Identifying the area(s) of brain damage

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Has anyone pursued a brain MRI, or spoken with doctor about what parts of the brain are damaged ?

I told my last doctor, "something is not connected' and he said, "you are probably right". However, he never mentioned a brain MRI , and this was at a hospital.

-'Flat affect' seems to be a function of the damage ? It feels that way to me.
-My 'unbalance walking' seems to be clearly a function of brain damage.
-As well as I seem to 'think' much more actively then non-ASD people. Like my brain is in overdrive, and other people are more peaceful.

I imagine a doctor will look at my brain and think, "Holy Hell"! My old boss would say my brain is like swiss cheese.

Temple Grandin had her brain scanned , and it showed long connections to her visual area, presumably enabling her "thinking in pictures".
I think it would cool to see where my brain connections went to, which should tell me what I would excel at over other people.

Are you saying that you think the brain differences found in people with ASDs are brain damage?

Yes.

Do you think the trait of say 'unbalanced walking' is not brain damage ?

It could be. I do not know enough to have a view on this.

I think it's just the way the brain is built and how it processes information. The autistic brain is not "damaged" it's just different. The brain is just built differently. It's not a matter of which parts if the brain are damaged but a matter of which parts of the brain are different.

I would love the opportunity to see what my brain connections are like too. I really find it fascinating, esp. the really detailed ones like Temple Grandin got.

Do you label non-functional brain cells, and non-connected regions of the brain as "different" ? (Note: Temple Grandin often speaks about non-functioning ASD brain regions).

Wouldn't this mean that "brain damage" is impossible, according to you ? A person born "brain dead" is not damaged, but just "different"?

I object to your use of the term "brain 'damage'".

My brain is certainly not damaged (at least not in association to having Asperger's - Alcohol... well, that's a different story - long enough ago that the old gray matter's rejuvinated).

I always knew I was different to people (and found out why, some years ago) and have really been down on myself for various ways I am/have been over the years and if anyone was going to think of me as being brain damaged, it would have been me and I never have.

I've got some staraaange ways about me but I'm certainly not "Brain DAMAGED". I believe a more fitting term would be... "Brain DIFFERENT"! !! (and sometimes "Brain DEAD" but that's another story

Here! Have an alien:

Calling non-functioning and/or non-connected areas of the brain .. "different" ... seems to fail logically .. because then you would have to believe there is no such thing as 'brain damage' ? Alzheimer brain would just be "different", soldiers who have their brains scattered from IUDs could only be "different"?

Temple Grandin Interview:

TG: .... I would also like to mention, even though this is only theory at this point, that there is a possibility of secondary brain damage in autistic children. The child is born with immature brain development in the limbic system and cerebellum. But if these children withdraw, due to sensory or other problems, maybe other parts of their brain are not going to develop properly.

source,
http://www.autism.com/advocacy_grandin_interview

That's her view. It's only a speculation, and I strongly disagree with it - and with your assertion of brain damage = being on the spectrum.

Our brains are different - they have more electrical activity going on - that's a core difference and it doesn't arise from damage. What you are saying is perhaps not meant to be insulting, but it is. Very.

Last edited by B19 on 07 May 2014, 2:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

And your Alzheimers analogy is very offensive too. Alzheimers is a disease, not a difference.

I never stated: brain damage = being on the spectrum.

I stated: brain damage traits on the spectrum = brain damage.



Do you deny that some ASD people have dysfunction in their brains ? Do you realize that ASD people go to doctors for such problems ?

That MRI is used to identify such dysfunctions ?

ASD people can go to doctors and ask, "Why do I have this undesirable trait?". For example, motor/balance problems, and doctors can investigate by taking a MRI.

That is what this thread is all about.

Faced with unbalanced walking, doctors use MRI to look for evidence of a stroke, not as a screen for autism.

Those without ASD also go to their doctor about all sorts of issues that may arise from the brain - it doesn't mean not being ASD is a form of brain damage.

Also, a brain scan would not tell you where you excelled over other people. Various standardised tests in a given field of concern/interest/competiton would do that.

It's widely understood that autistic symptoms resemble various sorts of brain damage.

However, autism is not itself brain damage. It is neurodevelopmental, which means the brain develops differently from NTs.

was given a brain scan in the late eighties for severe autism,it didnt show solid evidence of any damage and mum and dad were told am not autistic but given a load of acute behavioral labels instead and blamed for sht parenting.
however that is the oldskool outdated theory,there may be brain differences in autism that an fMRI can show up in any geneuinely autistic person given time but it isnt damage,damage woud mean a brain that was born neurotypical, that has then become damaged-the strongest links to autism are pre natal,so developed in the womb.