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I was shocked to learn how little we know about autism. Do we have any autistics in the house?

I don't have Autism, but I know a lot of people who have Asperger's Syndrome. I live near Microsoft, and there have been supposedly been studies which show that people with AS gravitate towards the job opportunities within that company and end up having kids with AS, thus increasing the general population of those with the Syndrome in my area! It's so common here that local schools run programs especially for AS students.

I don't really want to know anything in particular...I was just curious.

My ex boyfriend's younger sister is autistic. I don't know much about it but she's 9 years old she's still in nappies, she can't speak properly and she goes to a special school, but she's really gorgeous she's got a great personality.

Ah, I see. Sorry if I am forcing too many questions. I can't really explain things without a clear question, though.


It's becoming more and more prevalent, actually. Some believe it is just due to better diagnostic criteria and methods, as it used to be that autism was considered "childhood schizophrenia." Also, Asperger's Syndrome, though "discovered" in the 40's, was not added to the diagnostic criteria until 1990, and only began to be more widely recognized in recent years (there are still many doctors who don't know what it is, or have only heard of it, but have little information).

It also probably has to do with what Smart Alex was saying- this is the age of computers- and therefore, aspies can thrive in companies like Microsoft, meet, and have children (autism has some genetic base, they know it can be passed down in families, but they don't know what genes are affected or what other factors come into play to ultimately produce autism).

There has also been some blame cast on the mercury vaccine, I don't know much about this idea, other than that it was never proven (in fact, it was more along the lines of being 'disproven' last I heard), and that it sounded to me like parents needing a scapegoat. I think it's possible that it could be one of many contributing factors, but it seems less likely to me than not.

Autism and Asperger's Syndrome are believed to be present more often in males, the numbers vary from 10 males for every female to four males to every female, to the idea that the numbers are actually the same, it's just that females tend to be harder to spot and diagnose, because of our "tendency for passive behavior," while male aspies can often display their frustration or anger outwardly (just like any other male, stereotypically), females draw it inward. This idea is based upon stereotypes, obviously, though I think there may be some merit to it, mainly because there has been research pointing to the fact that females with Asperger's tend to be less affected than males with the disorder.



Yes, that's true. I think that the criteria, however, is probably too vague, atleast for my understanding. I guess this is a problem with the DSM-IV in general. They use words like "markedly" "significantly" "qualitatively," and those terms are all quite relative. Someone can display all the symptoms, but have no "marked" impairment in their life, does that mean they have Asperger's Syndrome, or does that mean they just have Asperger's traits or an Asperger's personality?

I think the main indicator of autism or Asperger's is mindblindness. It's something that researchers have been focusing on more, lately. Basically, the idea is that everyone has a "theory of mind mechanism" that allows them to "read" eachother's minds, ie, be able to understand body language, eye movements, and infer meaning from words or tones of voice, all subconciously. People do not generally realize when they are doing this, but it is a mechanism that develops around the age of four in normally functioning children, which allows them to understand that other people have thoughts and feelings, and gives them the ablity to "put themselves in someone else's shoes" (this is why children before the age of four tend to be very egocentric, they really think they are the only sentient being in the world). "Theory of mind" also enables one to reflect on one's own thoughts and feelings.

Supposedly, this mechanism is either absent or impaired in people with autism and Asperger's. Higher-functioning individuals often develop their own way of thinking about others and interpretting their thoughts and intentions, mainly by careful observation and detection that is more akin to decoding something. Studies have shown that people with Asperger's actually use a different part of the brain than most people when trying to understand thoughts or intentions.

I, myself, have been really grappling with wrapping my head around this idea, and trying to determine if I do have theory of mind problems or not. I know some of the symptoms are not understanding sarcasm or jokes (a big problem of mine), misinterpretting people's intentions (another one), and taking things literally (yep). Other issues, such as leaving out or giving too much information (ie. the person either doesn't know what your talking about or just wants you to shut up) may be another problem of mine, as well. Also, not knowing how to behave in social situations, and not understanding or being able to identify my own emotions.

Heh... looking back at this, this may be way more information than you wanted, but I hope you find it interesting, at least.

Heh, now I feel silly.

I figured you didn't know anything about it because you said this:



What exactly did you mean by that?

Ah, heheh, ok.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. This is what I meant by needing everything spelled out for me redface .

So are you referring to the fact that there is no known cause?

Heheh, yes, I do like going on about stuff like that.



All right, then smile .