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Lucas

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About Lucas

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  1. Ok, about a third of children diagnosed early have the diagnosis removed. But this is not done because they are no longer Autistic but because they never were. The diagnosis removal is retrospective because the differences between some Autistic and non-Autistic children at that age are not disparate enough. Diagnosis is only made this early as a kind of 'on the safe side' pre-emptive. This is why I'm very suspicious of the attempt by North American Autism organisations to shift so much emphasis toward early diagnosis: the more children diagnosed this early, the more diagnoses get removed and people claim that this is because X and Y therapies are working when it isn't the case at all. The US *does not* understand Autism or sensory issues any better; it's simply that their de-regulated health system allows quackery greater leeway. There is very little evidence about how Autism actually affects the senses and even less on therapies centred on assisting with those issues. Whilst happy to use this topic to push all kinds of therapies, US organisations couldn't possible show any less interest in research on the matter which would in all likelihood debunk most of the therapies. Articles about "I tried this and this and it worked" are infuriating because they advocate a complete abandonment of ethics and evidence in deciding how decisions should be made about Autism and Autistic people. Big pharma has enough problems even with the considerably higher regulation it gets compared to little pharma, so just imagine the amount of predatory fraud that goes on in the alt-med industry. Despite vast amounts of evidence to the contrary, people still see snake-oil salesmen as 'heroes' or 'mavericks'. Even if it were all perfectly safe placebo there is still harm; the justifications for these therapies involve categorically misrepresenting what Autism is. If you took your information about Autism purely from them, you'd think bowel disorders, food intolerances, allergies, seizures, hair falling out, rashes and late onset were recognised symptoms. Of those features which are symptoms, there's a failure on the part of non-Autistics to empathise with Autistics and this failure is not recognised whilst the apparent lack of empathy from Autistics is exaggerated. The idea that a person might have a good reason for doing something if they are Autistic and what they are doing can be described as 'autistic behaviour' is hardly even entertained. When the alt-med movement targets Autistics and features of Autism, they act with utter prejudice, dismissing any possible reasonable explanation that reveals some action as actually being a reasonable one in the circumstances from the Autistic point of view. People do not know what they want most of the time. They do not know what they are even thinking or feeling most of the time. But they try anyway to create the impression that they are more confident and have more self-control than they really do, when actually they are ambivalent, indifferent and confused most of the time. Everyone is disabled, but their success in society apparently seems to depend on their ability to hide it. As an Autistic I always knew I was disabled in this way, but it's simply in my nature to not disguise something like this. People take advantage of it and this seems to happen on a massive scale in regards to Autism treatments. We're often convinced too that these confident and secure people can make us just like them. Harsh experiences have taught me that they can't make me like that because even they are not like that; it's an act they put on in the same way I put on a "I'm a typical person" act when ever I go out the house. They can just do it longer and it's less interesting. You can tell what kind of person someone thinks you are by the kind of person they try to be with you. I wonder if they know we're all just pretending? Autism treatments invariably focus on the inability or refusal of Autistics to be actors, or act a certain part, rather than their actual skills or development. When they finally make a proper commitment to evidence and ethics like any other medical intervention or educational method, I'll have no problem with them.
  2. I'm still doing it. After having this GIF image for a long time, I've become convinced that Pandas drink like this, so I do it often.
  3. The only problem I've had with the NAS Think Differently/I Exist adverts has been the lack of context given. It's no good saying support and understanding can make all the difference without suggesting an example. For me, when I have a period of hyper-sensitivity a town or city enviroment can be a problem. But in the countryside or car the experience is wonderful. I'm gonna write them an e-mail pointing out the lack of such an example in the adverts because they give the impression that each issue they talk about is caused by Autism in isolation to what's going on around a person.
  4. It looks like Action For Children has filed a false copyright claim(under terms of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and it's UK counter-part, Fair Use covers parody AND criticism for use of copyrighted material). YouTube is obligated to remove the video without investigation pending a counter-notice being filed.
  5. If I hear or read the "You have no experience of severe Autism" canard or any variation of it ever again I'm going to walk in front of a train.
  6. I remember I went to a charity in my town called Carers Resource for help filling in my form and I was there for an hour and a half describing things I'd never told anyone about how I percieve things and why it causes difficulty. I was very happy with that until the Department for Work and Pensions decided they needed to send a doctor to interview me at home and I needed my mum as an appropriate adult. The doctor was just a normal doctor and knew nothing about ASD. So I had to repeat it all again in front of my mum, who never knew the extent of my issues or how long I had been having them. She always assumed I was so high-functioning that she didn't need to be involved in Autism matters. What I described also seemed to profoundly affect the doctor, who started being a lot less noisy and assertive and was virtually a red-faced mouse when he left. As horrible as the initial experience was, I spent the rest of the afternoon smiling and watching films on my PC because of the knowledge that for the first time I had got a professional to see the reality of 'mild' Autism.
  7. In 2006 I attended Finchale Training College in County Durham for disabled adults. It was a residential placement. I was very happy for the first three months. But after recieving news that the family dog died, I had a bad week. From then on, it gradually got worse. My work suffered and so did I. What I thought strange was that the psychologist, counsellor, section head, my tutor and the care staff thought I was improving the whole time. It was only in the later months that they cottoned on to the trouble I was really having and how hidden from them it was. I remain baffled, but the only conclusion I've been able to draw is that I was gradually diverting mental resources to being more presentable than I was to myself. In the Spring and Summer, I stimmed whenever I wanted, wherever I wanted. The college had recently been subject to arbitrary budget cuts and government directives which cancelled services and facilities such as driving lessons, internet access in the dorms and the licensed bar(meaning the people with alcohol problems got worse because they were drinking alone in their rooms rather than among people). I think I know why I was having problems: everyone else was. I was changing my behaviour in response to people who were stressed, irritable and likely to painfully raise their voices if they got impatient with me. I was suffering, but so were they. My natural adaptation was mistaken for improvement in my confidence when in fact it was being cracked. The state of Finchale as it suffered under government interference was reflected in all that were a part of it, including me.
  8. The Daily Mail has yet to even say they'll consider my equally inaccurate and inflammatory article claiming that parents are in a massive-conspiracy against their disabled children, so we can be sure that the editor has already made up his mind. Thank you Mr Dacre.
  9. I've read through the thread and still have absolutely no understanding of what is going on. If ignorance is bliss, Autistic 1 : Neurotypical 0
  10. Simin Baron-Cohen has apparently been misrepresented in the media(again) and responds here: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/20...not-cancer.html
  11. To my knowledge the test also fails to recognise ambiverts, which I think many Aspies especially are.
  12. Chuck Norris' Jungian Personality Type is, Furious Intimidating Silent Terrifying - FIST -300 300 300 300 This comes as no suprise to anyone, but Chuck came as a suprise to it. Not many people know of the Jungian Archetype 'Texas Ranger' because no one else has ever expressed it.
  13. Yes it does happen very suddenly. I experience it most with drinks. When I'm thirsty I always get a small drink of water to see how it tastes first before then doing the same test with fruit squash, juice or milk. I have to do this just to make sure I'm not going to cough it back up or breath it into an airway accidently. When I drink, I drink quickly in case the taste and texture changes. I only have this problem with room-temperature drinks, hot or very cold drinks are no problem. I don't dehydrate as much when I remember to keep a tray of ice in the fridge.
  14. Five years ago it was scotch eggs, now I have absolutely no idea why I liked them. I even think they're a bit disgusting, horribly mouth-drying and hard to swallow. Four years ago it was strawberrys, which whilst I still think are nice I seem to pick up the sour taste a lot more now. About once every 15 months this changes. Now eggs have suddenly become as tasty as mythical golden apples. I'm sure I remember after my scotch egg phase faded that eggs were messy, bitter and inconsistent. They now taste and feel NOTHING like that. I wish I knew how to control my sensory rotation totally; I could make the healthiest foods delicious and saturated, salt-infested, sugar-ridden rubbish seem as distusting as it really is. In no time I'd lose weight, improve my skin, sleep patterns and generally feel better.
  15. I realised long ago the only thing I can protect myself with are the secrets I keep. I keep my diagnosis secret and if someone doesn't need to know or they are not so experienced with Autism that they can't spot an Autistic, they won't be told.
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