Posted on 06/10/2011 3:13:11 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Though people with autism face many challenges because of their condition, they may have been capable hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times, according to a paper published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology in May.
The autism spectrum may represent not disease, but an ancient way of life for a minority of ancestral humans, said Jared Reser, a brain science researcher and doctoral candidate in the USC Psychology Department.
Some of the genes that contribute to autism may have been selected and maintained because they created beneficial behaviors in a solitary environment, amounting to an autism advantage, Reser said.
The "autism advantage," a relatively new perspective, contends that sometimes autism has compensating benefits, including increased abilities for spatial intelligence, concentration and memory. Although individuals with autism have trouble with social cognition, their other cognitive abilities are sometimes largely intact.
The paper looks at how autism's strengths may have played a role in evolution. Individuals on the autism spectrum would have had the mental tools to be self-sufficient foragers in environments marked by diminished social contact, Reser said.
The penchant for obsessive, repetitive activities would have been focused by hunger and thirst towards the learning and refinement of hunting and gathering skills.
Today autistic children are fed by their parents so hunger does not guide their interests and activities. Because they can obtain food free of effort, their interests are redirected toward nonsocial activities, such as stacking blocks, flipping light switches or collecting bottle tops, Reser said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
I haven’t heard that theory before. It’s somthing to think about. Thanks. And thanks for the inspiring example of making the most of what you are given.
I sympathize with you greatly and have been there myself. But the more I thought about it, did I really want my daughter to hang out with the girls in her grade? Honestly, my daughter wanted a friend, just not a friend that couldn’t understand her. Constantly she would tell me I don’t fit in with the girls, I’m not like them. That was true, she was not mean or judgmental or caddy. She has always been the only girl in the resource class, because more boys have learning problems then girls. So her and I had a talk about why couldn’t she have a boy as a friend. And now she has about 3 really good guy friends. If your daughter has no peers in her school with Asperger’s then maybe you can look into your Community and see if they offer clubs. I am surprised that your School has not taken this in consideration as part of your daughter’s transition? The friend(s) she will make is going to be worth the wait. We have found that to be the case. If the people you are inviting don’t reciprocate or return, they are not going to be a good friend. Do you really want your daughter hanging out with those types of kids? It is their loss not hers. She deserves so much better. You are not going to change the Asperger’s but you can change the negativity you feel into positivity. If you see the young population considered the “norm” today how many are on drugs, pregnant, suicidal (heard 3 already this year), need medicine for extreme anxiety, runaway, the list is endless. With our daughters they just don’t see the world in that way to have those problems. If having a slow time at getting a true friend is the worst we have to experience, life is good. I know things are going to work for you too, we are lucky. God Bless.
We are all proof of a hunter-gatherer past, the fact that the hunter-gatherers had to survive to procreate. How do you think people survived?
There is no verse supporting Adam and Eve had to hunt for anything until after chapter 2, nor did they have to eat fresh worms on a stick. They were in full fellowship with God, and they were told what to eat (and what not to).
Hunter-gathering came as a result of the fall, and not because of some evolutionary process.
Thank you Jersey. I’ve read you post now several times and, it clearly all makes sense. I guess I hear these things all the time — I read them — but during particularly tough times, I need to hear them reworded or presented in a new way. Your post did that.
My daughter has such a caring heart, but it’s her awkward responses to things that prohibit others from getting to know her deepest cares. They didn’t see her two nights ago, sobbing in bed because something made her think about a woman she’d seen months ago in New Orleans. The woman was sitting alongside a building, hunched over atop a grate, with newspapers covering her to stay warm. My daughter wanted to know if that woman was ever given food to eat. The conversation shifted to a discussion about the importance of serving others who clearly need our help. We talked about participating as volunteers (which her older sister and I regularly do). That made her feel good to know that she could help.
But it’s things like this which my daughter’s peers don’t see, and right now, the world misses out on.
Your daughter is such a beautiful gift and blessing with a tremendous heart. How did we get so lucky? That is why I think it is not a disadvantage its a gift. The disadvantaged are those who don’t hold compassion or understand our daughters. My daughter will break down in church during hymns uncontrollably until I finally have to take her outside. I understand that the music stirs her emotions of sympathy and compassion for others that she may have seen during that week. Some in Church would look as though she was a “problem” child. Little did they know she is a “gifted” child. The compassion held inside our daughters and others with Autism is not known to this world. I truly believe they are on a different spiritual level then the rest of us. Yes we feel sympathy for others but not the same as they do.
Don’t care about your daughter’s peers, they are not worth the time or emotion if they don’t understand her gift. God gave your daughter something no peer could ever measure up to, that is YOU. She is being guided by your unconditional and endless love to the journey that God has prepared. The beautiful story that you just told and how well and admirably you responded to your daughter’s concerns, demonstrates this. By your suggestion of helping, the world won’t miss out, you and your daughter are making it a better place.
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