Posted on 04/16/2014 8:29:47 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
The Israeli army has formed a specialized intelligence unit that includes soldiers diagnosed with autism, a neurological disorder involving impaired social interaction and communication problems.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman’s office said that the autistic soldiers have remarkable visual and analytic capabilities. “They can detect even the smallest details, undetectable to most people,” it said in a press release.
The commander of the unit, identified only as “Col. J,” said that the success of the program exceeded all expectations. “Their job is to take visual materials from satellite images and airborne sensors,” he said. “With the help of their officers and decoding tools, they analyze the images and find specific things they need in order to allow those who are planning a mission to get the best data.”
The idea of utilizing the special strengths of personnel on the autism spectrum for intelligence analysis came from a couple who had served in army intelligence. When they put their suggestion to IDF Unit 9900, which specializes in photo interpretation and mapping, a trial project was organized.
“There were many problems along the way,” Col. J said. “The process took about a year. We worked until we achieved success.”
Joining in the initiative was the Ono Academic College, near Tel Aviv, which set up a program dubbed RR (an acronym for the Hebrew words “looking far”). Autistic soldiers selected for the program are given a three-month course before joining the army. Academic personnel from the RR program continue to work with the graduates when they are in uniform and also advise their army commanders.
In the wake of the success with the first group of recruits, the college has begun working with the army in developing programs that would utilize other strengths of those with autism. One course is for software quality assurance and the other for information management.
Asked about the relations between the autistic soldiers and other troops in the unit, Col. J termed them excellent. “From time to time I see them outside the building where they work sitting with others in the unit having lunch. It’s very natural.”
I know there are people with real problems, but I’m also seeing a lot of people who are just a bit off being shoved into the “diagnosed, labeled, counseled, tracked, medicated” grinder and it’s not good for them. That comment about how WWII codebreakers would probably be shoved into that grinder hits too close to home with me.
Gonna have to beat on you a bit for that one ...
"Were thought"??? By whom? Seriously ... diagnosing long-since dead people is madness. This list belongs in the same trash heap as the lists of dead people that the professional homosexuals try to claim.
http://incorrectpleasures.blogspot.com/2006/09/referenced-list-of-famous-or-important.html
Referenced list of 175 famous people diagnosed as autistic or subject of published speculation about autism/Asperger syndrome (AS)
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Understanding_Communication_Patterns_in_Adults_with_Asperger_s_Syndrome.html
George Washington, the first president of the United States of America. Aspie signs: George grew marijuana in his own garden (Botham, 2006, p. 2). Many adults with undiagnosed or misdiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome or Attention Deficit Disorder, self medicate in order to “soothe their restless brains and bodies,” (Richardson, 1998, p. 1). He was extremely terrified of being buried alive, therefore, he dictated that he be “laid out for three days just to be sure he was dead,” (Botham, 2006, p. 2). Perseverative fears and bizarre adherence to seemingly ineffectual rules or rituals are common in people with Asperger’s Syndrome and autism. People on the Aspie team, perceive or think about the world differently than others (Attwood, 2006, p. 2). George reportedly had to borrow money, in order to attend his own inauguration ceremonies (Botham, 2006, p. 2). Difficulties with money management, pack rack tendencies, and/or impulsively giving possessions away are common traits in the Aspie race (Fattig, 2007).
http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2010/10/potential-genius-of-aspergers.html
http://www.aspergerssyndromeparent.com/famous-people-with-aspergers.html
http://www.aspergerstestsite.com/898/famous-people-autism/#.U07Xf8JOVjo
http://aspergerssyndromeandbehavior.blogspot.com/2010/04/history-of-aspergers-syndrome.html
http://www.aspergerrus.com/educators.html
Navajo talked in code. This was successful because at the time, it was not a written language.
Correction:
Navajo talked THE code
I think his/her observation is that diagnoses of autism is up.
Prior to 1990s, autism was considered very very very rare. In the last couple of years, I have had the pleasure of teaching gardening to children (whole school districts of children), and have been astonished at the high percentage of children with autism.
I was a psychological examiner for 30 years, and evaluated children and adults for all manner of mental disorders. I tested, in all that time, two children I diagnosed with autism. It was profound autism to the point they could not function.
As long as a person was functioning to run his/her daily life, I gave NO diagnosis of any mental disorder. That is the basic consideration when testing someone for a mental disorder. No person gets a legal diagnosis without complete psychological testing. I tested thousands of people and with each one, I was positive enough about that diagnosis that I could support it in court if that case ever went to court for any reason.
The list I put on here about those who may have had Asperger’s, is all over the net. Those people listed had mannerisms that fit some of the symptoms of Asperger’s. However, one cannot take “one” symptom and use that for a diagnosis. The DSM (latest one is V) that we use for a diagnosis, has a list of symptoms that must be satisfied before a diagnosis of that disorder can be made.
I have not tested those people from long ago history but their names are listed due to some behaviors they had. Due to their extremely high functioning, I'm not surprised they had behaviors unlike the majority of people.
The brilliant man, the high functioning Asperger type I know, who has some of those symptoms, does not function like the majority of people. His mind never stops working on problems to solve and he's not happy unless he is doing that. He considers programs on TV useless, a waste of his time, and doesn't watch TV. One could say that is weird behavior.
However, I examined his TV behavior one day by putting the TV on the program, “How It Works”. He was glued to that and said that program is worth watching. If we had scientific programs on the TV every day, he would watch some of them just like “normal” people. However, everything he saw on that program is now recorded in his brain - he won't forget any of it due to his extreme concentration that is present 24/7.
I saw him very recently and asked him about news stations like Fox and CNN. He will watch the news of the day and remember every word.
To him, food is necessary but irrelevant to spend his time thinking about it. He has to be very regimented to know where his house keys or car keys are, and most of the time, he still has to look for them in every pocket, hoping they are in there somewhere. One time, I had to go to a restaurant and retrieve his credit card he left there, and send it to him in another city where he lives.
His clothes are regimented just like Einstein had his. Einstein had white shirts all alike and suits all alike and shoes all alike and socks all alike. Whatever he took from the closet was the same so he didn't have to make any choices - just put on clothes. I must admit I have always done that too, since I was an adult. The sets of clothes are different, but they are bought together as a match, so I just lift out a clothes hanger and the whole thing is there, the jacket, the blouse/shirt, the pants or skirt, I don't have to think about choosing piece by piece, as it's already together. I do have other symptoms of Asperger’s just as the man I know, has. He is running his life and I am running mine, so neither of us deserves a mental disorder diagnosis.
As an aside, I can tell you this: I am safe from ever being psychologically examined because I KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS as I gave those tests for many years. :o)
One should be cautious about imposing 2014 assumptions on 1700s people.
Did GW grow marijuana, or hemp? We all know that he (and many other planters) grew hemp. To make rope.
He was concerned about being buried alive? So were many other people of his era. That is where the term “bellringer” is rooted. Many graves had a bell mounted on them with a string leading into the coffin, just in case the deceased woke up. You’ve heard of “waking the dead”? Or a “Wake”? That is because people occasionally woke from a coma.
I have one severely autistic grandchild and another who is classed as Aspbergers. They are both great kids, but neither of them would ever be able to inspire the loyalty of the troops in a Revolutionary War, nor be the favored guest at a posh Richmond Ball. That kind of social awareness and leadership is just not on the Autism spectrum.
I question the scholarship behind your list.
There's a bit more to it than that.
Virginia colonial law required that every farmer with an acreage over a certain amount had to devote a certain percentage of that acreage to hemp.
Hemp was used for more than rope. Hemp was used to make paper, cloth and cotton bagging. Cotton bags made of hemp fiber had a lower co-efficient of friction that cotton bagging made of jute fiber (burlap). When a slave had to process a bagful of cotton (before Whitney's cotton gin), it was easier to pull cotton bolls out of a hemp bag than a burlap bag.
But every medicine cabinet of the era had extract of hemp in it. The medicinal properties were well know, and it was used for headaches, menstrual cramps and most ailments that would be later treated by extract of willow bark (aspirin). Washington made a tea of hemp to wash out his gums and soothe the pain of his dentures.
Hemp was widely used for medicine.
I hardly thinks that makes him a candidate for a diagnosis of autism. There is nothing about that man, or his career, that woul make somebody classify him as Aspbergers.
Washington was highly social and hugely popular, even before he was named General. Same for Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson who are also on Marcella’s list.
Don't be so defensive.
I am not even going to read past the headline. The IDF is now autistic. “Settlers,” arm thyselves.
Well, I didn’t think that.
It is Marcella who keeps defending her position that her great list of famous people are really autistic. Her reasoning is that George Washington grew marijuana. You explained it perfectly and far better than I. I just knew that they all grew hemp, but you put it into context.
I was merely arguing that it is dangerous to impose 21st century rules on 18th century customs and to draw conclusions from that.
In Marcella’s defense (limited) some of the people on her list have long been classified as “possible” autistics (Einstein, Gates, etc.). But others don’t deserve that description at all, if only because of their highly developed social skills.
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LOL. I wish that all examiners adhered to your methodology. Unforntunately they don't. Even when they do and have no finding of Asperger’s Autism, ADHD or whatever, there are teachers and school administrators who simply will not accept that.
They swear up and down that something is wrong with the child, and go forward with whatever they happen to think the diagnosis should have been.
These teachers/educators of average intelligence perhaps even on the low end of that scale- not quite one deviation from the mean, but close - have a hard time understanding children who don't like to stay glued to pokeman or participate in games that are too rudimentary etc.
Some children make it through relatively unscathed, others are not so fortunate.
Yep. There are some, but I agree too many being shoved into things like treatment with ridlin for example, when a bit of behavior modification, building a relationship with the student, effective communication and consistency are really the things that are most needed.
“It is Marcella who keeps defending her position that her great list of famous people are really autistic.”
It is not my list - it is a list made up by some professionals who examined the life/habits/behavior of these individuals.
You are not reading what I said - I wouldn’t label ANY of those people as having Asperger’s OR being autistic. I said that - no person gets a mental label if they are living their life successfully. I believe they were highly intelligent and had their own way of using that intelligence, living their way, and it was different than most other people living their lives. People who are “different” tend to get labels when they shouldn’t as they are just beautifully different.
I am a great skeptic of so-called professionals when they wax on about subjects which they cannot prove. Just like I don’t believe Al Gore (the great climate expert) on global warming, there ae a lot of psychologists/psychiatrists who are just full of baloney.
A lot of my family lived in Missouri several generations ago, so I guess that I just inherited that “show me” attitude! It’s in the genes.
The first semester I was at Berkeley, they taught me to never (well, hardly ever) to use words like “always”, “never”, etc. It’s part of my nature now.
In fact, a friend sent me an email today that pictured many famous people (people who would be considered experts and professionals in their fields) making stupid statements about inventions of the future. Such as Thomas Edison saying, “Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time. Nobody would use it — ever.”
It’s about time somebody recognized their strengths and utilized them!
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