Autistic brains "organised differently" say scient

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04 Apr 2011, 3:33 pm

Sorry if this has been posted already:

BBC Autism article

*EDIT* For some reason the title is truncated and my attempts to fix it have failed. Ho Hum.

Last edited by nemorosa on 05 Apr 2011, 4:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Surfman
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04 Apr 2011, 3:39 pm

from article
It offers us unique insights into the way people with autism perceive their environment and helps us to understand some of their behaviour."

She said it added to the understanding of autism. "Knowing the strengths and difficulties of someone with autism may help to better understand their needs and help them maximize their potential."

Wow, how good is science, aye?

Maximise who's potential? As a tax payer?

wavefreak58
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04 Apr 2011, 3:41 pm

!taht uoy dlot evah dluoc I !HUD lleW

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nemorosa
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04 Apr 2011, 3:48 pm

Surfman wrote:

Well, patronising tone aside, I think the (mostly) positive press is a good thing. Most people see only disabilities, failures and neediness in autistics.

pascalflower
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04 Apr 2011, 3:53 pm

well, confirming the obvious is a step in the right direction. Now, when will they start studying the things that people actually complain about, instead, "what are you thinking?, How are you feeling?", bla bla, bla.

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04 Apr 2011, 3:56 pm

"This review highlights that autism should not only be seen as a condition with behavioural difficulties, but should also be associated with particular skill," said Dr Christine Ecker from the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London.

"It offers us unique insights into the way people with autism perceive their environment and helps us to understand some of their behaviour."

Yes, because actually ASKING someone with autism why they do things the way they do would be too unscientific...

Someone give those guys a cookie.

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04 Apr 2011, 4:11 pm

draelynn wrote:

I am always impressed when I find a study that "proves" something about autistic people based on brain scans and the like, and there's no sign any of the researchers actually talked to any of the autistic subjects about what they were doing.

Egregious example:

http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060508/ ... 508-3.html

nemorosa
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04 Apr 2011, 4:12 pm

draelynn wrote:

Because this piece of research wasn't based on asking people... :roll:

Doubtless, someone somewhere is engaged in such a study as we speak.

Ok, maybe..

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04 Apr 2011, 4:16 pm

From the article:

Quote:

She said it added to the understanding of autism. "Knowing the strengths and difficulties of someone with autism may help to better understand their needs and help them maximize their potential."

It's all so patronising. Personally I think we need to come to a greater understanding of how neurotypical people think. Sure, some say their thinking is disorganised, that they lack focus; but recently scientists have discovered that they in fact just think differently. With proper understanding we can help them maximise their potential.

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04 Apr 2011, 4:26 pm

The studies they reviewed focused mostly on people considered "mild", and yet they still generalize about autistic people in general? I shouldn't be surprised anymore, because that's a very common thing to do, but it makes this giant assumption that "non-mild" autistic people are "just like 'mild' autistic people only more so" and from what I've seen that is far from the case.

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04 Apr 2011, 4:34 pm

anbuend wrote:

The studies they reviewed focused mostly on people considered "mild", and yet they still generalize about autistic people in general? . . .

Very good point. At a minimum, we should include some people viewed as "high functioning" (although not in all areas!), some people in the middle, and some people viewed as "low functioning" (although not in all areas!).

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04 Apr 2011, 4:35 pm

anbuend wrote:

I wonder how much of this is simply bad science reporting. I can't see a formal paper making such a sweeping generalization. It doesn't surprise me at all if a main stream media article does it.

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04 Apr 2011, 4:35 pm

Finally, somebody gets it.

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nemorosa
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04 Apr 2011, 4:45 pm

anbuend wrote:

How do you know this? I can only read the abstract; I do not have access to the full Human Brain Mapping article.

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04 Apr 2011, 5:16 pm

I don't get it. What about the people with autism who do not have a strength when it comes to visuals? I feel left out.

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04 Apr 2011, 5:43 pm

buryuntime wrote:

I don't get it. What about the people with autism who do not have a strength when it comes to visuals? I feel left out.

Yeah me too. I would say that my visual skills are below average actually.

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