Curiosity Over Pride (FYI: To comment, send an e-mail to scifidink@gmail.com)

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Terrific Disorder?



This billboard started showing up in Akron recently. I am deeply confused by it. What exactly are we supposed to think about this disorder? I cannot imagine seeing a billboard selling an upside to necrotizing fasciitis. Who is paying for these and what are they trying to accomplish and how are we to understand it given the billboard on the left which I have also seen in the area?

4 comments:

Thai said...

I really don't know. Do you have any idea.

I'm always suspicious of the anti-vaccine crowd

Dink said...

I doubt there's an American out there who hasn't heard of autism so its not to make people aware of the disease. I see it as defensively trying to prove that the whole autistic spectrum is real.

I haven't met many people diagnosed with autism, but I have my doubts about many of the kids having anything more than neurotic parents. Aren't there statistics showing that autism occurs disproportionately in upper middle class, highly educated parents?

Ack, maybe I'm ill-informed, but I remain skeptical.

(from, like, 14 posts down at this point)

Kudos to Venter and team! But I do understand the concern around advances in genetics:

Prolonged longevity....good!
Horrible epidemic.....bad!!

Hmmm...maybe they can make fake meat and I can have BBQ again.

Dr John said...

I guess I need to do some research as I have no idea about the organization putting these up.

I am not sure about those statistics Dink but I would guess, yes. I know what passes for "Autism Spectrum" now would not have cut it 20 years ago and there are financial incentives for such a dx if one chooses to go down that path and pursue them.

Just weird.

Dink said...

"there are financial incentives for such a dx if one chooses to go down that path and pursue them."

Argh. At what cost to the kid's psyche?

So my completely unsavory theory is this: There have to be certain negative experiences in a child's life to develop normally.

A toddler throws a toy; mom says stop; toddler is defiant; mom takes toy away and chastises toddler; toddler realizes that his/her will isn't omnipotent and that mom's love is conditional. Fear, shame, loss are felt, but (s)he learns about behavioral boundaries.

If toddler throws toy; mom asks if prince(ss) wouldn't mind maybe possibly considering not throwing to pretty please; toddler ignores them (you don't even have to be defiant when your rulers are so weak); mom calls child psychiatrist because (s)he isn't responsive to human interaction; kid is diagnosed; kid is deemed to delicate to have real life experiences. Well you see where this train is heading.

So in summation, overprotective and inexperienced parents don't let child experience negative emotions. Kid has no motivation to develop normal social responses. Kid is told they are "damaged" and incorporates this into their self-identity.

And with dx at 18 months they don't have an opportunity to ever experience group dynamics without this self-image of being damaged.

Maybe they are more willful or a little slower to grasp social behavior, but don't tell them they're incapable of learning. Anyhoo, I'm ranting. I'll stop now.

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