Autistic
SPECTRUM
steadily increasing for years. It is generally believed that autistic spectrum disorders directly affect about 1% of the population, but it has been reported as high as 2.6%. Hansen and colleagues sought to determine the reasons behind this increase in Denmark in 2015. They found that the reasons were primarily non-etiological – based on factors such as public awareness and changes in reporting practices and diagnostic processes. A number of factors have been cited to account for this increase, most infamously vaccines influencing parental decisions regarding their children’s healthcare. Denmark saw a decrease in the uptake of mumps and measles vaccinations. This was not accompanied by a decrease in the prevalence of autism, just an increase in cases of measles and mumps.
son didn’t seem interested in talking or playing with the other children; kept to himself and hadn’t undertaken to read, write or do arithmetic - suggesting that a clinical psychologist visit their home. Laing wasn’t concerned about the social aspects, but pointed out to Max that he might run into trouble with the school if he insisted on not doing his classwork. Laing went to the States for six weeks, when he returned, his son had developed an interest in computers – an interest which had forced him to read and write. Four weeks later - and only a few months after ever having pursued one of his idiosyncratic, personal interests a presented his dad with a irthday present his first literary effort. It read:
The eminent psychiatrist and psychologist Iain McGilchrist told me at a conference that many teachers approach him after talks to explain that they need to teach whole classes of children about facial expressions. As we move towards an increasingly digitised and depersonalised society, the brain is going to rewire to this effect – particularly in the very malleable brains of children. Recognising and responding to face-to-face social cues is not as important for the current, digitally-native generation, as in prior generations. Arshya Vahabzadeh – a psychiatrist – enthusiastically explains that new eye tracking solutions can help diagnose children with autism as early as 18 months old. While such early diagnoses could help families and carers to prepare for the future, it should also be clear that the aetiology of autism is not as clearly defined as that of other disorders and perhaps should not be ascribed to children so young. A diagnosis of autism will hugely affect these children’s lives. They will grow up in a world where they are quantifia ly different from their peers likely accentuating these differences. A child’s upbringing and surrounding environment may lead them towards clinical diagnoses. A case in the West of Scotland involved the diagnosis of two brothers with Asperger’s syndrome. They regularly met with a clinician who followed standard practices. When the boys reached high school, their symptoms disappeared. They appeared to engage in normal social and cognitive interactions. Eventually, their father was diagnosed with Asperger’s – hailing from a generation in which childhood diagnosis was less likely. Their upbringing made them appear as if they had a clinical disorder, when in fact they didn’t.
As patchy, as quilt As forgetful, as nightmares As wild as can be.”
R.D. Laing – one of the country’s most engaging and controversial psychologists - once recounted a story about his son, Max, at the age of nine. The head mistress of his school explained to Dr Laing that his
The writer of this poem is as dreamy as infinity
Laing – in my opinion – correctly asserted “He would never have written that poem if I had sent him off to a clinical psychologist”. This ties into the aspect of our culture which Laing referred to as “psychophobia”, our fear of our own minds. He linked this to a mass campaign of homogenisation of experience, which cows us into experiencing the same thing at the same time, or else. The DSM-III – as it was in Laing’s time – classed “any unusual perceptual experience” as a criteria for mental disorder. We should perhaps rely less on the development of more effective means of classifying people and instead understand that people are different and this is what makes the world work. We should extend and develop our own empathy, compassion and understanding towards those who have trouble with these faculties. This practice would empower and enrich the lives of individuals with more extreme tendencies and behaviours, and may reduce our reliance on drugs and institutions for their treatment. We tend to view autistic people as inherently different from ourselves, on a different level and indeed a different spectrum. This perception is not only damaging to the relationship between ‘autistic people’ and ‘healthy people’, but is also damaging to our relationship with ourselves. It is important to realise that the autistic amongst us demonstrate traits and characteristics exhibited by all of us. There is a lot that we can learn from one another so as to develop a more peaceful, fruitful and enjoyable co-existence. There is a little bit of autism in all of us, we should endeavour to learn from it so as to become better people.
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