THE WORD IS OUT ABOUT AUTISM

Post Reply New Topic

I think human misunderstandings are more important than human understanding and somebody should really be studying this.

I remember one time when I believed I had found proof that the Bible allows Homosexual liasons when I found this :

'What goes into a man does not defile him, only what comes out of a man does defile the man'(I'm paraphrasing but it was Jesus describing what defiles a man).

When put in context by a learned friend, I discovered this was actually about what we are allowed to eat.

As for Operant Condition, do I believe in it or not? I can't answer with a straight yes or no because I'm not really sure. It is based on a very simple equation with no inherent flaw, just like 1+1=2. The only flaw it can have is when a math sum is used to work out if a painting is beautiful or something like that. Operant Conditioning is a simple sum applied to the complex workings of people. But people really have no idea how complex they are in themselves, so they will indeed respond predictably when every condition affecting their behaviour is known.

Or do they? Argh!

Actually, I was an ABA therapist and taught a little autistic boy for over a year. Now, I am good friends with his parents and see him often and even babysit him sometimes.

I do agree that ABA is entirely contingent on 1) the child, and 2) the therapist(s). My personally being a little rebellious and disagreeing with some of the tactics in ABA therapy, I purposely didn't do it the way in which I was instructed. I didn't make Aidan sit at the table the entire session with only a couple breaks, I didn't mix up the lessons so that he was doing several all at once, and I didn't care what ABA said was the "right" way. I did what came naturally and worked with him and made the lessons fun and interactive.

He had another therapist who was a lot stricter than I was, and this was perhaps a good balance, the two of us. However, I was the only therapist he was happy to see when walking through the door. All the others, he would begin tantrums. THAT IS NOT GOOD FOR LEARNING.

And I must say, I never had any problems with him tantruming. And if he did start, I was able to help him quell it in under 20 seconds. All the other therapists had sessions which they actually had to cancel because he wouldn't stop. I think it was because, in part, they treated him like a client. I really like him and he is probably the only kid I feel comfortable around.

Oh yeah, I forgot to add, is Michelle Dawson aware of this site's existance?

Malcolm I DO NOT want anyone advocating for me as an autistic with violence.

NO THANKYOU!! !

not the message I want to give out about autists...agree with me or I will shoot you. What is the problem that can only be solved with torture or death for goodness sake?

I agree with Elfman.

Malcom, if what you say is true, I want in.

I'm also somewhat bothered by the militant discussion here, but I understand the motivation behind it.

"Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."

Should Canada start gassing autistics, by all means, form paramilitary cells and apply 'negative reinforcement' to whoever has forgotten what human rights are all about. Until then, petition, publicise and boycott. Canda has for some time been on my list of countries that I would not choose to visit, and I bring up their abuse of autistics frequently in conversation.

It would be nice to be somewhat more active though, so if anyone knows, how does one go about letting the world know that you have a problem with something? I suppose I should write a letter my MP (member of Parliament) or something. I'll see if I can draft something generic that other people can adapt and send to their own representitives.

Malcom your beginning to sound weak I might have to stage a coup :-p jk (I need allies in our milita before I can do that.)

Lucas, I apologize for not replying earlier. I also apologize for the brevity of my previous post, which was likely the reason why you misread it. To straighten things out...

I also agree, for the most part, with ElfMan.

I tend to think of myself, to use a metaphor from earlier in the thread, as more of an X-Men type than a Magneto type. I have no problem advocating for the rights of autistics-- yea, even for the right of autistics to live as autistics without being denigrated for it. It may be difficult; I've surely experienced my own share of difficulty with it in trying to advocate to my own family (I think the gene must have skipped a generation or something). But I keep trying, hoping that some day I may meet with some success in showing neurotypicals that my sometimes quirky behavior is not a threat to society.

What I do have a problem with is the attitude that all NTs are a Bad Thing, as some in this thread seem to espouse. First off, where do we draw the line for people who have a 'shadow' spectrum condition but not full-blown AS or autism? And second, though I've admittedly met my fair share of disagreeable NTs, I've also met NTs who were extremely understanding and were willing to let me live my life as I wanted. Sorry, but though I may have had some extremely upsetting experiences, I'm not going to ruin life for the few NTs who do respect me as I am, even if there are many 'bad apples' in the bunch.

I could deal with a real-life Aspergian Island, though I seriously question whether such a project could be carried out; however, the whole militia idea bothers me, I suppose partly because I tend to be the sort of person who gets extremely emotional about just killing a fly. Yes, I know, that may not sound Aspie to some of you-- hopefully you lot wouldn't exterminate me just because of that, despite all the diagnoses and stuff I have lying around...

Thanks for clearing that up Magic. But I am at a loss when it comes to working out what you define as a fact.

One point I might add is that you must take this document in the context of it being read out in a Senate comitee, the facts would have been reflected by what others had actually said there and material that is on the record. The article is far from a work of opinion, citing scientific evidence from the univeristy of Montreal and uses the 'facts' used by FEAT and others groups as evidence, revealing that there is a culture of decision-based evidence-making.

What does constitute a fact to you?