ASULaoTzu wrote:This creates a community primed for conspiracy theories, especially when treatments like
this are more effective than anything they're being given.
You know what also works well? High fiber diets. The fact that white flour, dyes, and otherwise can be bad mojo is furthermore not intrinsically linked with autism. I own several books indicating there was at least a spurt of people with strong sentiments against the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) that don't mention word one about autism. I'll leave it at that because I've never gotten access to sources that would allow me to confirm or deny some of the nasty stuff they blame on a S.A.D. style diet.
I'm not going to defend Psychology's competance, but there's bigger things in play with that.
ASULaoTzu wrote:Once again, there probably isn't anything to this theory, but the parents and teachers feel like they're being patronized and ridiculed, so cut them some slack.
Funny thing. We know autistics occured in the past, but the examples I know a generation or so back didn't necessarily have severe issues. There is a lot more in play then I think you even begin to comprehend.
Two major events have happened in the last generation or so. First the "me first, screw you" philosophy arose around the 60s and has largely just continued to develop. Thus discouraging actual bridge building interfaces from being developped. Second being wide spread standardization factors such as television became mainstream and eventually the rise of the internet in the 90s. This further complicating issues as factors that would otherwise encourage bridge building skill development are neutralized.
If you don't think the culmination of these factors in a few generations couldn't easily result in more severe issues spreading across the general populace, I'd say you're overly optimistic. The Boomers have largely been children in adult bodies, and reports have indicated Generation X and their follow up have had severe issues with ability to function in the work environment due to overuse of praise and inadequate use of criticism. The validity of the phrase "children are cruel" begs why the children didn't correct that themselves.
The effectiveness of a treatment for autism that just involves the parent arranging a friend speaks volumes.
The autistic mind is not inferior, Neurotypical. We fundamentally process things different and has different operational characteristics, but are hardly inferior. If the larger factors, such as the little bit I have outlined continue to be ignored it's not going to matter whether they have your minicolumn structure or mine.
People who obsess over heavy metal poisoning issues by doing so fail to comprehend just how big the overall situation is. It's complicated and to some of it there is not a good solution.
Honestly if an adult's screwed up enough to treat their child as a non-person is it not alos possible the child reacted to that? Could you blame them for effectively going turtle to protect mental stability factors?