http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/01/the-connections-in-autistic-brains-are-idiosyncratic-and-individualized/
A friend linked this to me, and it was sufficiently relevant to include here. This may explain why the saying exists: "If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." It's awfully hard to say how any given person is going to be affected by having autism, because the effects vary so widely. This study compared the brain scans of adults on the autism spectrum with neurotypical/not yet diagnosed* adults.
The full article is, unfortunately, paywalled, but the summary itself is worth reading.
Relatedly, if anyone wants to finance a few brain scans of my brain for science, I would be interested in getting them done. It'd be nice to have an idea of what parts of my brain are connected better and worse than normal.
* "Not yet diagnosed" is my favorite way to refer to neurotypical, or normally-developing humans. As opposed to humans with autism or other pervasive developmental disorders. Using this terminology rather than "normal" or neurotypical, acknowledges that just because you're not on the spectrum or don't have a diagnosis doesn't mean you can't have problems or eccentricities. It also acknowledges that diagnostic criteria change as our understanding of human beings changes. Finally, it acknowledges that there are a lot of undiagnosed people running around that could have a diagnosis but either can't afford the testing, don't realize there's something different about them, or do realize but don't care to formalize that knowledge.
A friend linked this to me, and it was sufficiently relevant to include here. This may explain why the saying exists: "If you've met one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." It's awfully hard to say how any given person is going to be affected by having autism, because the effects vary so widely. This study compared the brain scans of adults on the autism spectrum with neurotypical/not yet diagnosed* adults.
The full article is, unfortunately, paywalled, but the summary itself is worth reading.
Relatedly, if anyone wants to finance a few brain scans of my brain for science, I would be interested in getting them done. It'd be nice to have an idea of what parts of my brain are connected better and worse than normal.
* "Not yet diagnosed" is my favorite way to refer to neurotypical, or normally-developing humans. As opposed to humans with autism or other pervasive developmental disorders. Using this terminology rather than "normal" or neurotypical, acknowledges that just because you're not on the spectrum or don't have a diagnosis doesn't mean you can't have problems or eccentricities. It also acknowledges that diagnostic criteria change as our understanding of human beings changes. Finally, it acknowledges that there are a lot of undiagnosed people running around that could have a diagnosis but either can't afford the testing, don't realize there's something different about them, or do realize but don't care to formalize that knowledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment