
Autism’s First Child - pg
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/10/autismand8217s-first-child/8227
======
todayiamme
The problem with most conventional approaches to those who deviate from the
norm is to put them in boxes and label them, but they're human beings! This
outlook directly results in dissociation from them and confining them to the
label of other-ness.

On the other hand it is very, very rare to find complete therapy for an
autistic child in most countries. It takes a lot of patience to teach such
children, or adults anything. Unfortunately, if someone has a conventional
model of behavior in their minds then they tend to get really angry really
fast. So, what if we could make something, an interactive toy, that taught
these skills to children?

I've always wanted to make touch sensitive panels with a display on them to
teach kids vital social skills through play. If we make them smart enough to
encourage safe interaction then it should be possible to teach social
interaction skills at an early stage, but to do any of this we need to move
beyond the disorder model and cookie-cutter attempts of making such kids fit
in.

Why? In the conventional point of view Donald could never have a future like
this and, hence, there's no point of even trying which is simply
heartbreaking. I believe that there should be a path for such children which
goes beyond such things. They're unique and no matter how different from the
norm they may be. They deserve to be loved and cherished for who they are. Not
who we want them to be.

~~~
dbrannan
All the best people are slightly different.

~~~
rue
_All_ people are slightly different.

------
frossie
Reading this really makes me want to recommend the Norwegian movie _Elling_ \-
it's witty, completely unschmaltzy and hints at a pretty good answer on what
good care for adult mentally challenged folk looks like.

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279064/>

It's streamable on Netflix for the US-based folks:

<http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Elling/60025098>

~~~
startup_spouse
I'm really curious. What about reading this article made you think of Elling
and what you refer to as "mentally challenged folk"?

Maybe I'm missing something (I haven't seen the movie, but from the imdb link
you posted, no mention of autism)... but it seems to me like you're saying
"having autism = being mentally challenged". Am I misinterpreting? I hope so
:(

~~~
frossie
The article refers to the fate of adult autistic children when their parents
die. The movie's character relates to a person in similar circumstances - his
mother dies and a social worker places him in sheltered then independent
accomodation.

I apologise if the phrase "mentally challenged" was offensive or inappropriate
(the English language never fails to trip me up). As far as I can recall, the
movie does not identify the specific developmental disability, but the main
character engages in obsessive and ritualistic behaviours and has a number of
challenges with fully integrating in society. His friend has different issues.
The movie has a very positive message, as had the OP. I encourage you to judge
by yourself rather than read the IMDB description. If you feel I have
misrepresented it, I am interested in your views, my contact details are in my
profile.

The real issue, I thought, is what is the appropriate level of state
intervention / social support in circumstances where the parents-caregivers
pass on.

~~~
zokier
I don't think the English language tripped you here but the overtly PC
atmosphere surrounding conversations about differences in people.

~~~
startup_spouse
I wasn't trying to be PC at all. I'm the least PC person I know: I'm an Aspie,
I have little to no filter. I was just seeking clarification :)

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10ren
I always enjoy theatlantic submissions here; this one is really sweet.

single page (also js-free!)
[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2010/10/autism-821...](http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2010/10/autism-8217-s-first-
child/8227/)

~~~
pigbucket
It's a meaningful submission, from that submitter, on a day of massive HN
introspection.

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jacquesm
Autism is a gradual thing, not a binary thing. It's not you have it or yo
don't there is a whole spectrum of the levels that people exhibit and it can
go from being an advantage at times to rendering it impossible for an
individual to function normally in our society.

People with a physical disability have a whole lobbying system in place to
force society to make room for them, mentally challenged people, by their very
nature, do not have anything that compares and likely never will.

------
someperson
"Certain words and phrases captivated him, and he would loop them aloud
endlessly: trumpet vine, business, chrysanthemum. "

I want to know more about this idea.

I think we can agree that words like BIZ-en-Ness and CHRYS-ant-THENUM have a
strange ring to them compared to the rest of the English language when
pronounced aloud. (Also that word, "ALOUD")

From my experience, I'd expect most people as kids had at least one pet words
that had nice ring.

~~~
sp332
Some people get songs stuck in their heads, I get words or phrases looping
over and over. Sometimes I'll get both a song and a word repeating in separate
loops at the same time! I think it's a similar mechanism though, it's a lack
of closure. I believe they repeat because my brain is looking for connections,
or trying to learn something from it. The annoying ones are when I can't
remember the ending of a song, so the middle keeps looping over and over. Or
if I can't quite remember the definition of a word, very annoying. The best
ones are the ones I can remember all of the tune but it surprises me every
time.

Edited for clarity.

~~~
jacquesm
To me the annoying ones are the ones I can't seem to get rid of, no matter how
hard I try. I've got the a short vocal fragment from an Annie Lennox song
stuck in my head for _days_ at the moment so I feel very connected to what you
just wrote.

------
bootload
_"... their lack of interest in people, their fascination with objects, their
need for sameness, their keenness to be left alone ..."_

which can be experienced when you are working on some code, trying to make
bug-free and of course someone has to come over and start a conversation...

 _"... The rules keep changing on me. Every time I think I learn a new rule,
you change it on me ..."_

Psychology gives you the tools, observation the environment.

