Are we ready for a prenatal screening test for autism?

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http://www.theguardian.com/science/blog ... plications

Sure, it won't kill you.

1. Okay, this is a case in which I think it's entirely appropriate to play the famous person card. I mean, let's pick a handful and lay those cards on the table:

Thomas Jefferson,
Jane Austen,
Nikola Tesla.

And people from our age who have directly said they're on the Spectrum:

Daryl Hannah,
Dan Aykroyd,
Susan Boyle.

2. And then let's make the point that a person shouldn't have to be famous to be treated with courtesy and respect.

I'm not ready for that. I feel that all people should be born, whether they have a disability or not, no matter what the nature of their disability is. Life is the first basic right and without it, we wouldn't be here.

Well, first off, even someone who works as a sales manager for an auto dealership and is the most neurotypical person in the world---and God bless him or her, it's okay to be normal, just not a requirement---depends on all kinds of friends, family members, and co-workers to supplement their strengths and shore up their less strong areas. I mean, it's not like they're living on an island selling cars to fishes. I first heard this analogy about computer entrepreneurs, and I like it.

And then this language "holding down a job." People get fired for all kinds of accidental and unfair reasons, and I think most people know this.

And then this journalist is going to trot out "high functioning autism," in the very same sentence he uses the phrase "adapting to society" ? ? See the above about famous people, and also about that not being necessary.

I like the personal and political statement: 'We are all middle-functioning.'

Our social services seem to need to classify people on the Spectrum as either high- or low-functioning, and I like challenging this. And plus, I think we're probably all good in some areas, maybe many areas, but not other areas.

And then, in a pretty close reading of this article, I don't think the author mentioned sensory issues one time. I don't think he knows as much about autism as he might think he does.

It's irrelevant what any of us think. Future parents will decide whether they choose to abort a fetus or not based on prenatal testing (if and when genetic testing for autism becomes available). Already an estimated 70-90% of parents who's fetus tests positive following amniotic screening for Downs Syndrome choose abortion. It's fairly likely this would be repeated for prenatal tests for autism.

Please people, don't be pessimistic. There is a victim mentality going on. Anyone can be aborted regardless of status.

The tl;dr answer?

No.

Not for this. NOT COOL.

But I wouldnt be surprised if Autism became the majority motive for abortion in the future if this happened. Hate to say it's making me reconsider my past views on this issue.

Actually it probably will kill a lot of unborn children in this abortion happy society!

I also agree that today's society is very abortion happy. All children should be brought into this world. Life is precious and I'm happy to be alive.

Canada. Abortion happy since 1969.

I totally agree with you! All children should have the right to be born. But realistically, I can see a vast majority of parents making the decision to abort. I would guess at least 50%, probably not as high as down syndrome. Why do I feel this way? Well unless they can tell where on the Autism scale the unborn reside, you may have another future Tesla waiting to be born for one (I am looking at this from a parent and NT point of view). So I would hope many parents would choose to carry the child to term. Maybe I am too hopeful for something that isn't reality, but were speaking hypothetically here.

What REALLY worries me is that the parents while legally allowed to make the decision, will be pressured to terminate the pregnancy. I see this happening as a result of the high cost of medical care and where we are headed at least in the states. They could say well if you choose to give birth to this child, then society will NOT pay for ANY special needs above and beyond a NORMAL and HEALTHY child. The burden of the cost would be FORCED upon the parents. Why do I think this could happen? Already many oppose having to pay for illness caused by habits/addictions such as smoking. People don't want to pay HIGHER premiums to insure someone for say expensive cancer treatment that could have been avoided (in theory) if they had never smoked. Now with the ACA I do believe they can charge substantially more for insurance if you are a smoker. I can see eventually where they could REFUSE care for or only offer high cost, high deductible, and exclusionary insurance for smokers so as to not burden the rest of society.

I can see the same logic applied to a child in the womb that has been determined to be Autistic. Since society in the future will be able to tell this from a genetic test, they may say if you choose to carry to term, then either very expensive medical insurance only or NO medical coverage for this child. Parents faced with this would most likely be pressured into terminating the pregnancy. Lets face it, depending upon where the child ends up on the spectrum, medical costs could be HIGHLY expensive and all but unaffordable without insurance. So while I don't think society will force terminating the pregnancy, they will make it next to impossible for many to consider raising an Autistic child given the choices. I hope I am wrong but fear I am close to the future truth of what may happen.

Sadly, I think you are spot-on, with the exception that there will also be social, as well as economic, pressure to abort.

Case in point: When I was pregnant with Kid #4, I took Prozac throughout the pregnancy. I was concerned that, although my blood pressure was normal, hers might be elevated (thus putting her at risk for perinatal stroke-- not the end of the world, my stepmom had it and did great things with her life, but if I could avoid it by stopping a drug for a couple months I wanted to know it was there-- I just needed the Prozac enough that, before I stopped it, I wanted to know there was a problem, not just the ghost of one); to check fetal blood pressure, the OB recommended a high-definition (aka diagnostic) ultrasound.

To get the diagnostic ultrasound, I had to go to a "maternal-fetal medicine clinic" where they performed genetic counseling, genetic testing, high-def ultrasounds, and abortions. I could not JUST get the ultrasound and leave; before they would perform it, I had to undergo genetic profiling and counseling.

As soon as I disclosed that I have Asperger's on both sides of my family (without disclosing that I have it myself), I was advised to abort. No testing, no checking the condition of the fetus, no reason to believe I had anything in there but a perfectly healthy kid.

Then it came out that I have The Unperson Disease. I was AGAIN advised, this time strenuously, to abort. By the genetic counselor, and also by the OB-GYN who did finally bother to interpret the ultrasound I had come there for (I had to ask REPEATEDLY-- she was MUCH more interested in stressing the advisability of abortion, pushing me to get back on the Risperdal-- the s**t that almost killed me-- as soon as the pregnancy was over, and questioning me about my driving history).

Largely due to the words and images the media chooses to represent us, and to campaigns like Autism $peak$, we have no value. Even if we are "high-functioning" and capable not only of living on our own and holding down a job, but also raising a flock of kids and caring for elderly or ill relatives (what I was doing at the time), the minute the diagnosis becomes known (or the quirks become seen) we have no value.

The abortion rate will be a lot higher than 50%. Be ready to fight for those children that survive. Hell, be ready to fight for your existing kids. Ultimately, in a world with 7 billion people and growing (while everyone's standard of living keeps going up and the resources become less abundant and harder to get), be ready to fight for your life.

If you think Hitler was bad, kids, you ain't seen nothing yet.

I'm not sure if it would become the majority of abortions, but it is very likely that doctors with eugenicist like mentalities, various interest groups, and media elements would try to use propaganda and social manipulation to scare women and pressure them into having abortions for potential autistic fetuses.

The abortion risk with possible prenatal screening would be a short-lived one, the real question of the next decade will be: how would you feel if they start eliminating autism gene sequences out of fetuses?