My comments on social ability in Autistics are not based on opinion. One thing I never seem to stop saying to people is "Do not speak to me like I'm another idiot with another opinion, I'm not just a talking head."
There has never been a study finding Autism to be the direct cause of the stereotyped difficulties associated with it that has not had a million holes shot in it. There has however been research done at the university of Montreal and elsewhere which has revealed that social development in Autistics is often stunted because those they are learning from are not keeping up with the responses from the subjects. Example:
Researchers can sit a parent or family member down opposite the child and ask them to try to get the child to look at an object on the table, pointing and saying "Look at this" or some other prompt. The researchers noted that unless the person kept their eyes on the subject the whole time, they wouldn't notice what was going on. Most of the time they would point to the object, ask the subject to look and add another visual prompt of looking at it quickly themselves, in this split second the subject would have already looked at the object and returned their eyes to where they were before. They then refuse to do so again just as many Autistic children don't see the point of repeating what someone else wants them to do over and over. So the person doing the prompting believes the subject was non-responsive when in fact the subjet's responses have been completely underestimated.
It was Lorna Wing who first coined the Autistic Spectrum and Asperger's Syndrome. She is considered one of the world authorties on Autism. She now regrets ever having done so and segregating Autistics by supposed ability ranges for which there has never been an accurate measure for. The Spectrum was a value-laden construct based on old prejudices about disability and she accepts that.
You should read what those with severe difficulties have to say for themselves: http://www.gettingthetruthout.org/index.html
You said earlier before this that the social disability model has it's limits but you never explained why. And what is wrong with using a wheelchair as you imply here?
Although I do agree that "labels" are inadequate tools, and that the important thing is the individual person, I say "high functioning" because you have such excellent verbal abilities and from what you say, are not at all in the same position as some of the folk featured, just for example, on the website you pointed me to - needing the huge amount of daily care that they do. I know a lot of adolescents and adults with autism who simply could not access a message board and talk on it - some because of other learning problems, but many because of things solely related to autistic difficulties.
I don't mean to say you have no problems and that life is necessarily easy and successful for you. I'm only going by your self-identification as autistic combined with what I've read of your posts, as it's all I have
I'd be most surprised to hear that Lorna Wing has completely disowned talking about the Autistic Spectrum - can you point me to where she has said so? She may well have wanted to stress how much variety there is among people with the same pattern of difficulties she identified, and is trying to be more positive about capabilities - and that's fine.
I would never want ASD to be a way of saying "this person *can't* do things", but a way of saying " if you support and try to understand them from a certain perspective, you may make life better for them and probably for you as well"
Your views on the social ability of people with autism *must be* your opinion, because they are your views. I did not say that they are wrong because of that, and I'm certainly not accusing you of being just "an idiot with another opinion". But it also does not mean that they are necessarily right, or that they apply to everyone who is autistic. Flaws in studies do not necessarily invalidate every single premise they are based on.
Yes, many people with autism can and do achieve more than others may expect of them, and it's very important to be alert for subtle signs that the person may have understood but is expressing it in a unique way. It does not mean that their difficulties do not exist at all, or are "caused" by other people's actions or lack of them.
Studies have not shown any clear, one-shot, organic cause for autism - a gene or an area of the brain always affected. Autism is diagnosed by how the person operates, by a pattern of difficulties. But that does not mean that there is no root cause, just that it may be different for different people (the brain is an amazingly complex organ), and that no one explanation fits all.
Yes, how others respond and react to a person with autism makes a big difference. But it cannot be the sole cause of the range of problems some kids and adults experience. There is a range of ability in communication, tolerance of change and adaptability, it's true. We should not slap a label on if it's not needed. But if it helps us to begin (and I stress *begin*) to see why some people are as they are, and to react to them better, I see no reason to withold it.
It's what you do with a label that counts, in my view.
By the "social model of disability" I mean the view that the barriers society puts up are more disabling that anything arising from physical, medical or learning needs. I think that it is true up to a point, and that we should all as a society be a LOT more tolerant and understanding of difference and should recognise everyone's right to be treated decently, and make as many changes as we possibly can to include the widest range of people making choices and having freedoms in their life. But, even if we do, we don't wipe out disability itself.
This is where the paraplegic comment fits. I apologise, as reading it again I can see it was not worded well to get my point across. I hope the following is better.
The paraplegic needs a wheelchair because he can't walk. Even if he is able to access places which people who can walk are able to go to,because changes have been made to society, he will still not be able to walk. All the social changes and improvements in the world won't alter that.
Although it isn't possible to point to an XRay or test for a person with autism and say "There. There's the problem which cannot be fixed," and although good education and good response by NT people can make a big difference, I submit that the core, basic problems in understanding and communication do arise from how a person's brain is set up, that a cure is not possible, and that denying that there are any problems won't make them the same as the rest of us.
Of course, whether autistic people should or want to aspire to be the same as NTs is another matter ;-)
