Autism Speaks #MSSNG campaign. Google involved - Thoughts?

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T.J. Maxx is also a sponsor.

That's not the experience of everyone in the LGBT community. Besides, pointing out a few differences does not invalidate a comparison.

Depends on the differences. In this case, they're night and day different.. so IMO it does invalidate the comparison. A sexual orientation is not comparable to a set of behavioural traits, sensory processing symptoms, anxiety, depression, social awkwardness, & other very visible outward Autism symptoms.

They are both innate. That's the comparison.

The similarities don't end there. For both, there's people saying it can and should be cured. There's Christian fundamentalists saying both are a result of Adam's sin and the fallen world. Both are said to destory families/the sanctity of marriage (alleged high divorced rates of parents of autistic kids). Members of both communities sometimes have a closet metaphor. If someone said they're exactly the same, that's absurd, but they are similar in deserving acceptance and equal rights.

Obviously we have very different experiences.

Autism symptoms are treatable. Maybe not curable, but definitely treatable - I know, I've done it for myself whether the people on this forum believe me or not. Anyone else who's symptoms are exacerbated by antibiotic induced intestinal dysbiosis will be able to treat their ASD symptoms in the same way I've managed to.

Homosexuality, IMO, is 100% hardwired & not something that can or should be treated.

Religious extremists of all types say all kinds of crazy things. This is nothing new. How homophobic people treat gay people destroys some families, yes. No one else' marriage is affected whatsoever by two gay people getting married. Yeah, the closeted thing is comparable for those who hide either.

While some things about ASD are deserving of acceptance, not everything is. Basically, unacceptable social behaviour is unacceptable for a reason. People need to either learn to consciously control themselves or treat their ASD symptoms in whatever ways work best for them in order to better fit into the world around them and not be perceived as portraying unacceptable behaviour. It really is that simple, IMO.

I am wondering what defines the unacceptable behaviour. Or is it an I'll know it when I see it sort of thing? goldfish, could you be more specific?

Social norms define what is acceptable. There are many common rules, but acceptable behaviour is going to change somewhat from group to group. i.e. People often behave differently at home vs. at work or school as there are different acceptable norms at each.

Unacceptable behaviour is whatever goes against the acceptable norms in any given setting with any given group. There are many common ones, but there will be some groups where people can get away with a lot more or a lot less, depending on whatever the acceptable norms are for the group. Commonly unacceptable behaviours would be things like interrupting, yelling, losing your temper, being rude to someone (highly subjective & I know it's often difficult for those on the spectrum to realize they're being perceived as rude), causing a confrontation or a fight, bullying or being mean etc etc. There are countless ways people can misbehave in public or social settings, those are just a few examples.

As for knowing it when you see it… yeah, sometimes, unfortunately, that's going to happen. You'll likely be going about doing or saying something and thinking nothing of it.. and then you piss someone off and you can tell by their reaction that whatever it is you've said or done was obviously unacceptable. If you're lucky you'll realize why right away so that you can learn from it and correct your behaviour. But you might not realize right away, or ever, in some cases.

Those examples make sense to me and so does what you are saying about norms varying within groups.
I guess I just hope that things like stimming and lack of appropriate eye contact become more generally known of and hence not as off-putting.
My employment counsellor is sending me for CBT. Again! The last time I had to go to the bus terminal and ask people about the schedule. I could write a book on CBT, but I must be a good little participant so I can get my little job. And I must use my learned social skills. Its so humiliating. My worker was only recently a child, but she is so self-assured it amazes me. And irks me - she was in diapers when I was working part-time and finishing my degree and now she's telling me to go for CBT. Sometimes I think maybe they might be right. Maybe I am #MSSNG something.

Probiotics, quite possibly.

I've managed to treat and control my symptoms via diet/herbs & probiotics. When I took a strong course of antibiotics in October I had a relapse in symptoms that messed with my life and work, but once it was pointed out to me that symptoms were creeping back up on me (I hadn't noticed, I guess that's one of the ASD traits.. not being self aware of ASD symptoms as they happen) I loaded up on probiotics like crazy and am now back to my new normal. As I've said on the forums, I'm living a second life for having done this.

My digestion has caused me much grief since I can remember. I was diagnosed with IBS back in the ‘90s. I'm lactose intolerant and am pretty sure gluten messes with me. I will keep an eye out for pro biotic products. But my problem is that the cost of eating is so much. I've gone to the food bank the last couple of months and man do they load you up with pasta. And I'm not complaining as being hungry is no good, but it's really playing havoc with me.

But yeah, food has a huge impact. Those red candy coated chocolates, they make me hyper like a child. Lol

Skipping right to probiotics may help some, but it won't likely do you much good until you've gone on a restricted medicinal diet for a while and cleared out your digestive tract of bad bacteria/fungus etc first. Otherwise they'll just be being sent to their death vs. being able to hang around and do what good they do.

Food for thought ...

I find I do best when I have access to fresh meat. I hate the conditions of the farm industry, but if I could eat barbequed steak everyday, I would.

I'm going to go email Yaniv Erlich and see if he has any thoughts on the ethics of this.

As an adult with high-functioning Autism and former special education teacher/ therapist, I agree that this research project is misguided. All current medical research is based on separating disease/ disorders and spending a lot and money in these pursuits. I have done a lot of my own research as a lay person to try and
find common underlying processes in auto immune disorders and neurological diseases.

All diseases exist on a spectrum and many share causes and symptoms. Diseases do not exist in a vacuum. Environmental factors play heavily in the process. Rachel Carson observed the interdependence of all things in nature. In her book Silent Spring, she all but predicts the Autism and Auto immune epidemic in the United States. She describes how the neurotoxic chemicals in many pesticides ( including the now banned DDT) remain in the fatty tissues of the animals and humans that consume treated products. Genetic mutations have been occurring as a result of the many environmental agents we are exposed to: air, water, soil and vaccines. Any research that is occurring should focus on environmental impact on genetics.

We cannot expect universal research of this sort as the American medical system refuses to focus on prevention
and cure. We see and experience the symptoms of illness in ourselves and our family members. It is the cost of living in an industrialized society. Our current healthcare system that is more concerned with profiting from disease classification and treatment than holistic research and prevention.

Whatever the results of this genetic research initiative, I encourage families to do their own research and find ways to minimize the environmental agents that may be aggravating symptoms. Autism is a life-long experience, but many will find great resources and support by trusting instinct and using common sense.

Still promoting this offensive idea

https://www.autismspeaks.org/news/news-item/10000-unique-dna-posters-unveiled-mssng%E2%80%99s-new-online-store

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