What was autism called in ancient times?

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paulsinnerchild
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17 Jan 2007, 8:03 am

Does anyone know what is the description of anyone who was autistic say in Ancient Rome, ancient Athens or Egypt considered to have in ancient times?
I know epilepsy was often termed as the "falling sickness" such as what was the description of Julius Caesar who was epileptic. .

Paul



logitechdog
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17 Jan 2007, 8:15 am

Mad Hatters? mentally ret*d, the insane, mad man, evil, devil, something taken over by some kind of god cough? anyone who is not a (E), does autism go that far back? As a guy saying the earth is not flat and round would be a mad man...



SteveK
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17 Jan 2007, 8:25 am

Interesting question. They WERE superstitious and religious though. I did find one idiot claiming it was a NEW disease on the rise. AGAIN, using the fact that people like MANY here, myself included, don't exist to back up a theory! He THEN "proved" it by saying that KANNER discovered it. That statement shot down two of his theories. 1. It denies people like us! 2. You can NOT discover something unless it exists!

I found an interesting soundbite though!

Quote:
Commenting on autism, Watson stated: “Autism seems to be [more] prevalent among boys — ten to one — and [also] among mathematicians…. [Child psychologist] Bruno Bettelheim had blamed cold mothers for causing autism.” I’m not sure if he was serious or joshing, but with a broad smile Watson cautioned: “If you want to see autism… just go to the Cambridge math department.” He added: “If you have a smart daughter, don’t send her to M.I.T. [where she might end up marrying another mathematician] — instead send her to Harvard.”


Steve



Prof_Pretorius
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17 Jan 2007, 8:25 am

"Touched", as in touched in the head. "Slow", or "simple". Or "seer", or "priest". Depends on the society. Some thought that if you were that odd, there had to be a divine reason.


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logitechdog
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17 Jan 2007, 8:32 am

Would that idiot be me steave? lol as I say it’s new but not a disease but evolution That would class me under been a Mad man need my cold baths now to fix me ;)....



logitechdog
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17 Jan 2007, 8:44 am

Ok a bio warfare factory constantly makes new virus, to make it would then apply that it is a new disease as you bioengineered it to exist, but does that mean it existed before you engineered it as you just didn’t know the formula? Virus can adapt themselves to be airborne or pass on through touch, would it be the same virus or a new super virus?

Then someone saying something is impossible is not trying hard enough? See how this can be turned round...



SteveK
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17 Jan 2007, 8:56 am

logitechdog wrote:
Would that idiot be me steave? lol as I say it’s new but not a disease but evolution That would class me under been a Mad man need my cold baths now to fix me ;)....


NO. He was claiming things like the sudden rise COULDN'T be because of reclassification because THEN there would be all the older people that would start appearing. People like ME! YOU made no such claims! OBVIOUSLY, many here DO exist.

As for discovering, you are talking about creating something.

Anyway, the fact is that they haven't made distinctions as to what they mean, and a LOT of people with autism would earlier have not been diagnosed!

Steve



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17 Jan 2007, 9:02 am

If I am not mistaken the "mad hatter" idea came from the mercury that they used to put in hats. Mercury, like any other heavy metal, can cause problems with people.


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logitechdog
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17 Jan 2007, 9:12 am

yes thats right, but ... only word I could think of for mercury...

Quote:
/*
Mercury

Mercury is a metal that has been of great alchemical importance in ancient times. In ancient China there is evidence that mercury was used by the latter half of the first millennium BC mercury while mercury metal is reported from Hellenistic Greece. Mercury is a volatile metal which is easily produced by heating cinnabar followed by downward distillation of the mercury vapour. Some of the earliest literary references to the use of mercury distillation comes from Indian treatises such as the Arthashastra of Kautilya dating from the late first millennium BC onwards. Some evidence for mercury distillation is reported from the ancient Roman world.

In India, vermilion or cinnabar i.e. mercuric sulphide has had great ritual significance, typically having been used to make the red bindi or dot on the forehead usually associated with Hinduism. Ingeniously in ancient Chinese tombs cinnabar was used successfully as a preservative to keep fine silks intact. Mercury was also at the heart many alchemical transmutation experiments in the Middle Ages in Europe as well as in Indian alchemical texts which were precursors to the development of chemistry.
*/


edit:: Meaning yes that would be what I mean down below Meaning...

Completely mad. This is now commonly understood to mean crazy, although the original meaning is unclear and may have meant annoyed.

Origin

Mercury used to be used in the making of hats. This was known to have affected the nervous systems of hatters, causing them to tremble and appear insane. This could be the source of the phrase - although absolute proof is lacking



Last edited by logitechdog on 17 Jan 2007, 9:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

Prof_Pretorius
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17 Jan 2007, 9:13 am

Namiko wrote:
If I am not mistaken the "mad hatter" idea came from the mercury that they used to put in hats. Mercury, like any other heavy metal, can cause problems with people.


He probably meant "mad as a hatter." Yes, we now attribute the mood swings and madness to mercury exposure. But isn't it odd it was hatters, not photographers who were equally exposed?


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logitechdog
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17 Jan 2007, 9:36 am

http://www.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/mercury.htm hes history on mercury if your interested... Sounds mental on the part you get down to Miscellaneous Uses of Mercury , mercury vapor in turbines is more efficient than the use of steam, hows that for unclean power lol.



diseased
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17 Jan 2007, 11:01 am

"What was autism called in ancient times?"

Dave.



CockneyRebel
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17 Jan 2007, 11:39 am

Autos, meaning self.



dgd1788
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17 Jan 2007, 11:43 am

It was probably called insanity


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17 Jan 2007, 1:03 pm

"just a little off"



Prof_Pretorius
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17 Jan 2007, 2:11 pm

In Anglo society your choices were limited. If you were ASpie, you ended up being the super religious old guy who lived by himself in the woods, or the crazy cat lady who never got married, lived by herself and might be a witch. If you were low functioning Autistic, you were probably labelled 'idiot-savant'. There are historic examples.


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