World Autism Day: BeAware of the Great Autism Swag

From http://learningneverstops.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/communication-difficulties-in-autism-my-personal-view/

Today is World Autism Day (well the day I'm writing and posting this, you could be reading this on any day like Christmas... April 2 is world autism day).

I think people are all aware autism exists. Like you had to be living under a rock for a very long time if you never heard of autism. Whether you call it Asperger's Syndrome or Pervasive Development Disorder, it's all autism. It's actually a spectrum. Some people you don't notice it really, and others are more obvious, depending on where they are on the spectrum shrinks use to identify whatever classification they give it.

AUTISM AWARENESS

For beginners, what should you be aware of? 

1.  The biggest deals about an autism diagnosis regards social skills, communication issues, heightened senses, and repetitive behaviors (brain gets stuck). Generally speaking, to most people off the spectrum, people on the spectrum are weird and possibly annoying at face value. Deep down, they are loyal, sincere, and will sacrifice for your better good.

2. It is not a disease. If I sneeze, you won't catch my autism. It won't kill me. It doesn't need cured because it's not a disease.

3.  To people on the spectrum, people off the spectrum appear dysfunctional. We forgive you for it, eventually.

4. Nobody looks autistic.

5. Rainman is not autistic.

6. Vaccinations do not necessarily cause autism, but that doesn't mean they don't cause it. We just don't know. Too much politics and non-autistic "normal" stuff getting in the way of finding out.

7. What does cause autism? We don't know but the world of science suspects a genetic and environmental mix.

8. Spankings will not cure autism. If you intervene with shitty parenting to a family where the kid is on the spectrum, you are probably going to make it worse and therefore deserve a good smack upside your head and a swift kick to your netherregions.

9. Parenting a kid on the spectrum is extreme parenting, like most parents climb hills, but parents of children on the spectrum are climbing cliffs, and parents on the spectrum raising children on the spectrum are climbing those cliffs without rope.

10. The biggest warning and caution you can take with autism, don't fuck with the parents. We are people on the edge. Next random stranger "expert" at places like Walmart who tell me how to handle my kid on the spectrum... I am probably going to look at you like you are on crack and respond with, screaming, very loudly, "Why are you telling ME that you have gonorrhea? Talk to your doctor, and put the crack pipe down. Damn, some people..." So again, don't fuck with parents of children on the spectrum. You are welcome to help them without judgment... 

For more advanced autism awareness... 

1. People on the spectrum, contrary to the shrinks' opinion, do have empathy. In fact, they empathize better with people off the spectrum than people off the spectrum can empathize with them. Cool article here.

2. People on the spectrum also, contrary to the shrinks' opinion, have an imagination. In fact, they live outside of the box and have difficulty thinking inside the box.

3. Autism is very misunderstood. Obviously... this should be a duh. If communication is an issue, there's a good possibility you are not understanding, or better said, getting an accurate account of the situation.

4. People with severe autism, the very few who found a way to communicate, actually have a lot of similarities with people with high functioning autism, so if your child is severe autism and not communicating much, you may find a better understanding and some good clues to your trial and error process by listening to people with high functioning autism.

5. People with autism do have feelings. They just don't express them the way most people do, and many times develop a poker face. More often than not, the feelings are actually heightened. It's the sociopaths who don't have feelings, and they are the ones who express fake feelings so well you think they do... aw hell they are such good actors they do sometimes fool themselves which I guess in that case, they kind of have feelings.

6. The reason the autism diagnosis has increased so much throughout the recent years is a change in the diagnostic criteria and awareness.

7. This is a neat article, and if you type in Google, "autism and bacteria in the gut," you get a lot of neat studies, some that might explain why the food allergy / DAN doctors methods do help some people. My instinct tells me that prebiotics does not mix well with this bacteria, and I wouldn't be surprised if the people who have this bacteria crave carbs more so than your average person.

8. People on the spectrum are like cats living in a dogs' world. If you want to understand the differences between autism and non-autism, look at cats and dogs and their behaviors socially, their motivations, and their sense of comfort...

9. People on the spectrum make good friends. They may require a little more effort, but they take friendship seriously and best of all, you don't have to worry about them playing you. They say what they mean. That is very refreshing in a person.

10. Children on the spectrum are really just like normal kids, but amplified. Everything you can possibly say about an autistic child that makes them autistic, a person is going to say, "Well all kids do that." That's because all kids do. It's just a bigger deal with autism to a level where it required professional help.

Shrinkological Disorder Shenanigans

This is a post about things I think we should add to the DSM (Diagnostic Statistics Manual), AKA, the Bible of Shrinkological Disorders. Note: These are not in there at all right now, and probably will NEVER find their way into this book.

Note: "DSM-5 is scheduled for release in May 2013," according to the DSMV website... Just in case you were curious...



Without further adieu...

1. Overcompensating Personality Disorder

Description:
Frequently referred to as Short Man Syndrome and The Napoleon Complex, Overcompensating Personality Disorder (OPD) affects both men and women. The essential feature is that Individuals with OPD inadvertently overcompensate for having something less than expected by societal standards with aggression and domineering qualities. As a result, they generally appear to their peers as a-holes. Many also have a problem succeeding in their career and maintaining healthy relationships. Unfortunately, most of them are not suicidal. This disorder is an Axis II diagnosis; however, in their peers, it can be an Axis IV diagnosis as they can cause psychological problems for people forced to work with them or live with them. People with OPD are sometimes a stressor to other people as many people with OPD turn into bullies, hence the importance of treating it is more for society's sake than the person who has OPD. The cause of OPD is unknown, but indicators show a genetic, environmental mix. Freud's theories of psychosexual stages may explain some environmental variables.

Diagnostic Criteria:

(I). A need to overcompensate including, but not limited to, the following:

• A wittle wing wang on men
• Small breasts on women
• Short height
• Lighter Skin Tone on people who are trying to be gangsta'
• A vagina trying to succeed in a world of penises

AND

(II). Four or more of the following:

1. Aggression without provocation
2. Difficulty controlling anger
3. Domineering Personality
4. Low Self Esteem
5. Bullying behaviors
6. Threatens violence
7. Mild Paranoia (sees threats when they aren't there, such as new employee at work doing his job)
8. Big truck with over-sized tires

Treatment:

While an ass kicking seems like an obvious solution, it is not. It will just make the situation worse. Treatment includes therapy that confronts possible psychological causes, corrects undesired behaviors, and focuses on finding less a-holeish ways to fit in. May suggest to patient to try out the big truck with over-sized tires if they don't already have one.



2. MOM Syndrome

MOM Syndrome is an STD that affects only women. For men who think they have MOM Syndrome, see DAD Syndrome. Women who suffer from MOM often generally also suffer from a cocktail of mental health problems and physical health problems. The essential characteristic of MOM Syndrome is The Bat Shit Crazy. The cause is children as a product of sexual activity, but MOM can be complicated by, as well as complicate, other variables, some also caused by children, such as sleep deprivation, back and hip problems from child birth, poor nutrition..., and some not caused by children such as existing health conditions before the onset of reproduction. While there is no known cure for MOM Syndrome, experts are NOT studying or looking for a cure because nobody really gives a damn, not even on Mother's Day. MOM Syndrome is coded as an Axis 6 diagnosis, and for those who are unaware of the Axis 6, that is the Axis for Fucking Nuts, and it's generally considered highly unethical (that's a big word that means Dr. Phil) to code people as such.

A woman must exhibit at least 10 of the following, and could write at least 5 more to add from the top of her head to be diagnosed with MOM Syndrome:

1. Bat Shit Crazy
2. Chronic Sleep Deprivation
3. Insomnia (a result of chronic sleep deprivation)
4. Migraines
5. Hallucinations (such as hearing babies cry when no baby is crying)
6. Disassociated Delusions (such as hearing someone else's baby cry and swearing it's your baby)
7. Short Term Memory Loss (do you even know where your car keys are)
8. Zombieness (like when that moment hits you that you apparently drove your kid to school because you are in the parking lot and your kid is in the back seat and you are not sure how you just got there)
9. Absent Minded Professor Syndrome (such as putting the cereal in the fridge and milk in the cabinet, or putting ice in a bottle, or handing the bottle of milk to the husband)
10. Frequent Tardiness and Absences (like forgetting doctor's appointments or constantly being late to them)
11. Poor hygiene (3 days without a shower and 2 without brushing teeth)
12. Gray hair (before hair dye, and sometimes regardless of it)
13. Increase or decrease in appetite (like forgetting to eat, or eating the entire pie by accident without ever using a plate)
14. Decreased social activity (a result of minors not being permitted in certain social settings)
15. Extreme weight loss or weight gain
16. Bad Driving (like swerving and braking due to "reach around slap a brat" or being struck in the head by a flying ice cream cone)
17. Frequent sudden loss of urine (like pee a little every cough, sneeze or huge laugh, and sometimes total urination due to not being allowed, or able, to go use the bathroom)
18. Using the bathroom in front of a live studio audience (while generally considered very strange, it's actually normal for people suffering from MOM)
19. Deep unexplainable unconditional love for the children, including would do anything for them (would appear to be like Stockholm Syndrome, or the result of being under the influence of a cult-like sociopath, but for some wild crazy reason, it's not).
20. Fantasizes about sleep, food, and sitting down.
21. Knows Dora, Foofa, Caillou, Kipper, Max, Ruby, and many other fictional characters and will sometimes talk about them like grandmas do about soap operas.
22. Despises Disney DVD's for the amount of Previews.
23. Irrational hatred for legos, moon sand, and any toy that makes a noise
24. Has a bottle of spoiled milk or an old sippy cup of juice under her bed
25. Makes outrageous claims to her children that the boogeyman will get them if they don't stop....
26. Tourettes Syndrome (occasionally stuttering, sometimes randomly blurting out words like boogers, poop, spank, time out, and fuck).
27. Internet addiction, such as Facebook, as if that's their only means to talk to people
28. Obsession with reading mommy blogs, occasionally attempting to read shitty articles about parenting to later turn back to mommy blogs.
29. Irrationally valid feelings of being caged or under-appreciated
30. Coffee addiction
31. Randomly breaks out into song and dance
32. Sleep cooking and cleaning (like sleep walking, but much more productive, and slightly more dangerous)
33. Hoards chocolate in secret places

Treatment:

To prevent catching the MOM, use a condom and other birth control methods before engaging in the awesome of sex and orgies. There is no known treatment for mom, but rest and relaxation helps, if available. Insurance doesn't cover rest and relaxation because the rising rates of day care would bankrupt them if they did. Many medications exist to help treat symptoms, such as coffee, a shower, and copious amounts of booze. 

Also check out How to Treat Mom Syndrome


3. DAD Syndrome

Also known as "Sympathy Pains," DAD Syndrome's essential characteristics are delusions of grandeur and the desire to be the victim. Affecting only men, people who experience DAD Syndrome are whiny with a false sense of entitlement. Usually, this comes from womb envy. Men get jealous of the women who carried a baby, gave birth, and breastfed, not only for the woman's ability to do such a thing, but for the attention the woman expects for enduring such a thing. They see these women as heroes and wish they, themselves, could be that awesome. Instead of trying to be awesome, they just complain about the things their women experience as if they themselves experienced it. They often also qualify for a diagnosis with narcissistic personality disorder and can suffer from a mental retardation. Note: Unlike MOM Syndrome, just because a man has children does not mean he will have DAD Syndrome, and sometimes, a man doesn't have to have any children to have DAD Syndrome.

Must experience 2 or more of the following:

1. Delusions of Grandeur (like when they do the dishes once and act like they cleaned the whole house daily for the last 6 years).
2. Helplessness (can't find his other shoe)
3. Constant complaining of back pain, indigestion, knee pain, etc., usually whatever their woman is actually experiencing
4. Sleeps too much
5. Doesn't do any housework (because they are so overloaded with responsibilities such as a job and video gaming... someone's got to save the world).
6. Stressed without any actual stressors (like stress about paying the bills their wife pays)
7. Gives himself zero accountability to negative things (such as the house is a mess and the kids miss a lot of school, like none of that was ever his responsibility)
8. Gives himself full credit to positive things (such as the house is clean and the kids have good grades, as if he did it all by himself)
9. Attention Whorism
10. Constant whining of how he needs a break
11. Believes his wife makes up all of her problems (i.e. sleep deprivation is a myth and she probably sleeps every time he does)
12. Very self-centered
13. Dissociative Empathy (meaning he sees his wife struggles and pretends she isn't struggling at all but he is struggling even though she is the one doing all the work)
14. Overdramatic response to pain, such as stubbing his toe and dropping on the floor screaming in agony rolling around as if he were just shot in the balls with a 50 cal rifle.
15. Constantly reassures everyone that he just worked 8 hours
16. Considers guns, video games, tools and anything he likes or wants to be a household need
17. Considers vacuums, dusters, dish detergent, paper towels, etc. to be selfish purchases by or gifts for his wife.
18. When faced with something like dinner time, hunger, and hungry children, solves problem by going to wife and asking, "What's for dinner?"
19. Wishes his wife were a lot of things, but doesn't want to contribute so that she can be those things (such as wishes his wife would stop being a bitch but doesn't want to stop being the reason she is a bitch).

Treatment

A nice big cup of man the fuck up.

Classifying Autism

Autism Awesome Stuff--Classifying Autism (warning: boring)

I've been meaning to write more about autism. I once started a blog on the subject, "Aspergersburg," and I just didn't keep up with it. I really don't want to be writing a bunch of blogs, and I can't seem to stick to a blog if I keep my subjects limited like most people prefer to read, so when I think to write about autism, I'm going to put it in here and label it "autism," so you can click on the tag cloud the word "autism," and all my posts about autism should pop up (which right now, I'm a new blog, so there isn't much yet, but some day...)

Me-trying-to-be-quick intro into my world of autism... My oldest spawn, 6 years of age as I'm writing this, is diagnosed PDD-NOS (Pervasive Development Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). PDD-NOS is really the "miscellaneous" category for "high functioning autism." Generally, people like my daughter who display enough of the signs and symptoms of Asperger's defined by the DSM IV criteria but who had a speech delay (which DSM IV says Asperger's cannot have a speech delay) gets categorized into this miscellaneous category, generally. There are exceptions like my nephew who is 12 years old diagnosed with Asperger's, on multiple occasions. Since his first diagnosis was made years after he started talking, I don't think the speech was ever brought up for him to get PDD-NOS, and really if my sister were smarter, she would have brought it up and pushed the issue because some of the world thinks there's a difference between Autism and Asperger's, like where you would qualify for a state program to help autism with the PDD-NOS diagnosis, but you wouldn't with an Asperger's one. Me, I am probably too on the spectrum. I am not diagnosed by any professional, but the professionals I talked to about the subject agree with me, like had I paid them for an actual shrink visit, I'd probably be diagnosed. I did have a speech delay as a child, and I did go to speech therapy, but this was back in the 80's when autism was viewed more like schizophrenia, which is probably why that was overlooked. I do think it runs in my family. I have an aunt who definitely is on the spectrum undiagnosed, a couple aunts and cousins who are slightly on the spectrum where they probably wouldn't qualify for a diagnosis, and my grandfather is definitely on the spectrum undiagnosed and actually matches quite a few of the stereotypes with autism (such as the fascination with trains and a mechanical engineering type genius).

 So now to classify autism...

I say first you got two categories of autism.. 

1: what the DSM says which is required to follow to attain a diagnosis, which is required to obtain any special services from your state as well as many private organizations. 



 

2: reality which is unknown, but if you are self-researching and wanting to make adjustments on yourself or how you parent your child, this is what you are looking for in your own way. 




I have personally seen more success with people who self-research than I have with people who blindly follow "the experts." My sister is one to blindly follow "expert advice" whether it be the school's opinion or a shrink's opinion. Me, I follow my own instinct backed with lots of research, to include non-scientific research such as mommy bloggers. Unlike my sister and the experts, I know what's it like and can empathize better with someone on the spectrum, so I have that working for me. My issues are parenting the kids who are off the spectrum, now that one I struggle with, and I still don't always follow the parenting "expert's" advice on the subject. I believe instinct trumps all, like the big joker in spades. I also believe the most actual expert advice out there is from people on the spectrum who have a special interest in autism. People like this are people I try to be friends with and maintain a good friendship with just for their opinion of what I could do with my child's behavior.

Much of autism is still unknown. My theory is there are different types of autism defined by cause more so than behavior.  As of now, we classify autism by how much you can do and how independent you are. DSM was considering at some point, not sure where we are on that, changing all of it to autism spectrum, mild, moderate, and severe with that second classification dependent on how much you can do and how much people notice your autism. We really have no idea what causes autism. We suspect with some scientific evidence that it is genetic and environmental some how.

I think there is definitely a genetic autism because it's in my family. It's more of a personality type in my family than anything else. We are just more prone to thinking differently and perceiving differently than what you guys consider typical to the human species. Most of the autism in my family is not really noticeable, like most people just think we are weird, and usually mark it off as an eclectic personality resulting from a genius because those on the spectrum IN MY FAMILY are generally naturally really good at math, and if you are good at math, you must be a genius. I've also met, sort of, online met, people on the spectrum who can tell you other family members who are probably on it as well, so I know there is a genetic autism, and I think it's the one people talk about the most when discussing and defining autism.

I also think there's an allergy autism. That's where the person displays autism like symptoms as a result of their histamines (I'm assuming) running a muck from an allergy. My youngest spawn is allergic to milk and soy. You give her milk, and you will get issues with transition, she repeats herself a thousand times in a minute, meltdowns like she's possessed with 17 demons, hyperactivity, and those are just off the top of my head. But she is a verbal genius and social butterfly, so autism is not something she would qualify for as a diagnosis. She may some day qualify for that "gifted child" stuff, but that's not until a later age, but the hole in this case is that if she does, many times gifted children possess some autism like symptoms. With her, if I give her antihistamines, it generally does nothing and I think it's because she's young yet. They have studies that concluded antihistamines are not always as effective on young children like it is on adults. Sometimes, Zyrtec will help her hives disappear and her behavior issues temporarily, like of all the antihistamines we have tried, that one seems to work the best. The important thing is I have noticed the autism like symptoms are much less when I don't give her much dairy. And this supports all that research from the DAN doctors (Defeat Autism Now) who are really big about autism being a food allergy or vaccinations and changing the child's diet and using holistic options to detox the body. Some of them go too far into this to make them sound less legitimate to the rest of the medical community, but I don't think we should discard all their research and all the success stories just because they sound a little fanatic witch-doctorish at times. I think there is a lot of substance to their work, but it's not something that would help my oldest spawn because I don't think her autism is an allergy. I do think a lot of children get diagnosed autism or ADHD when really it's just an allergy to something they are eating regularly.

Then there's the "? autism" as we delve into the claims of vaccination induced autism. I know the studies have disproved that ONE study that claimed to prove it, but no study has disproved the theory entirely. In fact, this is the part where science actually fears studying it seeing how most of science is funded by someone with a bias, and this is the question that those biased funding sources are afraid to discover an answer to. I would be too. I'll admit it. If I had a bunch of stock in a pharmaceutical company, I'm probably going to be concerned about results from a study on that portion of the population interfering with my stock's value. You would qualify for a diagnosis of some sort somewhere in the DSM if you didn't think that way. But at some point, if we want to help people and do the right thing, we are going to have to remove the bias and study these people to find out what exactly is going on with them. You cannot invalidate thousands of people's thoughts on the subject. I've known these mothers who claim vaccinations did it. Some I do not like, but I don't think they are dumb at all. They are very educated, intelligent people saying "hey, my kid started acted funky after getting vaccinated." I can't say it's an allergy to vaccinations just because I don't think they stay in your system forever. If you had an allergic reaction to a vaccination, it would disappear after some point unless you were to continue vaccinations, according to every allergist I discussed this with related to my youngest child's milk allergy before we knew it was milk. In talking to these mothers, most of them have no signs of autism in their family tree what-so-ever. That doesn't rule out genetics, but it doesn't look good for the argument of a genetic factor. In addition, the autism is slightly different from what I've noticed than it is under those like me where it's in the family. I can't really pin-point what it is because I don't know enough about the people of this portion of the population, but in reading these moms describe their children, it's very different whether the autism is different or the mom's perspective is, and I think as a result, the treatment is going to be different, like what I do for my kid that helps my kid probably won't be as effective for these kids. I could be wrong on this one. It's one that I know enough to know that something is going on with these people whether ingredient X in a vaccination did some permanent brain damage or the kids developed an allergy the moms have yet to figure out what it is (in most cases with allergies, children will start getting them around a later age, often around the time of vaccinations, like my kid).

I think there's also the autism-friendly personalities, aka nerds. This is where you get into hyperlexia and gifted children. They do not usually qualify for an autism diagnosis at all, but they resemble autism on such a minute level. I think I married a man like this, so let's psychoanalyze my husband for a minute. He has obsessions/special interest in normal subjects such as video gaming, guns/hunting, military aircrafts, and guitars. These aren't out of nowhere interests like you see in autism. He was military (guns), Air Force (air crafts), and he plays guitar (guitars). The video gaming was something he didn't do until he joined the military, and he started wanting to know more about the games he plays, so he does occasionally read up on the subject or watch youtube videos like any other video gamer nerd. He doesn't have to have a lot of touching for his intimacy or to feel connected to someone, but he can if he's with someone who requires that in a relationship. He will listen, pretend to listen, to long stories and monologues, and give him a beer, and he's the one with the monologue about stuff you don't care about like airsoft rifles. He does drift off into thought with the Aspie glare, except he doesn't usually pay much attention to the world around him while there like many on the spectrum do. I can go on and on, but really he is a very charming guy who doesn't usually lose on office politics.  He was popular in school. He is an introvert, but he definitely has what is considered normal social skills. His other things like special interests, they rarely interfere with his day. Anything you can say about autism that he shares, it's not something that is "disabling" him from doing anything. People like him are awesome. It's like they are hybrids between those on the spectrum and those off the spectrum. They can empathize with both types of people, and get along and appreciate both types of people.

And I think the last part that is hitting me right now with classification of autism is the level of ability. This is where psychology focuses on, your ability to take care of yourself and function in society. I'm not saying it's a bad focus because I agree with psychology that we should focus on the solution as opposed to the problem, and that's what they are doing here, focusing on where we want to be as an individual as opposed to where the problem came from. I totally agree with that. The part I don't agree with is the stereotype. Severe autism tends to communicate more intuitively. It's like they are communicating with ESP and the rest of the world is talking. I don't think they are "disabled" as much as just very different. When you get into the severe autism communicating via typing into a computer or writing, or other forms of communication we can figure out, we start to learn they are just like a person with high-functioning autism except they just don't effectively communicate. Now it's kind of hard to function in society if you are not communicating with people, especially in a society built on relationships with each other, and we all know communication is very important to any relationship, whether it is between friends or lovers. Communication is definitely a skill useful to people with severe autism if we can teach a method for that, but judging them as inferior is not something they deserve. You get asshats ready to call someone with severe autism every synonym to the word, including the word, retarded, but you also get people with the best of intentions like the child's mom and shrink getting a superiority complex (not all moms and shrinks, but these are examples I've seen where someone with the "you are disabled and I am better than you because I'm not" mentality play such an important role trying very hard with all their might to advocate for their child or patient). You should have that based on the fact you pushed the kid out of your vagina or went to school for so many years to get a piece of paper that says you know stuff... like a superiority complex should result from your own abilities, not your idea of someone's disability. A child who doesn't speak at all can still probably outperform you somewhere else. We all have our own strengths and weaknesses.