Autism is so common now, I feel it's something to be understood. This is a marvelously educational thread.
I can't read the thread because I don't have social media, but I spent almost a full school year as a sub in a severe/profound elementary school classroom and just went back to school for MEd SpEd.
Give me special needs kids over 'neurotypical' brainwashed brats any day. (Yes, I said that.)
I feel very strongly that our current ignorance about how their brains are hardwired and unlocking their potential will be a huge step forward for humanity.
@sk8samurai I was thinking of adults when I posted this. Over the last few years, I have had one interesting adult (friend) after another tell me they think they're on the spectrum. One thing, common for many of my friends, is they do not like to call people. You have to call them if you want to talk to them. They are just adverse to making calls.
This has never bothered me but I did notice the trend and apparently this is an autism thing. I think people might want to get up to speed because for whatever reason, this population has exploded and it's most definitely not just children.
I tend to very tolerant of a person's quirks which is probably why I have autistic friends.
I would like to understand the increase in this population... similar to the increase in autoimmune disease or other things we see. Humans as a whole, morphing.
What I'm saying when I post this is BOLO for this... if you care to understand others, because there are A LOT of these others!
In my experience the definition has broadened and changed to include quite a bit more than it did previously. There is more screening and general acceptance of the diagnosis, it seems.
I think the higher rate of autism does also have to do with more diagnoses, but a theory I have as to something that might cause it in the first place is just how overstimulating the world is now, both sensory-wise and mentally. Way more people live in cities than they used to. It's never completely dark or quiet and we have given the night as much light and action as the daytime. We are bombarded with advertising all day and there's too much information for us to even deal with and in general everything moves so fast - the human nervous system did not evolve under these conditions at all! Autism is in a very broad sense a condition where someone's brain has sort of gone haywire so it makes sense that that would happen under these conditions.
I hope in the future as there is more acceptance of autism people will consider things that could hurt autistic people that they don't realize now. One of those things is those bright headlights on cars - I have two options, to have to deal with major sensory overstimulation everyday or never go anywhere at night. I don't think they built those with anyone's wellbeing in mind but definitely not autistic people's. Also those extremely noisy gas leafblowers. My neighbors have people come blow their leaves once every week and I have to deal with that as well... When I come to think about it, the majority of things that cause me major sensory overload every time are like this, both completely unneccessary and completely preventable. That makes me very angry at the present but it also gives me hope for the future.
I am tutoring a 20 year old autistic young man to help him pass his GED Math test.
His experience with previous teachers and an educational system that would not allow him to assimilate and learn at his own individual pace became so frustrating that he did not finish high school. Math in particular was presented in such a high pressured fashion that he could not keep up.
As I now work with him patiently in a way paced to his ability to assimilate and understand the material - his confidence in himself is healing and his natural intuition for the subject is expanding.
Hello! New member.
I have ADHD and of my 3 kids 1 has ADHD and 1 has autism and ADHD. I’m more than likely on the spectrum as well.
We all have very plutonian charts. I think ASD has been around forever and people just did not make a big deal about it. It was common in the old days in my mom’s family for a kid to not speak until Kindergarten or to line up toys and such.