Scientific Brain Linked to Autism 524
squoozer writes "The BBC is reporting that a leading scientist in area of Developmental Psychopathology, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, is indicating that there is good chance that there is a scientific basis to the observed phenomenon that children with highly analytical parents are more likely to be autistic. He believes the genes which make someone analytical may also impair their social and communication skills. A weakness in these areas is the key characteristic of autism."
Well.... (Score:5, Informative)
2) I was about to joke about this, but it appears that the Professor actually is the cousin of Sacha "Ali G" Baron Cohen.
Temple Gradin (Score:4, Informative)
She was on Science Friday last week. Podcast here [sciencefriday.com].
Re:Wired article a few years back (Score:5, Informative)
As a Diagnosed Individual (Score:2, Informative)
As an individual diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, I don't find this to be news. I have seen at least a few people who might have Asperger's syndrome in my computer science classes. I cannot say I am attracted to this type, though, and have not met many women who behave stereotypically autistically.
Anyway, I like being oblivious to certain elements, particularly nonverbal cues, of the social environment. It means my dealings with women frequently end up in great disaster.
More than Rain Man (Score:2, Informative)
Austism extends beyond Asberger's, though Asberger's is far and away the most common type of autism. Austistic social deficits go much farther than simple shyness or bad conversational skills. In their extreme stage, they can cripple a person's ability to lead any semblance of a normal life.
A friend of mine has a young boy with autism. For him, the line between reality and fantasy is blurred to the point of non-existance. He refers to his parents as Mario and Peach (from the video games), and relates everything to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or some other SF/F film. He believes he is a part of the world of those films. It's more than losing yourself in a fantasy. He does it because he cannot make sense of the world around him otherwise. It's becoming more apparent as he grows older that he will not be able to function on his own in society, and will require constant supervision.
Doing some volunteer work a few years ago, I met a kid with a severe form of autism. At the time his condition left him unable to speak more than a few coherent words. He communicated through grunts or other noises, or the few signs in American Sign Language that his parents and doctor had managed to teach him. His temper was incredibly short and he was prone to flying off the handle about things you or I might shrug our shoulders over. He has improved a good deal over the past few years and can communicate much more effectively, but his temper still remains his major social issue.
However the previous examples are more extreme cases and people with milder cases of autism can function quite normally.
Re:Wired article a few years back (Score:5, Informative)
Autism is a spectrum disorder. That means it has a wide variety of symptoms and conditions. It means that people classified as "autistic" can be anywhere from mildly to sevearly affected. The big thing to keep in mind is that they are not all the same, probably not even similar in some cases. It is a wide variety of conditions captured in one term: Autism. The most common symptom between them is childhood development delays and weakness in language and social development.
There are reports that Autism increased in the 90's due to the use of Mercury [newmediaexplorer.org] in childhood vaccines [chetday.com]. The vaccine preservative in question was discontinued in the US a few years ago, but is still in use in other parts of the world.
The combined result is likely something like:
1. Some genetic combinations can cause autistic trates immediately.
2. Some genetic combinations can cause latent autistic tendencies that must be activated by external force, like mild metal contamination (mercury, lead, other heavy metals).
3. Some genetic combinations are not succeptable to autistic trates. However, extreme contamination can still cause developmental damage.
How these different traits manifest themselves may depend on both the genetic condition, and the severity of the contamination.
Re:Professor Baron-Cohen deserves zero respect. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Evolution (Score:2, Informative)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4643312
650 years is realtively short on an evolutionary time scale, which suggests that bigger brains substantially improve survival and ability to reproduce.
Re:old news.... (Score:5, Informative)
But how much of that was attributed to the ground water pollution from fiascos like Fairchild?
For those who weren't there, there were many companies back in the early eighties that were caught dumping chemicals on their site. Fairchild's was on Bernal Road. The plant was shut down, but the building stood vacant until about five years ago when the site was developed into an Albertson's strip mall.
Here's an article: http://www.elandar.com/toxics/stories/neighborhoo
"The Fairchild Semiconductor manufacturing plant in South San Jose had been dumping industrial solvents in a leaky underground tank for about four years before some grounds workers noticed some rust colored dirt. They asked their boss about it, and a little while later Fairchild mentioned the leak to the Great Oaks Water Company, just in case there was a problem.
There was a problem.
The tank had leaked 58,000 gallons of 1,1,1 trichloroethane (TCA), a chemical known for damaging the liver, circulatory system, and nervous system. Just two thousand feet away, a well providing water to the surrounding neighborhood had twenty times the acceptable concentrations of TCA.
Lorraine Ross had lived near the Fairchild plant in South San Jose for six years and her youngest child was struggling with multiple congenital heart defects. There was talk that something was wrong - on her block alone there were four children with birth defects, two miscarriages, and one stillbirth."
Autism Spectrum Quotient... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:'Social skills' (Score:3, Informative)
I think you've hit the nail on the head, and perhaps were even saying that tounge-in-cheek. People with good social skills see talking about football scores with their friends as constructive and interesting because of the social aspect. Seriously; I have a bunch of normal friends through my brother, one night out I asked about sports discussion. They genuinely enjoy it just for the social aspect.
As to "What's the point?" for those who don't find it naturally enjoyable: Outside the office, the point is to develop a social network which leads to more opportunities to spend an evening talking about football scores. Inside the office, it leads to raises and promotions.
As far as I can see, it's basically lying and bullshitting, which surely can't be hard for any smart person to learn?
Very close. I recommend, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. It's not about telling lies so much as it is about focusing on the things that are important to the listener. Put yourself in the listener's place and figure out their motivation, then figure out how the truth you have fits into what they want. You don't have to lie, but you will have to spin. To put a happier face on it, the listener doesn't care about the things they don't care about, so why waste time on those aspects?
Said slightly differently, we scientists see truth as the thing of most value. That is good, but it is not normal. Most other people do not. They see achievement of their goals as the thing of most value. If you can make the truth fit in with their goals, they will accept it happily, blissfully ignorant of the scientific imperative.
Re:Finally! (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Kim Peek & NASA (Score:2, Informative)
'Social skills' can be 'learned' (Score:5, Informative)
My mother was baffled by me, too, but never quit on me. She worked hard to socialize me. She'd wake me up to watch SNL and Monty Python. I learned to tell jokes and understand humor. She exposed me to history, art and religion.
As I grew older I worked to socialize myself. I studied literature and learned how to read and write. I worked with animals and competed in sports (geek sports that required routine, discipline and long times spent alone training).
Still this didn't fully prepare me for the big world and I fell into the geek downward spiral... long periods of coding and disregard for personal hygine...
I could see it wasn't working and went into a concerted effort to break the cycle. I studied how people dressed and made an effort to be more social by going to a coffee shop regularly where the staff began to know me since I always ordered the same drink. But I also worked on learning to talk to people by studying interviews on the radio by Michael Enright, Terry Gross... My computer science teachers taught me a great deal too, one of the focuses of the course work was preparing geeks to interact with the public and the teachers were brilliant at bring us out of our shells. I am forever indebted.
Right now, a good friend of mine is hating his cube life and I am encouraging him to pursue work with autistic children since he enjoys his volunteer work much more than his job. I tell him that it can be done, people can be socialized. It just takes work.
And yes, there are people who are beyond hope, but most of these kids being diagnosed are within range of treatment. It just takes time and dedication to set them on the route. Once taught how to work at it, their innate need for repetition will carry them along.
Re:'Social skills' (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Wired article a few years back (Score:3, Informative)
When will people (mostly crazed parents) give up on these witch hunts?