Prenatal Testing For Autism

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I'm trying to get any and all input concerning this interview as well as topic in general. It was done between me and AspergianPride.com. Some people like certain people online and not, to many times I'm caught between the hate. I am neutral and consider this part of my study for a very long paper online or possible book. I do not think I will do a book it takes to long and seems implausible.

Some will not respond to certain issues and would like to be hidden or out of view when expressing views. You are welcome to P.M me or e-mail me at nathan@aspergershosting.com. Though starting a conversation here would best manifest the intent of general socialization.

Are the facts correct in this presenation?

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A.S.W.C
Free Speech Press

Nathan:

Are you worried about the development of a prenatal test for autism, if so why?

Bonnie: Yes, I am very concerned about the development of a prenatal test for autism. In an interview earlier this year, one of America's leading autism researchers, Dr. Joseph Buxbaum, who directs the Autism Genome Project at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, stated that there could be a prenatal test within 10 years. Others estimate that prenatal testing will begin even sooner. Bioethics professor Arthur Caplan expects to see the first prenatal test for autism in three to five years. He is the author of an article urging society to consider the potential consequences if the unique perspectives of autistic people were to be lost.

I created a web page in May of this year, Autism Research and Prenatal Testing, which discusses the social and ethical implications of autism genetic research.

Nathan:

Who is funding the development of a prenatal test for autism?

Bonnie: In the United States, much of the funding for autism genetic studies, including Dr. Buxbaum's research, comes from the National Institutes of Health. In other words, Americans' tax money is being used to fund eugenics research. Some private groups are also funding these studies, including Cure Autism Now (CAN) and the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR).

Researchers funded by CAN already have developed a genetic test for autism, which is expected to be made available in 2006 and will be used initially for the purpose of early diagnosis in young children.

Nathan:

Does the war on autism have anything to do with prenatal testing for autism?

Bonnie: Prenatal testing research is part of today's widespread climate of intolerance toward the autistic population, manifested not only in eugenics funding, but also in "cure" campaigns that use military rhetoric. Autism Diva discusses how the well-funded groups that are promoting the dangerous fad treatment of chelation (which has killed one autistic child already) routinely use extreme "war on autism" language.

Frank Klein writes that the cure mentality "creates a dynamic in which nearly any risk is acceptable in fighting the autism, because living with autism, as they see it, is a fate even worse than death."

In such a social climate, prenatal testing becomes the next logical step in saving the world's people from a condition that is viewed as a tragic calamity. Putting the issue in historical perspective, Kathleen Seidel describes how a similar mass hysteria led to the formation of the eugenics movement in the early twentieth century.

In short, the "war on autism" is just another of history's many outbreaks of genocidal prejudice against a minority group; our world has seen it before, all too many times.

Nathan:

Do you think autism prenatal testing might result in the destruction of developing life by means of abortion for those tested with autism spectrum differences (A.S.D’s)?

Bonnie: Autism prenatal testing would have no purpose other than abortion. Such a test would stand in stark contrast to other prenatal tests that have legitimate medical purposes. For example, there is a prenatal test for neural tube defects, which makes it possible to cure or greatly reduce spina bifida by performing surgery on a fetus while it is still in the womb. The Down's Syndrome test, although it has come to be used for abortion, was originally developed with funding from the March of Dimes to improve the odds of survival for Down's babies, who often have heart defects and other problems and can benefit from specialized prenatal care.

No such medical considerations exist with regard to autistic babies, who do not require any unusual prenatal care or treatment. Moreover, because autism is a broad diagnostic category that encompasses children with many different needs, a prenatal diagnosis would not enable a parent to make early arrangements for therapies or other services.

Nathan:

With all of the negative publicity concerning autism in general do you believe a parent is more likely to fear having a child with any form of autism?

Bonnie: Fear of the unknown is one of the most powerful motivating forces in human society. With so much ignorance and negativity surrounding autism spectrum differences, many people are terrified by the thought of having a child with any form of autism. Parents often react to an autism spectrum diagnosis as if they had just learned of the child's death.

The fear of autism is so extreme that some parents are now putting their young children at risk of contracting dangerous childhood diseases by refusing to vaccinate their children, although there is no sound scientific evidence that vaccines have anything to do with autism.

When a young child is diagnosed as autistic, the parents often choose not to have any more children because the possibility of having another autistic child is so frightening to them. Parents make this decision so frequently that it even has a name, stoppage. Although a child may be only two or three years old at the time of diagnosis, and thus his future strengths and difficulties cannot be predicted accurately, the parents may be so strongly influenced by popular stereotypes that they automatically assume the child will never be able to leave home.

As the child grows, any difficulties are seen as confirming the parents' worst fears, even if similar problems would have gone almost unnoticed in a non-autistic child. One mother wrote about how much she worried that her autistic teenage son would not be able to live independently because he did not know how to prepare food. She never thought about the fact that there are millions of men who do not know how to cook.

Nathan:

Do you believe that discrimination could exist as a result of prenatal testing?

Bonnie: When prenatal testing is used for purposes of abortion, it reflects a social value judgment on whether or not a particular group of people has any intrinsic worth as human beings, on who should and who should not inhabit the world. Prejudice and discrimination are already a fact of daily life for many people on the autistic spectrum. It is an unfortunate fact that many autistics have been excluded from various aspects of public life for no other reason than because they are different. If abortion of autistic children were to become routine, such attitudes would no doubt be strengthened.

Nathan:

In what ways do you believe autism should be differently understood and presented in society? Such as on television, newspapers, and other general sources of information made available to the public.

Bonnie: Replacing disease terminology and sensationalistic language with neutral and accurate descriptive terms is the most important change that needs to be made in the way autism is presented in the media and elsewhere. The language used in "autism awareness" campaigns has been so relentlessly negative that some parents feel compelled to hide news stories about autism from their autistic children.

Autism researcher Simon Baron-Cohen points out that the routine use of disability language and other value-laden terminology in describing autism spectrum differences is pejorative; he argues that, instead, autism should be described as a different cognitive style and as a natural part of human diversity. Another respected autism expert, Tony Attwood, who has written extensively on Asperger's syndrome, suggests rewording the diagnostic criteria in positive terms and even replacing the term "diagnosis," which itself has medical and disease connotations, with a neutral term such as "discovery."

The negative social value judgments inherent in medical and disability labels can cause significant emotional damage to many children. It is very important for professionals, educators, and the media to be aware of the potential for harm when language is used carelessly.

Pride, as a negative and positive psychological attribute

Pride can enhance a person’s character to believe in him or herself, a philosophy and or ideal. However that ideal may not be a good one always, so the negative attribute can be the blindness and or bliss of a method of belief or way.

For instance in WWII the Germans had pride and belief in Hitler, they believed they were going to take over the world, it was delusions and propagandas.

Germany thought relevant to Asperger’s syndrome from its author, named diagnostic criterion after himself given symptomatological similarities found in persons. The label then applied to persons then adapted to the internet and the typology mechanism being the label and the individuals manifesting the presents of this electronic mediums location for instance.

When the group collectivizes, the methodology in ideologies or philosophies dictates the elements of the collective ego or pride as manifested in enact methodology. Pride can be causal of great misfortunes, misguidedness and commonly disorientates its reasoning’s towards its own conceptualizations instead of that of the mainstream ideal. Separating itself from the rest, the collective presents sees itself as a group of peoples, contrives or simply creates its own identity sub-relations via groups.

It is interesting, but to investigate in totality the manifestation of the here and now for the why. What are the disagreements concerning Asperger’s syndrome and autism
conceptologically from the individual. Not the ways and methods of groups necessarily, is the individual expected to feel to fit in only if he or she believes the same?

For instance Asperger’s Syndrome is not a disease.
Yes indeed from perhaps the perspective of pathology, however the label is not a person, rather feature of the person in differing ways individually. I find it fascinating these sort of politics have originated, the reasons why are seemingly clear, yet these are the projections sociologically on the internet that have gained some popularity.

They all must be challenged intellectually, as anything else. Not to agree or disagree but as to merit its ideas even if by others opinions. How do such beliefs, fictionalizations, exaggerations, opinions, ideas and fact clearly in view mean to the whole of things.

wow im 17 and am shocked to hear of this talk of how negative the word autism can attract. I understand that low functioning autistics can be a burden on the family much like people with mental retardation, as it is a seriously debilitating disability. but aspergers of course can range from serious to very mild. i have seen both cases. last year i had a kid with severe aspergers in my math class. He was freaking smart and dedicated to his math work, he would complete homework assignments for the next semester! he would say i know this can teacher can we go on to this. the kids in the class thought he was a ret*d kid who just happend to be obsessed with math. I knew he had some form of autism. We liked having him in the class because he just set a very interesting atmosphere. He had no voice control at all. no volume control, no pitch control, and he talked in a cadance like you here from an electronic voice on an answering machine. And he would talk at the most inappropriate times. the class got a kick out of him and sometimes took advantage of him to make him say somthing VERY inappropriate. He after 2 months in class was moved to another class. That is a severe case yes, probably worse than most on this site. He was socially ret*d but his dedication to a specific subject was unwavering, that can be good and bad tho. i can understand parents being a little worried if they hear their child will be like this but abortion is out of the question. even someone with severe aspergers can still contribute to society, and everyone with aspergers offers a unique perspective that NT's may never notice. here is an analogy. My dad is looking for the salt shaker but he cant see it because it is behind his mug, i see it becuase i see it from a different angle. If everyone was where my dad was sitting they would never see the salt shaker, but if just one sat a little off angle they would find it. It may be one of natures wisdom to have people with ASD, because it is always good to have one person that thinks differently. I personally have been diagnosed with very mild AS, and i often doubt that i have it at all. I was several years ago when i was in junior high. I do not consider myself one with a serious disability, i would never say i am disabled, no sir ree. i have difficulty making friends and getting to know people, but in the past i would have just been called shy, and no one would have given it a scientific name. The idea of having someone like me being aborted because they would end up like me is unfathonable. I have a good life ahead of me i think, i'll go to college and be an analisty on china for the CIA. I will a have a wife and 2 to 3 kids and a nice house. Why would my or someone else like me have their life cut short because of a label given to them before birth?

All I can say is: If children with autism or asperger's are aborted before birth, the world will be missing a lot of wonderful people.

I wonder if all these people who want to rid the world of auties are aware of people like Einstein being on the spectrum. Sure, let's get rid of that, no big loss right? *insert extra sarcasm* I cannot understand why different always means bad to a lot of people.

It's based upon...

1. Ignorance’s, what is not known.
2. Possibilities and if's, of what may be.

To me prenatal discrimination like this is somewhat like racial or ethnic cleansing. If society deemed people with freckles inferior to persons without freckles and those without freckles didn’t want kids with freckles and decided to abort, is it there right to?

I agree but take it a step further not just freckles say red hair or blue eyes who was aborted would change with the times and trends. It would be as if these people had nothing to contribute to socitey but any one or them could hold the key to unlocking the cure for cancer but becuse prenatal screening was aborted. I very happy they didn't have this 39 years ago.

It is a very political item, my critical reasoning book seys to argue both sides. Which I have, I determin this statement in my own debate closure.

"Where is society going, when selective abortions might happen like this?"

IT is a moral and ethical question, whereas with abortions without prenatal testing are non-discriminative.