Tuesday, June 28, 2011

U.C. Davis study results may rankle neurodiversitites

Here is a story about a new study coming out of U.C. Davis, suggesting that mothers who consume prenatal vitamins during pregnancy reduce the risk of having an autistic offspring.

Since Michelle Dawson, Ari Ne'eman, Amanda Baggs, and other august members of the neurodiversity movement are opposed to anything that will prevent a fetus from becoming autistic, I suspect this study will rankle their feathers a bit. I guess a pregnant woman taking prenatal vitamins in the hopes that it will reduce the likelihood of their offspring from becoming autistic will become the new eugenics and nazism.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

It didn't help us.

Anonymous said...

That was very impressive that you used the term "autistic" rather than "a fetus with autism" as other ND members would find that archaic.

If only we could find a way to get them to listen to our side on how it feels being autistic like Larry David was able to do in this episode toward the guy in the wheelchair in the bathroom scene of Curb Your Enthusiasm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgedBRXw7fY

Unknown said...

Is this a MIND institute study? How many families have been sampled in this count? This study does not seem entirely complete, though MIND usually makes very detailed reports (as much as I still despise some of its workers, mainly Ricky Rollens).

Vitamin pills are silly and it is better to just eat a healthy diet, unless one's body has trouble processing the nutrients, therefore needs synthetic supplements. No, I would not be opposed to pregnant women watching their nutrition, it is the most vitally important thing to do. Whether or not the fetus is autistic, there is no reason it cannot be healthy.

jonathan said...

the study comes from the CHARGE (childhood autism risks from genetics and environment) group from U.C. Davis. Irva Hertz-Piciotto is one of the secondary authors. I am not sure, but I think she is affiliated with MIND also. I did not recognize the names of the other authors. I am not sure whether or not CHARGE is part of MIND, but they are both affiliated with U.C. Davis.

I've met Rick Rollins, and personally I did not care much for the man either.

If a fetus is autistic then, by definition it is not healthy.

Unknown said...

If a fetus is autistic then, by definition it is not healthy.

I am plenty healthy, much more so than 90% of NTs. Especially because I am vegetarian. Autism does not make a difference for me, as long as I am not stressed out with socialization.

Fauxtist said...

"If a fetus is autistic then, by definition it is not healthy.

I am plenty healthy, much more so than 90% of NTs. "

That is because you are not autistic. You claim to have Asperger's Syndrome, like I have.

You aren't autistic so stop pretending you are. You do a disservice to those that are and won't be able to write on this blog to tell you to go to hell and to stop aping their diagnosis.

However, I am here, father of a real autistic, man with a real diagnosis of AS to tell you that you should stop saying you are autistic, because you and me ain't autistic. Stick to something you know because autism is something you've been segregated from, your whole life.

Anonymous said...

Fauxtist,

It's not clear why you're attacking Cat. Are you saying they're not autistic, because thyey have Aspergers Syndrome? In which case you're incorrect, AS is part of the autism spectrum, just like CDD, PDD-NOS etc. People short-hand to call them "autism", which is correct. It's not "classic autism", but that's irrelevant unless the study specifically only deals with "classic autism".

Or are you attacking their claim to have Aspergers in the first place, and that's why you say they don't have autism? If you are making that attack, it's entirely unclear on what grounds you make it, you provide no evidence that they are not autistic (and I suspect you'd struggle to do so).

Either way, your attack on them looks groundless or incorrect.

Fauxtist said...

@autismdoughtism Autism is not Asperger's Syndrome.

Spend any time around people/adults labeled as such and you can clearly see that. As a father with an AS diagnosis with a child with an Autism diagnosis, then it is even more clear. No professional, adult with both or educator confuses the two, only in the world of neurodiversity are the two confused, purposely.

Fauxtist said...

@Autism Dougnut

If this is your recommended reading list, then I can understand why you're confused. If a man lives in a house of mirrors, he only sees himself. If a woman lives in a echo chamber, she only hears herself. You would likely benefit from visiting adults with both diagnosis to see how it turns out. The list below leads me to believe you don't spend much time outside your echo chamber.

A life less ordinary
Adasperdown Town
Asperger's Diary
Autism Army Mom
Autism Jabberwocky
Autism News Beat
Autism Science Foundation
Autism Tomorrows
Autism's Gadfly
autismjungle
Big Daddy Autism
Countering…
Cracking the enigma
Harpocrates Speaks
Interverbal
Journeys with Autism
Just Another Autism Mom
Kitaiska Sandwich
Left Brain/Right Brain
Life in the house that Asperger built
Life is a Spectrum
Life with a Severely Disabled Child
Living Life, with a Side of Autism
Matty Angel
MOM-Not Otherwise Specified
On the Spectrum
Out of the Fog
Questioning Answers
Science 2.0 : ASD
SFARI
Silky Sienna's Autism Rox
Special Education Law Blog
stark. raving. mad. mommy.
Stuart Duncan
The Autism Crisis
The Simple Life
The Tumultuous Truth
Thinking Person's Guide to Autism
Unplanned Trip to Holland
Yeah. Good Times.

Anonymous said...

Fauxtist,

Aspergers is part of the autism spectrum, wishing it wasn't or saying it isn't, doesn't change the facts. Wait until 2013, then the facts may jiggle around yet again (DSM-5 pending).

As for my list of favourite autism blogs, those are my favourites (as made clear by the title above them on my blog) not the only blogs I read. If I listed every single autism related - and other - blogs that I frequent, my blog page would look even more comical than it does now. Note as well that this very blog you are commenting on, is on the list you attack.

Fauxtist said...

"is on the list you attack.'

I was unaware that I was "attacking". Meanwhile, I'm paying the legal fees for this:

RALEIGH (AP) — A North Carolina advocacy group says more than 600 children and adults are losing critical Medicaid services because of how a managed care provider for patients with developmental disabilities in the southern Piedmont is calculating levels of need.
Disability Rights North Carolina said Tuesday it filed a federal class action lawsuit for Medicaid consumers against Piedmont Behavioral Health Care and state Health and Human Services Secretary Lanier Cansler.

Piedmont Behavioral covers Rowan, Davidson, Stanly, Cabarrus and Union counties.

The lawsuit contends Piedmont Behavioral used hard-to-understand rules to reduce or eliminate services July 1 without giving patients a chance to challenge the decisions. The group wants services restored until changes are made.

A spokeswoman for Cansler said the department must be focused on appropriate levels of care when money is tight.

Note, none of the 600 clients blog. This is the silent majority.