Aspies For Freedom

I don't know if anyone else posted this link yet or not.  Did do a quick search for the doctor's name in the forum but only saw him listed in a reference to a Canadian conference on autism.  

But a cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Laurent Mattron, and one of his patients, Michelle Dawson, are postulating that autism and its many different nuances are not a disorder but a different way of being a person.

An mp3 is listed here:  http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/06-07/oct07.html#4

At the site the following text goes along with the mp3 link:

"In the big dictionary of mental disorders known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, or DSM for short, autism is listed as a mental illness. According to the psychiatric manual, people with autism don't communicate well, have trouble interacting with others, and often have some unusual and repetitive behaviours. Scientists have been very interested in understanding what causes autism -- mostly with an eye to curing it.

Now, two autism researchers in Montreal are arguing that maybe autism isn't something that needs to be cured. Maybe it isn't even a mental disorder.

The two researchers make an unlikely team. One is Dr. Laurent Mottron, a psychiatrist and cognitive neuroscientist at the Riviere-des-Prairies Hospital. He has been studying autism for 25 years. The other is Michelle Dawson, who is autistic. Ms. Dawson has never been to university, but is working at the level of someone with a PhD. For the last couple of years, these two have been collaborating on research into autism. They argue that autism should be recognized as a different way of being human, rather than as a disease or series of defects to be eradicated.

We sent freelance science journalist Alison Motluk to Montreal recently, to speak to the two researchers."

Over at boingboing.net they write about the audio piece:

"A noted cognitive nueroscientist and one of his patients (who has autism) team up to advance the hypothesis that autism isn't a disorder, but simply a different kind of person. They say that arguing that autism makes you "good at numbers" but "bad at socializing" is like taking a dog and saying that it's a special kind of cat that's "bad at climbing" but "good at fetching slippers." Autism makes you a different kind of person, most usefully compared to other people with autism.

The two researchers make an unlikely team. One is Dr. Laurent Mottron, a psychiatrist and cognitive neuroscientist at the Riviere-des-Prairies Hospital. He has been studying autism for 25 years. The other is Michelle Dawson, who is autistic. Ms. Dawson has never been to university, but is working at the level of someone with a PhD. For the last couple of years, these two have been collaborating on research into autism. They argue that autism should be recognized as a different way of being human, rather than as a disease or series of defects to be eradicated."

I have yet to listen to the mp3 but will do so shortly.  Sorry if this was posted elsewhere.[/url]

"unlikely pair" = lack of imagination.

I had the chance to listen to the mp3 recording, and it was nice that the media did a story about autism mostly from the perspectives of autistics. A neccesary thing to do in an era in which the media still largly portrays us as broken human beings that needs to be somehow "fixed."

I especially liked the comments surrounding the Auton descision, and the fact that alot of parents now hate Michelle Dawson -- an autistic herself -- for successfully standing up for our rights as autisitcs (even though I am not directly affected by the Supreme Court of Canada's descision since I live in the United States).

Thank you to Michelle Dawson for your courageous efforts, and thank you to the CBC for doing a show that portrays autistic individuals as having differences rather than a series of deficits and disorders.

Here's hoping for more positive media stories about autism in the future

~Cole K.

is there a different way to construct the neurological issues autistics have? there is no doubt in my mind that there are many things that comes with being that should be labelled problems, or we would just be trivialising very real issues that people face.
there has to be a better definition that marries the two flip sides together

You make a good point.  But I don't think the issue brought up is to trivialize the real world issues faced by persons on the spectrum.  I took away from the CBC audio file the sense that the spectrum as a whole is a continuation of the normal spectrum of human behavior.  This is an idea  I've been gravitating toward for about eight months now. (Glad I came across this link.)

Yea, there are social problems faced by aspies.  But with whom does this real fault lie, if you trust the assumptions by these Canadian researchers?  The autistic or the culture he resides in?  No, I'm not pushing aside anyone's pain and trauma caused by their personal condition.  And I don't think the researchers are either.  They are pushing the idea that autism is a normal part of humanity like being asian, african, or caucasian is.

So, we're like a different step on the path of human genetics? Well, better than being a "curable disease of the mind."

A different step as in 'we're a diverging genetic branch of mankind?'  I don't think so.  We're no more a different branch of humanity than lefties are a seperate genetic branch.  But you're right.  Autism as a medical problem is being challenged by these two researchers and many others.  That's not to say that comorbid issues or the social hardships - for those with the social appetitie - aren't issues that each aspie must deal with.  And these issues are usually dealt with in a medical sense, pharmaceutical or therapy.  Again, the concept is that autism isn't something to be cured or that our condition is wrong.  It's only different.