

Disco dancing 'fixed something in my mind' - RiderOfGiraffes
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8660356.stm

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goodside
[Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. I don't work in any relevant field, and have no
formal medical education.]

Keep in mind that autism tends to improve over time without any intervention.
This is why it is mostly considered as a pediatric diagnosis. There are of
course many autistic adults, but severity of symptoms almost invariably
declines in later childhood. Also, causality is hard to tease out: Whether he
started dancing because he improved or whether he improved because he started
dancing is anyone's guess.

That being said, there are reasons to believe that certain cerebellar
dysfunctions are involved with autism. Physical clumsiness and lack of
coordination is so common it is usually considered a necessary condition for
making a diagnosis of autism. Studies have shown that autistics have impaired
ability to tap consistent rhythms relative to children without autism (matched
for age and IQ). Some have speculated that such dysfunctions are involved with
the lack of cerebral coordination usually seen as a more proximate cause of
autistic symptoms, such as the lack of a negative correlation between the
task-positive and default networks. I'm not familiar with any reported non-
kinesthetic cognitive benefits of thereapy designed to teach rhythm and
coordination, and I don't imagine many have tried -- dyspraxia symptoms are
notoriously immune to therapy, both in autistics and children with other
development disorders. It'd be fun data to see, though.

~~~
phren0logy
I am a doctor, and I work in the very relevant field of child psychiatry.
Autism is a pediatric diagnosis because, like mental retardation, it is
usually first identified in young children. Similar to mental retardation, the
impact is life long. It does not go away by itself.

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jacquesm
It shouldn't be too hard to do a study on various cultures, their attitude
towards dance and the incidence of autism.

That would be pretty interesting, if it turns out that dancing indeed leads to
autism being less severe or cured by dancing that would be fairly big news.

~~~
aristus
Man, it's bad enough all the gringos wanted to learn Salsa last year and Tango
this year. Now they are going to bring their kids? ;)

On a serious note: isn't diagnosis something that varies across the attitudes
of the doctors? A psychologist friend from Venezuela thinks that Asperger's is
a load of bunk, for example.

~~~
jacquesm
Interesting, has he done research to verify his hypothesis? If he manages to
prove that he'll be hero of a lot of parents whose kids are 'labeled'.

~~~
aristus
I don't think so; it's just a different tradition of thought. You can be
different without having a medical condition. I and I'm sure you have worked
with people who could run a nuclear reactor and seem to function OK, but can't
manage eye contact. Another example: she holds great respect for Freud but I
gather he is not taken seriously anymore in the States.

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ekanes
Reminds me of this HN article - <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=801248>

I wonder if the focus on physical motion (dancing, surfing) somehow helps
autistic folks to "get out of their own heads". Maybe being in the zone does
something special for them.

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defdac
I wonder if this is connected to the dance genes AVPR1a and SLC6A4:
[http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal...](http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.0010042)

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mshafrir
First thing I thought of when I read this was
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Elliot>

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yesbabyyes
If our culture encouraged dancing more, neither autism nor ADD would be big
problems.

~~~
bootload
_"... This new talent instilled a new found confidence and, while many
children with autism find it difficult to form relationships, it gave him
friends from all around the UK. Along with the disco, Jimmy now has a new
passion - ballet. ..."_

After reading the article I'd agree, but to a point. What about those who
don't find dancing interesting? So the question is what latent interests can
Autistic/ADD suffers find that have the same benefits?

~~~
anigbrowl
Tai chi helps too.

~~~
bootload
_"... Tai chi helps too ..."_

I remember talking to a Chinese mate at work on martial arts training and 'Tai
chi' came up. His reply, _"old peoples exercise"_ :)

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Vivtek
Look at the smile on that kid.

