Editorial #265: Joan Rivers’ Holocaust Joke

Autism Politico finds a comment by Joan Rivers to be offensive. Referring to German supermodel Heidi Klum’s dress, she said:

“The last time a German looked this hot was when they were pushing Jews into the ovens.”

Rivers is reported to be Jewish, but the comment is still poor taste in Autism Politico’s opinion. There are many people who have been traumatized as the result of the Holocaust, and while Germany should never be allowed to forget the role it played in sending millions of people to their deaths, it should be noted that Germany has tried hard since WWII to repair its previous ways.

The other problem Autism Politico has with this kind of comment is that a terrible and traumatic time in history becomes a vehicle by which to convey humor. Would the six million Jews who died want to know that they were part of a joke like this?

Perhaps we Autism Politico spectrumites are overly sensitive about issues like this, but we don’t think so, having been the butt of so many jokes ourselves.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

 

 

 

Editorial #264: The Dreaded DSM V

Autism Politico is aware that the DSM V is going to be revised. Soon, it will lump the five autism categories into one, thereby voiding previous diagnoses.

While we think this is an excellent way to get rid of people who don’t deserve to be spectrumized (such as people diagnosed by school psychologists for the purpose of getting funding for special needs students who are not really on the spectrum) our greater concern is about the people advocating for a reinstatement of the spectrum categories.

In looking at the self-diagnosed individuals who are in an uproar over this, Autism Politico thinks they should butt out. They haven’t been officially diagnosed yet, ergo nothing that happens in regard to the DSM V is of interest to them.

The good news for them is this: Now that the DSM V is introducing one broad sweeping category for autism, it should be easier than ever for self-diagnosed people to finally get diagnosed. If they fail to get a diagnosis once the DSM V goes into effect, then we can pretty much toss them off our radar for good, don’t you think?

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

 

 

Editorial #259: Behave Yourselves!

Autism Politico notes that there are still autistics posting to online forums who believe they have been hard done by. As if every other person born on earth who isn’t autistic has an easy life from start to finish. Autistics seem to feel they are entitled to jobs for the asking, or benefits for the asking if they can’t get jobs. Many who post online all day complain that they are incapable of working, never thinking that perhaps if they can type nonstop at a computer, transcribing documents of some kind might be the job for them. Interestingly, most of those autistics who behave like this call themselves “neurodiversity activists.”

There is a two word phrase that comes in handy now and then: “Shut up.”

We use this phrase here with gusto.

The reason we say “Shut up” is because we’re tired of seeing lazy people, or people with attitude problems, use their autism as an excuse to demand things from others. Get busy! Start trying to get along with people! Behave yourselves! Get a job!

Yes, we know what we have to put in before we close: This commentary obviously isn’t meant for those autistics who really cannot function on their own.

And so now we have just watered down our entire editorial, because lazy autistics or autistics with attitude problems will say to themselves “Well, I can’t function on my own, so that editorial wasn’t meant for me.”

Guess what? It was.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #251: We’re back! And Lisa Jo Rudy is Gone!

We at Autism Politico have come out of retirement because Lisa Jo Rudy is going into hers (in a manner of speaking). She says:

Note: as this is the last blog post I’m writing for this site, I have closed the post to comments.  To those of you who enjoyed reading my blogs, thanks so much for the kind words!

Autism Politico doesn’t know why Lisa Jo has ended the comments but knows that Lisa Jo has a habit of closing comments when people who emphatically disagree with her decisions or opinions post their opinions. Such was the case with the notorious Zoey Roberts article she posted.

Many people in Facebook forums are cheering the exit of Rudy, who, for the duration of her reign at Autism.About.com, never really seemed to have a firm opinion on anything, never really seemed to take a firm stance against unproven therapies, and sometimes seemed to make her readers wonder if her son was a guinea pig for autism treatments.

Even as she exists, she throws in some parting shots at the autism community which some people are interpreting as bitter:

Many people on the autism spectrum are amazing human beings.  Many are not.

says Rudy, seemingly in exasperation. Our counter to that is a restatement of something we picked up from a poster in a WrongPlanet community: ALL autistics are amazing, even if some of them behave like jerks.

So we see now how Rudy has viewed the community which she allegedly served.

Rudy says:

This so-called “autism community” includes some very scary people.  Beware of these people, and try not to allow them to influence the decisions you make on behalf of your children.  When sites like Age of Autism LITERALLY photoshop images of horns and tails onto people with whom they disagree, you can make a shrewd guess that they have an agenda that they are trying to push.

But she posts this unaware that there is a big brew-ha-ha going on right this minute across Facebook about a person she featured in one of her articles. This person has many different online aliases and is badgering people with them to the point where people are visibly angry. Rudy billed this person as an advocate. So while Rudy may say that AofA photoshops images of horns and tails onto people, Rudy may have knowingly or unknowingly pasted a halo onto person many people consider to be a demon.

Another nugget of wisdom from Ms. Rudy, who invites us to follow her on her new blog:

Gold-plated, double-blind, controlled, expensive studies may tell you far less than you think they should.

Yes, Lisa, let us all disregard these studies, which are put together by a scientific method which is accepted worldwide by researchers. Let us all reject these studies, which are done in such a manner as to reduce error ratios to a minimum, and quantifiable, reproducible results to a maximum. Let us ignore the fact that there is a control group. What we should want, Autism Politico gathers, is a random sampling of people who give vague opinions on things, and this should be our source of knowledge.

Autism Politico notices that Lisa Jo Rudy was always “open-minded” about ABA therapy, but now that she has no interest in Autism.About.com, she tells us that for HER child:

We specifically stayed away from ABA because, quite frankly, when it’s done poorly (and it often is) it is dehumanizing and disrespectful.  Worse, it is focused entirely upon behavior, and not upon the human being that is your child. 

Never in our recollection did she try to discourage other people from ABA. Autism Politico guesses that while she certainly would not expose her own kid to ABA, she didn’t care as much what other parents did with their kids.

Now Autism Politico must state that we do not believe Rudy is a bad person. We actually LIKE some of the things she has to say. For instance, when Rudy says:

The goal of autism therapies and treatments, in my opinion, should be to help the individual with autism to become as fully human as they can be.  Being “fully human” means so much more than being typical.  It means learning, loving, creating, imagining, laughing, playing, singing, being silly, having fun.

Autism Politico hears two things:

1) Rudy genuinely wishes the best for autistics.

2) And she must be naive, because she seems to think we are less than fully human.

Autism Politico is pleased that Lisa Jo Rudy, who has expressed the idea that we are not as fully human as others, is leaving. Good riddance, and goodbye.

And no, we will not be reading your new blog.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #243: Are schools your friend?

Autism Politico would like its readers to carefully the implications of schools diagnosing children with any disorder.

If a child has a disorder, a child may be entitled to additional funding to meet the educational needs of this special needs child. Autism Politico agrees that all children are entitled to an education and that all special needs students are entitled to whatever funding they may be entitled to under the law.

But Autism Politico also questions whether or not schools are qualified to make a diagnosis of any kind. They are not medical professionals. As far as autism goes, there are, under the DSM IV, different kinds of autism, and a medical diagnosis can take years, rather than hours or days to reach and accurate diagnose.

If a school can identify a child with special needs, then they must develop an IEP for that child within a specific time period, and they may apply for certain kinds of funding, depending on where these schools are situated. The amount of funding they are entitled to is also dependent on what the laws are in their locality.

In a time when cuts in funding are made to education, it seems that schools have additional motivation to secure funding wherever they can, and so the question arises as to whether or not children who are quickly diagnosed are properly diagnosed, or whether or not a diagnosis even exists.

While we as taxpayers can rest easy when we know our tax dollars are used for good purposes, when we see the number of autism diagnosis climb dramatically over a period of years, and when we see most of these diagnoses being made by schools rather than qualified medical professionals, can we continue to rest easily?

Could it be that schools are diagnosing special needs children so that they can make up for cuts in funding to regular education elsewhere?

A diagnosis follows someone the rest of their life the same way a conviction for a crime follows them for the rest of their lives.

Isn’t a false diagnosis under these circumstances the equivalent of exploitation of children for monetary gain? In which case, are schools our friends?

Keep in mind that when a child is diagnosed falsely, the parent of that child may believe the diagnosis and subject that child to all manner of legitimate and quack cures, causing themselves considerable expense, and causing their own child considerable trauma. All so that schools can make money.

Is this what we want from out schools?

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #242: Jail Gary McKinnon

Autism Politico is tired of hearing autism activists whine about how poorly Gary McKinnon is being treated. Due to the intricacies of diplomacy, he seems to be treated with kid gloves.

But no more, thank goodness!

Campaigners had hoped the President would halt the legal proceedings because of the Asperger’s sufferer’s precarious mental state.

But Mr Obama – despite previously saying he wanted to find an ‘appropriate solution’ to end the computer hacker’s ordeal – effectively endorsed the extradition process.

Some autistics believe that autism is a minority, not a disability, not a diagnosis. terrific! Then let justice take its course and try McKinnon as any other person of any racial or ethnic background would be tried.

Autistics know right from wrong don’t they? Or is not knowing right or wrong something particular to their “minority?”

Perhaps it is time from autistics the world over to write those autism advocates who support McKinnon and tell them to stop before they give all autistics a bad name.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #239: Heavy Metals in Makeup

Autism Politico would like all moms who believe that mercury causes autism to concede the possibility that the heavy metals in your cosmetics may have been absorbed into your system and poisoned your baby while it was  in-utero, thereby making the baby autistic.  

The group tested 49 makeup products and found all of them contained varying amounts of heavy metals, including one lip gloss which contained levels of arsenic and lead exceeding limits recommended by Health Canada.

But that’s not all:

Tests found that all of the products tested contained trace amounts of nickel, lead and beryllium. On average, products contained four of eight “metals of concern.” All but one of the products, however, contained metal amounts within Health Canada’s draft guidelines.

Maybe there’s mercury in there too?

One thing we must admit to…putting on makeup is a social thing. There really is no hygienic purpose for using it. So moms, in the interest of being social, you may have contributed to your kid’s autism. How does that make you feel?

Let’s hear you speak up!

Alternatively, you could get with the program and recognize that autism is genetic. It;s what the rest of the world has believed since 2007.

The discovery was part of the largest genome scan ever attempted in autism research. Called the Autism Genome Project, the initiative involved 137 researchers from 50 institutions in nine countries, including Canada.

 Working together, the scientists were able to share samples, data, and expertise to analyze DNA from about 1,600 families worldwide.

Of course we know most mercury-causes-autism people (the flat-earthers of our generation)  refuse to entertain the idea that they might be wrong. But we just thought that if you anti-vaxers are willing to sue doctors, governments, and vaccine manufacturers for “causing” autism in your kids, perhaps you’d like to sue yourselves for wearing makeup with heavy metals in them, because you could be just as guilty as you think the vaccine manufacturers supposedly are.

By the way, why don’t you people who wear makeup subject yourselves to chelation therapy?  You might become autistic if you don’t.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #236: When Is a Minority Not a Minority?

Autism Politico is aware that there is an autism advocacy group out there who wants the United Nations to declare autistics a minority group. The movement started a long time ago when 1 in 166 people had some form of autism.

Over the years, the figure has changed as more and more people become diagnosed.

In South Korea, it is now believed that 1 in 38 kids have some form of autism.

A study in South Korea suggests about 1 in 38 children have traits of autism, higher than a previous U.S. estimate of 1 in 100.

Of course part of this study was based on a parental survey, and we all know that parents are the least objective when evaluating their own children. However, assuming the results are true…

Autism advocates and autism advocacy organizations should be campaigning to have the following groups granted minority status:

People who have…

Sickle-cell anemia because it affects 1 in every 500 African-American births and 1 in every 1000 to 1400 Hispanic-American births.

Cystic Fibrosis because it affects 1 in 2000-3000 new borns.

Fragile X syndrome because it affects 1 in 3600 males and 1 in 4000 to 6000 females with full mutation worldwide.

Huntington’s disease because in Western countries, it’s estimated that about five to seven people per 100,000 are affected by HD.

All these diseases, like autism, are genetic in origin. All are more rare.

Of course the other thing autism advocates and autism advocacy organizations can do is shut their mouths to keep themselves and the autism community from looking stupid. But it doesn’t look like that is going to happen anytime soon.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #217: Observation #9

Autism Politico observes that parents of autistics are willing to default to any theory but one about what caused autism in their children.

They’ll say:

-Vaccines caused my child’s autism, or

-Mercury toxicity caused my child’s autism, or

-Heavy metal poisoning caused my child’s autism, or

-Gluten caused my child’s autism, or

-Food additives caused my child’s autism, or

-Conspirators caused my child’s autism, or

-Genetics caused my child’s autism, or

-Etc.

But to Autism Politico’s knowledge, there isn’t a group on the internet where a bunch of parents, especially mothers, have congregated together to say they are in agreement with Bruno Bettelheim’s theories. I’ve known of no mother who has said “My poor parenting caused my child’s autism!!!”

Isn’t that interesting? Everyone wants to finger something else as being the cause of autism in their loved ones, but no one wants to think about whether or not their own behavior might exacerbate autism in their loved ones.

How egotistical.

Now of course Autism Politico knows Bruno Bettelheim’s theory doesn’t hold water these days given that the genes which cause autism have been identified. These scientists have begun to (politely) discount other theories as being so much patter. But it’s funny how quick people are to dismiss their own parenting skills as being the cause of autism, but cling to the idea that vaccines cause autism, or that there is an international conspiracy to make people autistic, or that coffee enemas can cure autism, isn’t it? At the very least, their egos, and also their fear of self-examination are cause for concern. Perhaps by being so closed-minded, they are endangering their autistic children?

Replies to this editorial are welcome.

Editorial #146: Just When You Thought It Was Safe…

Just when parents who hate their autistic kids thought it was safe to love their other children, along comes this article which tells us that: 

Undiagnosed siblings in families that include two or more children with autism often grapple with language delays, social difficulties and other mild symptoms of the disorder, a new study suggests.

Autism Politico  is cheered by this news. It once again goes toward proving the point that autism is genetic, and not just the autistic kids have autistic traits! But don’t take OUR word for it. Read the article:

Genes prompt autism symptoms of varying intensity among members of these families, including in some kids who don’t qualify as having an autism spectrum disorder, say psychiatrist John Constantino of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and his colleagues.

So now parents who hate their autistic children need to begin hating the children who are not diagnosed as well, because they could very well have autistic traits. And parents ought to consider that the genes their children have might very well have come from them or from someone else in their familial lines.

Alternatively, parents who hate their autistic kids could learn to love them as much as they love their NT children.

Replies to this editorial are welcome.