Is Autism a rare condition, and therefore not worth bothering about? Well, it is more common than visible disabilities such as Down's syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida, so would you say that Down's syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Spina Bifida are rare conditions? Would you say that they aren't worth bothering about? Autism is the third most common developmental disability today.
One in 88 people is on the Autistic Spectrum, making the condition at least as common as Schizophrenia. The problem is, however, you can't visibly see Autism. There are no deformities. There is no white stick. There is no guide dog. There is no wheelchair. Those affected with Autism just look like anyone else, so therefore a few ignorant or unaware people can automatically assume that Autistic children or adults are being bad or difficult.
Autism simply does not evoke the generally sympathetic and understanding responses from the mainstream public, that Spina Bifida, Cerebral Palsy and Down's syndrome evoke. Neither does mental illness such as Schizophrenia and Bipolar. That is not an attack on anyone with Cerebral Palsy, Down's Syndrome, Spina Bifida, or any other conditions that is visible to the naked eye by the way. It is just a simple fact.
While some people with Autism do indeed have General Learning Disabilities, not all of them do. It is difficulty with communication, interaction and information processing that are the main problems. The degree to which the learning disability is present varies from Autistic person to Autistic person.
When many Autistic people can't communicate verbally, it is difficult to know what their intellectual abilities are as a whole. IQ tests are inappropriate for Autistic people to take. They are designed by NT's for NT's. Those with Autism will score highly on non-verbal talks, and low on verbal talks, which will give them an inconsistent and erratic IQ score.
The triad of "Impairments" for Autism or AS consists of three areas when you are making a diagnosis. The first one is "Social interaction" (Difficulty with social relationships). The second one is "Social communication" and the third one is "Social Imagination" which is (Difficulty in the development of interpersonal play and imagination, such as having limited range of imaginative activities). The first two I agree with and accept. They are at the core of Autism. Regarding the latter, if this term means that those with Autism and AS don't have an imagination in the sense that they can't think creatively or originally or differently, then it is totally and utterly wrong. I do feel anxiety often when I am going somewhere, particularly if it is unfamiliar, but I usually am ok once I am there and have settled in. If that is what the term "Imagination" means, then it could apply, but if it means how the term imagination is commonly applied, then it is absolute nonsense.
This just doesn't apply to myself. There have also been amateur songwriters with AS and a variety of other creative individuals, who if they didn't have an imagination, simply would not have been creative in the manner that they have been.
It has been said that Einstein had AS. I am not a fan of suggesting that long-dead famous people had x condition or y condition. They can never be diagnosed and several conditions have been pinned on Einstein, including Schizophrenia, ADHD, Bipolar, Dyslexia, but if he did, or whatever he had or didn't have, he must have had a tremendous imagination, or he would never have made the discoveries he did. He had to imagine the possibilities of his theory of relativity, before setting out to prove/disprove them.
There is the old myth that Autistic people are violent. Well, 60% of low-functioning Autistics have not much expressive language, but 40% can. If you are in the 60% who can't talk, how are you going to tell someone they are annoying you? Or that you would like them to stop what they are doing? Or want to tell people things? You are bound to throw things or grab their arms to attract attention. So if Autistic people are perceived to be violent, it mostly will be for these reasons only. Autistics just aren't interested in social pecking orders or gaining feelings of power or superiority.
As a young child, at the age of four or five, I used to think the world was in black and white, and then changed over to colour. This came about through myself seeing old black and white films on television, but it is commonly stated in many publications and literature that people with Autism and AS think in black and white. It seems to me that all children, whether they are NT or not, think in black and white terms during their early years, but later develop to appreciate that there is ambiguity, abstract, and shades of grey involved in arguments, thinking and concepts.
I think that some Autistic and some AS people do think in black and white terms, but some don't, and some appreciate the greys and the ambiguity in an argument, as again, as we are all individuals and we all have our individual characteristics. It depends on the level of Autism or in what context. In many areas of life, I do think in black and white, but not in all. Some lower functioning Autistic adults probably do think in black and white terms, but many higher-functioning Autistics and many with AS again, can see the grey areas.
Some thinking has to be black and white. Paedophilia is bad. Rape is bad. There can be no claiming or arguing that these crimes are good or in-between. However, arguments such as "Bring back hanging" can't be debated in black and white terms as there are for and against arguments to that statement, just like there are to the statement "All people with Autism or AS think in black and white?". Well I thought the world was in black and white when younger, but no, there can be greys as well!
There isn't one definite cause or causes of Autistic Spectrum Conditions. Maybe in the next 50 years or so one may be found, but a lot of research and work clearly has to be done before this happens. They may be caused by a factor no one knows about at the moment. I believe that a lot of conditions and disorders are out there simply waiting to be learned about.
There has to be evidence before statements are made about Autism and AS. There have been some ridiculous ideas that have emerged from the world of psychiatry, along with those on Autism. For example, Epilepsy was once viewed as a mental illness and until 1973 Homosexuality was classified as a mental illness.
We really don't know much about the human brain or at least not as much as we could know. When we fully understand the human brain and how it works, we will understand most things.
