyone who read the sloppy writing.
The autism thing is just delusional. I read something written by a Dr this morning that proposed that even though there is a very definite genetic link - there is a probably environmental trigger (deduced from the results of twin studies). And that it would be interesting to see what those triggers might be. But also that’s not going to happen by September 😂
The genetics of ND is becoming clearer by the day, purely looking at my own family.
My 76 yr old father is very definitely ASD. So is his youngest brother, and probably my grandfather. And to be honest, more than one of my cousins. Only one of my youngest cousins has been diagnosed - purely because by 2011 medicine had worked out that girls can be autistic too.
At the age of 44 I have been diagnosed with ADHD (which puts a whole lot of things into perspective, if only my ability to consume huge amounts of coffee).
Not because I’ve “caught” it. But because when I was taken to see a psychiatrist at age 9 in the 1980s - ADHD was not understood and definitely didn’t happen in girls! I was just told I was a perfectionist, and a high IQ made up for any obvious educational problems. It’s likely I would have done even better had it been recognised!
My husband has ADHD, and I wouldn’t be surprised if my mother & his mother had it too, pretty sure both their fathers had it.
None of this stuff is new - it’s just giving a name to the reason why we’re all a bit weird. And honestly - my entire family is a bit weird 😂.
Interestingly my psychiatrist said that ND people attract each other. Which definitely explains my friends (dyslexic, ADHD, ASD) and family. I guess you instinctively seek out people with brains that are also different.
What was the secret reason trmp is with bukele? I didn't really get that from the article.
The NIH acquiring private medical data is nothing new. But these data need to be de-identified so that it would be virtually impossible to identify a single individual. This is the law. A registry isn’t the problem. They are used for research all of the time. The concern is that this is not a law abiding administration. And RFKJr. is a deluded, incompetent, dangerous man.
Thank you for this.
One of my children is on the autism spectrum. I took him to see our GP in the 1990s because someone suggested he might have ADHD (he doesn’t). The GP told me that my son would “grow out of it” (“it” being my son’s behaviours of concern). My son did not ‘grow out of’ any of his difficulties, but he did learn to manage his frustrations in more socially-acceptable ways. As for being able to care for himself, my son was toilet-trained at an earlier age than his siblings; spoke fluently when he was only a toddler; was adept at looking after himself before he started pre-school; kept his room tidier than his siblings kept their rooms and was more conscientious about maintaining good hygiene than his siblings. Yes, he was different to most of his peers, but he was also hard-working, responsible, reliable, conscientious, intelligent, curious about the world, well-read, honest and a good person, with what I termed as ‘idiosyncratic’ behaviours. He was not diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum until he was aged 20, and that was because autism was not widely understood or recognised when he was a little boy. While my son was definitely difficult to raise when he was young, he has grown into a very capable, highly intelligent, well-educated man who is very well-respected by his peers. He absolutely lives independently and definitely works and ‘pays taxes’. He contributes to society in many ways because he is a born-leader and has many areas of interest that he devotes his time to. I value his opinions and insights. He sees the world differently to me and I appreciate his viewpoints because they help me to see things in a different light to what I otherwise would. He helps me to be a better, more well-rounded person.
While my son is ‘different’ in the way he thinks, ‘different’ does not mean ‘bad’. For society to function well and to progress, we need people who can think ‘outside the box’. And autism is a spectrum, meaning people diagnosed with ‘autism’ range from highly intelligent, capable individuals through to individuals who need assistance with all activities of daily living. Anyone who paints all individuals with autism as having the same characteristics is ignorant.
Ignorant people should not be in leadership positions, lest they spread their ignorance. Leaders need to educate themselves before they spout nonsense and spread lies about matters of which they have an incomplete and inaccurate understanding.
We are not American and do not live in America, but from the information I have heard and read, America lacks sensible, well-educated leaders at present, and ignorance is not preventing America’s leaders from spreading inaccurate nonsense and lies. It would be embarrassing if it was not so damaging to individuals and society as a whole. The idea of establishing an autism register is abhorrent. For what purpose? How is this in the slightest bit helpful? I cannot see this as anything other than a means to ostracise and discriminate against a particular group of people. A person’s medical diagnoses are no one else’s business unless such diagnoses may affect others.
Thank you for this post!! We need to be alarmed by theses actions!!
Thank you for sharing your thoughtful and well researched thoughts. I appreciate the time you put into this piece. It’s really important for us all to know just how disruptive and disgusting this administration is.
"No, autism doesn’t destroy families. But you know what does? Gun violence." Again, and again, and again.
Pretending to care about our children as they cut women's health rights (which by extention hurts children), deport and separate children from parents, cut education, etc., etc...
Frauds.
Are we just supposed to assume that if we have any loved ones officially diagnosed with autism, they’re on a registry? How can we protect them?
Thank you for this reporting on RFK’s autism hoax (gaslight much Mr secretary?).
I’m also blown away by the reporting in Mother Jones about the possible corruption of Bukele and how fear of a trial in NY may have been the impetus for Trump’s deal, sending MS-13 gang members back to El Salvador. Corruption everywhere we look!
"The value of a person is not based on whether or not they pay taxes." Argh, I could almost put a tattoo on my forhead with this quote.
Oh no, then I might be considered a gang member and be deported. Ah, but I am white and live in the happiest country in the world for the eight time in a row. Ok som maybe the tatttoo for me would be safe.
Where on earth does this insane unhealthy obesssion with autism stem from??!! Musk is allegedly autistic, so I guess he needs to be on that list as well...
My brother is autistic or Asperger as he himself prefers to talk about himself. He goes to the toilet by himself. And is very talented when it comes to music and art.
I know several autistic persons, highly talented and with nice careers and good paying jobs. Not that you need any of that to be a human being! As far as I can guess they can go to the toilet themselves as well.
-We need a world wide revolution - this American madness is affecting everyone on the earth! Argh!
A tizzy of aughts. I think we are all ghosts and life has an element that’s kinda like a ghost in the machine that makes none of us really able to connect the ways we’d be able to if this BS from past stuff long ago wasn’t hanging over everything. Everyone is pressured to live from the shoulds and the oughts of what was set up long long ago and is nearing the end of a long cycle. We’re in the last days of what was (old) and in the birth canal of what will be (new). And god is change. It’s about now grieving what was false to begin with and what could have been but never had a chance to be ((yet)). There’s always a YET. Possibilities abound. I wish for good things in the next iteration that will come to fruition for all life. If what I believe is coming is true we are and have been entering into a time of individuality that can allow us each to be able to live without being a slave to some system that doesn’t include everyone and spits out far too many. We are dealing with the repercussions of the IChing gate: Difficulty at the beginning. It’s chaos theory. Sensitivity on initial conditions. From chaos comes order. The caterpillar has all the components but they are completely disintegrated and rearranged to become the butterfly. Never let people dis neurodivergence. It is a gift. In the next part of this life (coming soon) perhaps you are uniquely qualified to help lead the way. Never not believe in yourself. The main person we mustn’t abandon is ourselves.