Aspies For Freedom

This story from an Australian Newspaper giving health expert's views of the most disabling conditions -

Autism 'causes greatest disability'

ASTHMA, hypertension and arthritis were the most common but least debilitating disabilities in Australian society, a report revealed today.

The condition most likely to be associated with severe disability was autism, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report found, followed by dementia, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.

The most common diseases or conditions causing disability in Australia were asthma, high blood pressure and arthritis, but the report found the level of disability associated with these conditions was relatively minor.

"Conditions such as asthma, hypertension, arthritis and hearing (problems) are all relatively prevalent but are relatively unlikely to be associated with severe disability," report co-author Dr Xingyan Wen said.

"In contrast, conditions associated with intellectual, learning, psychiatric and neurological disorders were less prevalent but very likely to be associated with severe disability.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page...02,00.html

Its worrying that they have put autism first and Down's third, and we know that 90% of Down's babies detected are aborted, and that they are working on the pre natal tests for autism.
The fact that some people can be very ill with diabetes for instance, and could die, but many cope well with it, yet autism is a spectrum condition, with varying degress of ability, and is never fatal, makes me wonder if they have an agenda on announcing autism as the "greatest disability".

Not good...at all... One of my classmates who's working on an argument against prenatal testing because of abortions on futurely disabled children. One of her main points is that famous people who were great contributors would be possibly aborted then. (ex. Beetoven, Albert Einstein, etc.)

Jesus Christ.  It's really becomming a Holocaust isn't it?

  Why don't they just go ahead and send us to concentration camps.  Oh wait, they DO!! it's called mental hospitals.

  I swear, to hell with declaring ourselves minorities, we should go ahead and declare ourselves an entirely different species, and break off from the rest of society heh.

Not only is it offensive to people on the Autism spectrum, but it's so offensive to those people who have real disabilities.

:cry: Ughhh! Damned Zyklon-B fumes again. :cry:

So what's the story here? What ARE we autistic folk? Wasteful eaters?
Yeah, that's what thad bad man with the funny little mustache would have called us. :twisted:

I never heard of Aspergers until I was 40 (I'm now 42) -- lightbulb moment!  Suddenly my life (and my dad's life and my son's life) made sense.

I may be DIFFERENT - "shy" by NT interpretation - since I long ago learned it's safer to keep my mouth shut and control my stims in public (my siggy notwithstanding :lol: ), BUT I AM NOT DISABLED.  

I am
* married 23 years to the same man,
* a college grad, summa cum laude,
* mother of 5 responsible well-behaved children (two are now self-supporting adults; our oldest is a college grad and now applying to law school),
* homeschooling for 12 years (I get most of my criticism on THIS from NT's who say they "could never stand to spend so much time" with their own children  :shock: ),
* and dealing with several special needs kids (Wms Syndrome/learning disability - 14yo dau, and dyslexia - 7yo son) in addition to AS (myself and 11yo son).  

I challenge any NT to take my place for a few months.  :grin:

Who knows, some aborted fetus with the potential for being on the spectrum could be the next Beethoven or Albert Einstein. That will be a sad day for our planet when these people wouldn't be allowed to live. I just know that when I was diagnosed with Asperger's as an adult, I had little knowledge about it, only the severe cases of autism. I have a college degree, soon a second one, a stable relationship, and the ability to become fully independent when I get a job. I have never considered myself disabled at all, especially given my soon-to-be independence.

Why is it not the GREATEST DISCRIMINATION is given to those with autism or conditions associated with intellectual, learning, psychiatric and neurological disorders?

If the discrimination stopped, then these disorders or conditions would not be so DISABLING.

Why would any scientists bother to do gene therapy research? -  when all the genetic disorders will be tested for in prenatal testings and the recommended treatment will be DEATH.   It would hardly be cost effective to keep doing research on gene therapy if there are not going to any amount of surviving people with these genes to treat.

It seems there is a huge scam going on with millions going to research, who can honestly believe that they would spend a lot on a cure or gene therapy when they can simply do a prenantal test and 'cure the unborn' by eradicating it.

I have had a difficult time trying to research exactly what tests are done with amniotic fluid for prenatal testing.  

The rH factor blood typing test seems to be the only one that will show a treatable condition.  I guess what other tests are ordered by the doctor might be dependant on the parents' family histories.  

I wonder if there has ever been a case of a mother refuses to have a "recommended abortion treatment" for a genetic disorder detected in an unborn baby.   If the mother was declared imcompetant to make her own decisions for whatever reason, what would happen?

I know of two women who were told their unborn child had whatever genetic condition they test for with amniocentesis (I don't know because I always refused the test with my pregnancies).  Both mothers refused to abort, even though the doctors pressured them to do so.  Both pregnancies resulted in PERFECTLY NORMAL CHILDREN.

"I have had a difficult time trying to research exactly what tests are done with amniotic fluid for prenatal testing."

Baron-Cohen found higher levels of testosterone in the amniotic fluid of children who later developed autism.

I know that last year at the same lab they were looking at the amniotic fluid of pregnant autistic women, probably looking for the same higher levels of testosterone.

I would NEVER take part in such a study.
The consequences could be very grave.

I dont think its paased exclusively through males, and girls/women are underdiagnosed.
I passed it on to my son, and we have numerous other female members who are in the same position.

They did find greater levels of testosterone in the amniotic fluid, but that could be produced by the mother, therefore affecting the baby, or produced by the autistic baby itself.

My father was aspie.  I am aspie, so I have no doubt he passed it to me.  But my father clearly got his AS from his mother (my grandfather was quite NT).  And I, not my husband (who's family is quite NT), passed it to my son.

It would be interesting to do a family tree showing the autism parts and how it has gone down generations to see if there is any pattern.

This is very personal information however and maybe people would not want to show it. Though I suppose all names could be blank with just m or f to show gender.
I am thinking specifically about inheritance through gender, and whether the males get dx/have it but undx more than females.