Wrong Planet

Although (as far as I know) Michael John Carley of GRASP and Alison Tepper Singer of Autism Speaks are not literally in bed together, they have had such a cozy relationship over the past two years that the expression seems quite apropos. Most of us know Singer from her appearance in the Autism Every Day film, in which she attained worldwide infamy (and, if I recall correctly, a visit from child protective services) for saying, in front of her autistic daughter, that she had fantasized about driving off the George Washington Bridge with her daughter in the car.

Carley's sordid history of kissing up to Autism Speaks began in 2006 when he and Singer wrote so-called articles of understanding, in which Singer argued in favor of Autism Speaks' cure and prevention research by claiming that her daughter "does not have any areas of strengths that I fear squashing through medication, intervention or cure," and Carley slavishly bleated that autistic adults should be more understanding of the suffering of such parents.

Read on for the details and links.

Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Medicine, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure is a well-referenced, historical work that explains the dangerous and unnecessary controversies that have put the lives of autistic children at risk. Offit sets up his book by explaining how he has become a major player in the field of immunology. He then explores the process by which the autism/vaccine controversy has been given so much attention. He describes how parents and physicians worked together to create treatments that when put under scientific scrutiny, have no real efficacy.

Offit sets the tone of the book by showing how secretin therapy and facilitated communication were exposed as scams. He then debunks Dr. Wakefield’s study of the MMR vaccine and employs the scientific method to show how thimerosal and other mercury-based theories have no relevance.

Read on for more about the book and a video with author Dr. Paul Offit!

If You Could Say it in Words is a great new film about an autistic protagonist Nelson and his experience with love. The film is premiering at the Derby City Film Festival on October 8, 2008 at 9:00 PM. I wrote about my initial impressions of the movie and conducted an interview in February. You will also find clips from the movie in my previous article.

The film explores Nelson's Asperger's Syndrome without mentioning the diagnosis. The choice is intentional because many individuals with Asperger's remain undiagnosed. A recent documentary, Billy the Kid, similarly did not mention the protagonist's Asperger diagnosis, but If You Could Say it in Words is the first narrative feature film I've come across that explores Autism in such depth without hitting the audience over the head over and over again with the fact that it's about autism. Additionally, the film appeals to an audience greater than the autistic community because the questions it raises about love apply to autistics and neurotpyicals alike.

April is the month for Autism Awareness and it got me thinking. I thought about what we could do to create more awareness and understanding during this month and came up with something I think would be a great different approach.

Let’s start off and continue the month by communicating. I believe the best way we can understand autism as well as understanding the so called “normal” world is by opening our minds and having honest communication. Some people may be doing this already, but it doesn’t hurt to continue or strive for more.

Wrong Planet has acquired autism organization Autism Speaks for $80 million dollars. The deal was completed early tuesday morning and marks a turning point in the campaign by autistics who feel that their needs were not represented by an organization that is run without any input from people with Autism.

"We decided to announce the deal today because this is the first day of Autism Awareness Month" said Wrong Planet founder Alex Plank. "I am planning on completely restructuring the organization to meet the needs of people with autism for the first time" he said.

Katie Miller delivered a controversial testimony to the IACC committee on March 14, 2007. Wrong Planet previously covered the IACC meeting in these articles. Katie Miller has given Wrong Planet exclusive rights to publish her testimony on the Internet.

Read on for the entirety of the comments Katie made to members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee.

I was invited by Ari of ASAN to speak at the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee this Friday. The IACC, for those of you who don’t know, is a body of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) that determines where to give grants for Autism research. In other words, this is the part of the government that chooses what gets studied about Autism. Like most government meetings, this one is being held in Washington, DC so all I have to do is take the metro.

I was required to submit a written set of comments I plan on speaking about on Friday. I’m basically going to be talking about how research needs to be focused on improving the quality of life for autistics. I’ll let everyone know how the committee goes tomorrow. Read my statement to the IACC after the jump!

I am a parent. I have Asperger's syndrome. I have two grown children, one of whom is on the autism spectrum. I am very aware of how parents can react to an autism spectrum diagnosis in their child. It's not hard to find descriptions of their reactions on autism support sites on the Internet or in the popular media. I know how my friends and acquaintances have reacted to their child's diagnosis. It's unfortunate that many parents are frightened by the diagnosis. It's tragic that they are frequently given endless amounts of bad advice which leads them to waste their time and energy and money. Some of the ways they react emotionally, and some of what they do to their child is, at the very least, less than optimal for their child's development.

According to a recent study, the size of brain structures in adult autistic brains look very different than those seen in autistic children.

Wrong Planet takes an in-depth look at this fascinating scientific paper published in the journal Neuron.

Read on for the exclusive article!

Axel Brauns is a well-known, highly-regarded novelist and film director in his native country of Germany. He is also autistic, so by nature he has great difficulty understanding people’s emotions, facial expressions, and social customs. The Red Carpet (Der Teppich Roche) is a full-length documentary by Eric and Andrea Asch about Braun’s creative process, his autism, his opinions, and his life.

What is perhaps most surprising about The Red Carpet is how entertaining and humorous Axel Brauns is. At 44, Brauns exhibits a curiosity and child-like exuberance rarely present in adults. He delights in making noises and hiding in small spaces.

Read on! Video clips at the end.

Most people with Asperger's Syndrome have some intense interest that they pursue with a passion (I'm one of those) and it's pretty clear that OCD tendencies go hand in hand with Asperger's Syndrome. Serotonin is the chemical that plays a role in causing aspies to pursue their special interests and similarly causes people with OCD to be obsessive or anxious. Certain levels of serotonin are also linked with the autistic tendency of "stimming."

While reading some interesting literature, I stumbled upon research that showed similarities between serotonin's role in OCD and the role serotonin plays in neurochemical bonding, more commonly known as "love." The idea of chemicals causing love, and the fact that at least one of these "love chemicals" is directly responsible for giving us our aspie traits, fascinates me.

Is there such a thing as a soul mate; another person who is destined to be with you? For Jerry Newport and Mary Newport, the answer is ‘yes.’ Mozart and the Whale: An Asperger’s Love Story details the relationship of two Aspies (individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism) who fall in love at first sight. This touching story chronicles their life of misunderstanding and loneliness leading up to and beyond the moment they met, which changed them both forever.

Dear Aspie:
I met a girl online. I live about an hour away from her. Three times, I drove up to meet her; she never came to meet me. She said she did not feel comfortable coming down my way. After the third date, she told me she had plans next weekend, but would like to get together with me the weekend after. I left a message on her answering machine the next week saying I wanted to chat, and hoped to hear from her later. I never heard back from her.

Then she changed her ad to say she was only looking for people within her town. But tonight, I put up my personal ad on another site, and found her ad there as well. This ad says she is looking for someone farther away,within my boundary.

My question is, should I try and contact her again or just let things be?

-- Ken M.

Read on for Julie's response!

Dear Aspie:
“Can you give some general advice on controlling anger?”

--rocklobster

Read on for GroovyDruid's response!

Dear Aspie:
“I haven't been in a long-term relationship for about six years. I've tried some dating, but by the time I feel that I have successfully secured a relationship, more often than not I realize that I haven't taken the time to get to know the woman and she's not what I had believed she was and I bail out. So how do I continue to "bust a move", convincing a woman that I'm worth her while when I feel like I need her to show me who she is as well? I seem to have a knack for finding the women that tell me that they love me after knowing me for less than a week. I feel so screwed, so damned to be dateless. Why bother? Except I am lonely, and I hate it.”

--littleoctagon

Read on for GroovyDruid's response!