Confused - Autism in Australia

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I was looking to see what conferences/seminars were available where I live (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia).

Tony Attwood gave 3 seminars last year (lucky us!) so I was hoping to see him speak again.

I came across an ABIQ (Autism Behavioural Intervention Queensland) conference. Before I spend my hard-earned money I thought I'd investigate further what their conference might be about.

In their mission on their website, they stated that one of their goals is:

Debunking the existing mindset in Queensland that children with Autism necessarily grow into adults with Autism.
http://www.abiq.org/mission.html



What do they mean? I'm confused!

Helen

It means turning auties into aspies (nonverbal who'll never be independent to verbal and with the possibility of becoming independent).

Whether their ABA therapy does a thing for the development of the individuals in question is up in the air as it has been known for a long time that those with autism as children frequently improve as they develop "naturally", even without intervention (kinda like me).

Thanks for clarifying that.

Helen

Be very careful of the word "behavioral". Sometimes that is not good. "Psychological" and "Psychiatric" you need to be wary of too, but "behavioral" is one of the most infamous kinds of therapy.

Yeah, most of the evil people in the world try to euphemise terms, EVEN if it means misusing terms! This sometimes affects entire industries! The insurance industry, for example, will use DIVIDEND



to describe an EXTRA as a benefit of having "cash value or perpetual" life insurance. They EVEN claim it is TAX FREE!! !! ! What they DON'T say is that it is(using the CA insurance commissioner definition) "Return of excess premium paid"! It is NOT tax free! Since they return what you paid, you ALREADY paid taxes on it! And "perpetual" means that they charged you SO much that, if you die soon enough, the excess can be used to pay for the insurance until you die. How evil is THAT!?!? That is just one example, but it shows how an ENTIRE INDUSTRY can do this.

Helen, the minute you see an organisation that pushes ABA as the best - run a mile.

Michelle Dawson - a Canadian activist - has noted in the past that Canada's Federal government push this and it hurts Autistics who do not respond to ABA. ABA does not work for everyone on the Spectrum - especially Aspies and LFA's. Aspies resist, and sometimes violently. LFA's don't respond because the adversity is something that scares them, and it's also something that they don't understand. It's a mild (compared to the shock therapy used by the Judge Rotenburg Centre in the US) aversion therapy.

I've just discovered ASPECT. They are based in New South Wales but they do have connections in other states. I don't know about Queensland, but they are coming down to Melbourne in early April and I am considering meeting them to see if they can help me with my issues - and support the enquiry I'm pursuing in Canberra. You may wan to follow this up;

http://www.aspect.org.au

Sadly, we never got much out of aspect. They're a bit of a front for doing nothing really.

Sounds like they are claiming to be able to cure autism. Which is, of course, a load of bull. They are essentially saying that autistic children are defective and that they can fix them.

Well then when I meet them when they come to Melbourne next month I'll find out for sure won't I? Or maybe I can get them off any rear end they might be on?

Hello cool mum of Aspies.

The foundation work was done by Dr. Pavlov in the USSR, but even then he was only allowed to play with dogs. Human trials on a large scale had to wait. Pavlov's famous experiment was to ring a bell, then feed the dogs, after a while the dogs salivated at the sound of the bell, without food being seen/smelled. He called it Operent Conditioning.

The big era was the Korean War, where POWs were subjected to testing to see if minds could be changed, Brain Washing. A fair number refused to return at the end of the war. Did they now want to become North Korean rice farmers for the collective, or did they do things in the camps that would get them killed, jailed, or worse if they returned?

The only thing that is sure is change, is true, even in Autism.

There are several theories, one is shoe size, children who wear larger shoes act more mature.

Others say it is years of careful parenting, education, causes children to grow into adults, hence it could be prevented, and in some cases, should be.

Sometimes the process can be reversed, if we listen to the reports of wives. Marriage causes men to revert to being boys.

The good part is it cannot be proven. Credit can be taken, billable hours run up, and your child will have a larger shoe size.

Where treating most conditions calls for some sort of medical license, behavorial treatments do not even demand high school graduation. Pet grooming and selling used cars do have regulations, and once you have been fired for morals reasons, you can still work on Autistics.

Government does nothing about fraud, for they are industry leaders in the field.

My own objection is the idea of making people less, less Autistic, less anything, we do not have much to work with anyway, so less is less. An Autistic child can learn to mimic an NT child, or a hunting dog. In later adult life the hunting dog skills will be of more use.

I am pro Autism, I have had no other choice, as it was not discovered till after I quit caring.

Working with what you have is the best advice. My odd movements are masked by martial arts moves, my speach by being a writer, and my direct eye contact reserved for passionate love and killing hate. It gives me a lot of time to work on my hobbies.

Curing Autism = Curing Humans, it should be done, but due to some dumb laws, permits, it is only used freely on people with the wrong religion and skin color.

That leaves only Applied Autism, and as there are no standards, head colds and constipation producing the same symptoms, we can only be ourselves, which is problem enough.

The choice comes down to pleasing yourself, or the world. Nothing makes the world happy, so why bother. Besides, millions are being born, and just writing down the names would be impossible, much less sending post cards to ask how your behavior could be changed to please them.

I have many flaws, and a few good points, neither fit into the world. My flaws, are mine, so keep your hands to yourself, and so will I. My good points are above general human understanding, which is why I get to charge for them. I do change them, and charge more. I have a long headstart in a race most do not know is running.

My survial is based on Applied Autism, all of the things people wanted to change me to, keeping Red China from taking over Walmart, and American industry, were sold to Red China by the same people. They were only arranging the price on their business deal. Others were the operations of Faith Based Gangs.

So between being dead, praying to be dead, or having fun doing what I do, I like being alive, and me.

These are the fun days, someday there will be Degrees in Applied Autism, but now we get to build the field as we go. It is still an art. We live in a world where almost all are blind to what we bring to the table. Art, Science, Technology would not exist without us.

I do believe in training, UbbyUbbyUbby should get a Degree in Palenotology, by the time he is ten. It may only be a childhood obsession, but the next one will be easier, once he learns how he learns.

Money spent on Lego is never wasted, and they have some great programable robots.

I think Attwood sees us for who we are, in the world. The man can spot Autism, and and knows a lot of it is doing well in the world. He works with the problems, but does not have the idea of people being limited, excluded, that all the rest have.

He would understand the role of sub clinical Autism in keeping the world running, and has a goal of having ex-clients.

You are with the winner, stick with him.

Precisely, Inventor! As to OP - I don't know. I think Inventor answered the question. Children learn to pretend to survive. By analogy, feral auties must survive in a realm not designed for us. Therefore, we adapt since the ambient culture does not accommodate us. With enough aversive 'therapy' the feral autie (or any sentient being with survival skills) will adapt. Then, so do the Borg.

Let's see some ways I have adapted.....


1. Less blunt. Some may argue that is GOOD, but it means more stress for me and LOTS of complications, including #2
2. Lie sometimes. I HATE this, but "everyone does it".
3. Not a perfectionist anymore.
4. Tolerate invasions. Again, some may say this is good, but it means more cuts, bruises, colds, etc....
5. More accepting of what some say, etc... AGAIN, little help to anyone else, but often detrimental to me.
6. More accepting of failure, etc...(Both me and ESPECIALLY others). For me, this is part of not being a perfectionist. For others, I am surrounded by things like really bad grammar.
7. I am less altruistic.
8. I am less willing to help even when PAID! Too many want to shoot you down, take credit, etc...
9. I don't even ATTEMPT some things anymore to avoid ridicule. I certainly won't get any better NOW!

Still, all that makes me seem more normal!

2ukenkerl - I like you how you already are, as in (re: # 9) don't 'get any better now.' Probably too late anyway

There is a tenuous balance; Auties/Aspies do need to 'fit in' (somewhat) to function properly, but we cannot subvert our nature either. This is hard.