Eugenics worry me, which is why I dislike selective abortions and movements within some national healthcare systems to pay for such terminations of likely or potentially disabled individuals. And, at least in a few nations of Europe, disabled people have terminated their lives — legally, under assisted suicide laws —…
Tag: autism
Duke University historian Nancy MacLean is currently a trendy historian who spent 2017 touring and promoting her book Democracy in Chains. The book has some serious scholarship flaws, which have been addressed by Henry Farrell and Steven Teles on Vox, a website considered progressive on most issues. MacLean has made the stunning…
I was in my late 30s when my diagnoses were altered to include autism. I still don’t know if the diagnosis helped. Maybe it helps others. More often, it simply frustrates me to be so tense and anxious all the time. I would like the world to be quieter, calmer,…
It’s apparently that time of year when we’re expected to increase awareness of autism (which I forgot until Apple posted a video). Yeah, because the millions spent by Autism Speaks, the proliferation of puzzle pieces and ribbons, the endless public service announcements on Internet radio feeds, the countless feel-good “news”…
I understand that holiday fundraising is a tradition. “Here’s a cute child. You care about children. Send us money.” At the end of every year, I receive dozens of emails from autism advocacy groups. The higher-end email newsletters from Generation Rescue and Autism Speaks offer “hope” for a cure… someday.…
April compels me to offer my standard reaction to Autism Awareness (Day | Month) and a short thought or two. Reaction: Blah. Thought: Great. We get to endure a month of “inspirational” (sarcasm quotes) stories on families raising autistic children, a few successful autistics will be profiled, and then people…
For your consideration, a blog entry I found offensive in its delivery, yet correct in some of the points the doctor wished to express. The Neurodiversity Movement http://corticalchauvinism.com/2015/01/05/the-neurodiversity-movement-lack-of-trust/ Neurodiversity is a catastrophic movement for autistic individuals in general. It is reminiscent of the early religious accounts of Jewish people claiming…
Autism has a genetic foundation; it likely has many genetic forms, each with its own set of mutations. Press Release: Using New Statistical Tools, Carnegie Mellon’s Kathryn Roeder Finds Genetic Risk for Autism Stems Mostly From Common Genes -Carnegie Mellon News – Carnegie Mellon University I’ve written before about spontaneous, de…
A reader asks, “If you don’t think about the autistic traits, what about your wife? They tend to notice what husbands fail to see in the mirror.” Is my wife more aware of my autistic traits than I am? Probably. I suppose the above is true of all friends and…
While working on the research for my dissertation, I have read page after page on writing pedagogy asserting that the goal of a university writing course should be to teach students that knowledge is socially constructed and that “truth” is relative to culture and community. The problem with this assertion…