What are your views on the recent podcast “The Telepathy Tapes” in which a journalist, Ky Dickens tested heavily non verbal autistic children who appear to have been communicating telepathically with each other?
Hi Simon, i must admit although i am sympathetic to genuine cases, i am cynical that more and more people say they are "on the spectrum" as a seeming coverall for excusing all sorts of behaviour or genuine lack of certain abilities.
Is there actually a way a layman can tell the difference?
I fort u av to be pretty artistic to play Ali G, Borat and Bruno. That's range, innit?
Sorry about that, had to be done.
The real question is: to what extent is the current fashion of diagnosing a huge array of people as somewhere 'on the spectrum' just significant supply of services looking to create adequate levels of demand?
Why is autism on the increase? My eldest lad has been tested and found not to have it, yet displays signs which put him on the edge. What chance do we have against autism vs the internet? The rise of the internet in 2002 in the UK (broadband becoming mainstream) seems to have lit the touchpaper of mental health disorder. We cannot see the wood for the trees, and the forest is burning.
For context the closest thing I can see from my own research is that he suffers Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). Can we fuck get a diagnosis - everywhere is swamped with people applying for labels / help
Do you believe the trend of borderline bragging about being "neurodivergent" on social media has been a net positive for the autistic community by bringing sympathetic attention and deeper consideration to the discussion, or a net negative by glamorizing a problem no one would willingly choose?
About 15 years ago we had autism and aspergers, which helped to spilt the severe cases from people who could function in society, if a bit odd. Have we lost something by labelling all cases on the spectrum "autism" and should we try to bring in some more nuanced terms again?
Do you really think autism is so much on the rise, or is it more that we've expanded the diagnostic criteria so much? I'm pretty sure if I was growing up today I would be diagnosed autistic. I was a quirky, socially inept kid with no friends and weird interests that I delved into deeply. Today I'm a quirky, socially inept adult with a few good friends and weird interests I delve into deeply.
If we only take the severe cases, non-verbal, not able to toilet train, etc., have those really increased that much?
Are autistic children more, less or not significantly different from non autistics for developing dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or other neurological disorders in later life?
We all need a much clearer and precise definition of autism. In The Science of Evil (wonderful book) he distinguishes between the inability to feel true empathy as manifestly different in autism versus psychopathy. Ask him to clarify what empathy is and what it is not. And how it manifests in people who are neither autistic nor psychopathic.
I’m a soldier studying a degree in developmental cognitive neuroscience in my free time and I’ve been watching videos about the autistic savant Derek Paravicini’s extraordinary musical ability, it seems as if the keyboard has become a language he has learned to speak. It makes me wonder: to what extent might such savant skills reflect atypical regulation of sensory input at the level of the thalamus, leading to unusual patterns of cortical development? Is this kind of altered information processing essentially at the heart of autism, and is that why prodromal care is often recommended to support or guide neurodevelopment before these atypical pathways become entrenched, or is that unrelated?
My wife was diagnosed as neurodivergent, and although there is a surge in cases and diagnoses, I see a thin line in many traits or ways of thinking or acting. This helps and allows us to not be faced with a war of words and to understand the other. On the other hand, how can we anticipate a meltdown or shutdown, or do you have tools that could avoid or mitigate them?
My question, why have we suddenly seen a massive increase in cases of autism? My guess is the more research, the more understanding the easier it becomes to gain a diagnosis. Also what are your thoughts on self identifying that you have autism? Surely when everyone is saying I have autism it erodes the real cases? Thanks 😊
Also why are we as a society so interested in being autistic and other neurodivergencies? When you look at social media specifically, everyone has something "wrong" or different. Also do you think that all these diagnoses are useful to society? Or is it better to only diagnose those whose lives are significantly affected?
What are your views on the recent podcast “The Telepathy Tapes” in which a journalist, Ky Dickens tested heavily non verbal autistic children who appear to have been communicating telepathically with each other?
Hi Simon, i must admit although i am sympathetic to genuine cases, i am cynical that more and more people say they are "on the spectrum" as a seeming coverall for excusing all sorts of behaviour or genuine lack of certain abilities.
Is there actually a way a layman can tell the difference?
Thanks in advance, Paul.
Such a good point.
I fort u av to be pretty artistic to play Ali G, Borat and Bruno. That's range, innit?
Sorry about that, had to be done.
The real question is: to what extent is the current fashion of diagnosing a huge array of people as somewhere 'on the spectrum' just significant supply of services looking to create adequate levels of demand?
Why is autism on the increase? My eldest lad has been tested and found not to have it, yet displays signs which put him on the edge. What chance do we have against autism vs the internet? The rise of the internet in 2002 in the UK (broadband becoming mainstream) seems to have lit the touchpaper of mental health disorder. We cannot see the wood for the trees, and the forest is burning.
For context the closest thing I can see from my own research is that he suffers Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). Can we fuck get a diagnosis - everywhere is swamped with people applying for labels / help
Do you believe the trend of borderline bragging about being "neurodivergent" on social media has been a net positive for the autistic community by bringing sympathetic attention and deeper consideration to the discussion, or a net negative by glamorizing a problem no one would willingly choose?
About 15 years ago we had autism and aspergers, which helped to spilt the severe cases from people who could function in society, if a bit odd. Have we lost something by labelling all cases on the spectrum "autism" and should we try to bring in some more nuanced terms again?
Is there a connection between these spectrum disorders and ADHA?
Do you really think autism is so much on the rise, or is it more that we've expanded the diagnostic criteria so much? I'm pretty sure if I was growing up today I would be diagnosed autistic. I was a quirky, socially inept kid with no friends and weird interests that I delved into deeply. Today I'm a quirky, socially inept adult with a few good friends and weird interests I delve into deeply.
If we only take the severe cases, non-verbal, not able to toilet train, etc., have those really increased that much?
How much research has been done on the relationships between blindness and autism, particularly regressive autism?
Are you aware of any therapies or treatments that have showed any promise with regards to regressive autism?
Are autistic children more, less or not significantly different from non autistics for developing dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or other neurological disorders in later life?
That's an interesting question I'd never considered before.
We all need a much clearer and precise definition of autism. In The Science of Evil (wonderful book) he distinguishes between the inability to feel true empathy as manifestly different in autism versus psychopathy. Ask him to clarify what empathy is and what it is not. And how it manifests in people who are neither autistic nor psychopathic.
I’m a soldier studying a degree in developmental cognitive neuroscience in my free time and I’ve been watching videos about the autistic savant Derek Paravicini’s extraordinary musical ability, it seems as if the keyboard has become a language he has learned to speak. It makes me wonder: to what extent might such savant skills reflect atypical regulation of sensory input at the level of the thalamus, leading to unusual patterns of cortical development? Is this kind of altered information processing essentially at the heart of autism, and is that why prodromal care is often recommended to support or guide neurodevelopment before these atypical pathways become entrenched, or is that unrelated?
Another question: what does Baron-Cohen think of the preponderance of kids with “gender dysphoria” and autism?
This is a fantastic question, I really hope this gets asked, or covered in the main conversation. 😀
My wife was diagnosed as neurodivergent, and although there is a surge in cases and diagnoses, I see a thin line in many traits or ways of thinking or acting. This helps and allows us to not be faced with a war of words and to understand the other. On the other hand, how can we anticipate a meltdown or shutdown, or do you have tools that could avoid or mitigate them?
My question, why have we suddenly seen a massive increase in cases of autism? My guess is the more research, the more understanding the easier it becomes to gain a diagnosis. Also what are your thoughts on self identifying that you have autism? Surely when everyone is saying I have autism it erodes the real cases? Thanks 😊
Also why are we as a society so interested in being autistic and other neurodivergencies? When you look at social media specifically, everyone has something "wrong" or different. Also do you think that all these diagnoses are useful to society? Or is it better to only diagnose those whose lives are significantly affected?