Crusades Versus Caution (Thomas Sowell)

GOPUSA ^ | November 13, 2007 | Thomas Sowell

[guitarist]

Sowell’s son was a late talker and a bit of a strange cookie as a kid, but turned out well and was fairly brilliant with computers. I think he is quite clear that the kid did NOT have autism, but was the kind of kid that gets falsely diagnosed. There are some videos on the internet that just got put up contrasting autistic and regular kids. But I have a slow connection right now and can’t get to them...

(Sorry I don’t have the link. You could probably find it at fox news or associated press, along with the recommendation this fall for regular autism screening.) Maybe someone can find it and post it??? Thanks.

[jazusamo]

I’m glad to hear your son has overcome his difficulties, I know what the feeling is like.

[jazusamo]

You’re correct about Dr. Sowell being right most of the time, only a few times I’ve known him to be wrong and I believe they were oversights on his part due to the fact he writes on so many different subjects.

I’m praying with you for breakthroughs with autism and God bless you all.

[neverdem]

bump & a ping

[Incorrigible]

I've been thinking about this early testing news lately. Like Mr. Sowell, I wondered who would do all the testing. My son was obviously Autistic but it still took several meetings for the psychologist(s) to say so.

Though some parents may appreciate a diagnosis, there are many more parents who will resist. And in fact, if the number of false positives is high, as it inevitably will be, it will show that they are right.  Perhaps that's not as bad as I think. I tire of meeting some kids who are so high on the Autism spectrum as to have it not apply yet have parents who for whatever reason (Munchausen's?) insist they're Autistic.  Meanwhile, I fear that inflating the number of children with a diagnosis of Autism may actually hurt truly Autistic children like my son.

 

[afraidfortherepublic]

Agreed! I’ve seen this in my own family — one daughter with a profoundly autistic child and another daughter who insists her very bright, but quirky, child is “Asbergers”. The fact that he has bright, but quirky, parents does not seem to register with her.

[TypeZoNegative]

"Sowell’s son was a late talker and a bit of a strange cookie as a kid, but turned out well and was fairly brilliant with computers. I think he is quite clear that the kid did NOT have autism, but was the kind of kid that gets falsely diagnosed. There are some videos on the internet that just got put up contrasting autistic and regular kids. But I have a slow connection right now and can’t get to them..."

Most autistic people are good with computers and a bit quirky. Autism, except in profound cases does not affect intellectual ability, and in fact, may actually increase intellectual proficiency because the parts of the brain that control learned facts compensate for the parts of the brain that controls inborn social behavior, so the autistic person in question learns social behaviors like how somebody learns a foreign language rather than being inborn with social behaviors like most other people do. Think of it as a kid being born with an oddly shaped foot learns how to run with a particular motion, and runs really fast, but because of the nature of his or her body, will always stumble once in a while. But that kid that also has the weird shaped foot also would probably end up being the school's soccer star, due to the unusual spin he or she puts on the ball due to his or her oddly shaped foot. Much like how most people with Autism will end up being savants, even the most mildly Autistic will end up with some sort of savant behavior because of the nature of their brains, but they will stumble socially.

"I guess that’s one thing to be said for having kids late in life, as did Dr. Sowell. Keeps old age from getting boring."

There was a recent study that showed that having children late in life increases the odds of Autism.

I personally think Dr. Sowell is in denial about his son being autistic. From what's described from above, his son is most likely mildly autistic and Sowell's using strawman tactics to to state otherwise. Notice he uses no figures, facts or previous studies to back up his statements, just rhetoric.

Agreed! I’ve seen this in my own family — one daughter with a profoundly autistic child and another daughter who insists her very bright, but quirky, child is “Asbergers”. The fact that he has bright, but quirky, parents does not seem to register with her." And yes, if somebody is profoundly autistic in a family, they are very likely to have Asperger's syndrome in their genetics as well. Asperger's syndrome is a very real disorder that has been backed up by neurological and MRI tests and studies, much to the chagrin of your anecdotal story.

[TypeZoNegative]

I agree. You have many of these "Self Diagnosed" Aspies, who in reality, are NOT Autistic, but really and truly, need to get out more, stop playing those stupid video games, read a book that doesn't have illustrations of oddly angled oddly proportioned Japanese people, go to more parties where people aren't dressed like those said oddly proportioned Japanese people and play a sport. Sorry, kendo and bowling doesn't count as a sport. A real sport like football, basketball, hockey or even boxing or the various non sword martial arts that encourage you to spar constantly. (This is from personal experience with these so called "Aspies".) A.S. and other forms of Autism are VERY real PSYCHOLOGICAL conditions. PSYCHOLOGICAL conditions should only be diagnosed by a PSYCHOLOGIST and not a person sitting on a computer taking a stupid test. Also, you should be tested by a real psychologist, and get a second opinion, because Autism is a very serious mental disorder. You don't get medical diagnoses from just one doctor, so why get a mental one from just one doctor?

BTW, Out of proably over 20 doctors I've seen in a lifetime, only 3 said I wasn't Autistic, and 2 of them haven't even heard of A.S. or Autism so my DX is VERY real.

[guitarist]

Hey, TypeZo, in one post you say autism is psychological, and in the other you say it is detectable by MRI or neurological tests. My understanding is that it is:

-NOT psychological. We have a lot of kids, and the one with autism was raised exactly like the other ones, but is a whole different critter. There is something neurological going on.

-NOT detectable by MRI or by any other objective, physical method. If it is detectable, that is huge news to me, and PLEASE POST A LINK.

Most appreciated. God bless, Guitarist.

[TypeZoNegative]

Sorry, I’m a bit late in posting this reply but I’ve been busy with a job, school, a new girlfriend, and Tae Kwon Do practice, so I haven’t been on the net much. Thank god for Mountain Dew Game Fuel, because if I didn’t have that, I would be constantly tired.

And I meant to say “neurological” not “psychological”.

http://www.pfizer.com/brain/images/etgraphic15.jpg

To the left is a person with Autism, to the right is a Neurotypical. You can see the frontal lobe dysfunction in the person with Autism vs the Neurotypical.

[TypeZoNegative]

Sorry, I’m a bit late in posting this reply but I’ve been busy with a job, school, a new girlfriend, and Tae Kwon Do practice, so I haven’t been on the net much. Thank god for Mountain Dew Game Fuel, because if I didn’t have that, I would be constantly tired.

And I meant to say “neurological” not “psychological”.

http://www.pfizer.com/brain/images/etgraphic15.jpg

To the left is a person with Autism, to the right is a Neurotypical. You can see the frontal lobe dysfunction in the person with Autism vs the Neurotypical.

[guitarist]

TypeZo

Thanks for the link. But can you back that up with a medical link or any analysis or anything? Your post is the only thing I have heard like this in the six months I’ve been reading massive amounts of stuff about autism. All I’ve read is that it is “undetectable” by any test, but rather only by symptoms which, to a trained eye, are pretty clear.

If you have any more links, like a link to the article attached to those scans, please post.

Thanks and God bless
g.

[guitarist]

For example, from the Autism Society of America:

There are no medical tests for diagnosing autism. An accurate diagnosis must be based on observation of the individual’s communication, behavior, and developmental levels.

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_whatis_diagnosis

[xJones]

I just read your post and thought you might find this thread, Autism Cures? (Thomas Sowell) very interesting. Scroll down to post #9, in particular.