Welcome back to Reading the Research, where I trawl the Internet to find noteworthy research on autism and related subjects, then discuss it in brief with bits from my own life, research, and observations.
Today's article is an example of one of those fun (sarcasm) hide-and-seek games scientists play with autistic genetics.
Scientists, at Autism $peaks' direction, have been searching for a genetic cause for autism for decades now. They have been entirely unsuccessful. The fact is that autism is not a singular condition. We are all different, right down to our genetics. Because the issue can't be dropped (Autism $peaks might make less money and their climate of fear and their massive money stream might dry up), scientists are instead trying to find genetic subtypes of autism.
(If you're not familiar with why most of the autistic population holds Autism $peaks in contempt, please consider this short handout with all the information you need to know. If you were planning on donating this Autism Acceptance month, please consider ASAN or AWN instead.)
I have yet to see an overarching summary of these subtypes in the research streams I follow, though I heard a bit about it a couple years back at the governmental research review conference. I want to say there were at least 8 different types theorized, which is a lot of subdivisions.
The thing is, these subtypes were all directly focused on the clinical definition of autism. Which is to say, they were only interested in deficiencies. There was no care for what these genetic differences might mean for being better at certain jobs, or what positive personality traits might tend to go with them. All that mattered, once again, was how autistic people didn't live up to some imaginary perfect neurotypical experience.
Would it be useful to know the exact number of ways genetics can change to produce autistic people? Probably. Might it help us know what to expect in terms of gut issues, anti-depressants, and other quality-of-life concerns? Probably.
Y'know what would be more useful? Researching those treatments NOW, with even a fraction of the amount of money used to hunt these genetic differences. Include autistic adults in designing these studies and in carrying them out. Make those treatments and the information about them widely available to us and our families, so people suffering gut issues or mental illness or seizures can benefit NOW.
Happy Autism Acceptance Month.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
Today's article is an example of one of those fun (sarcasm) hide-and-seek games scientists play with autistic genetics.
Scientists, at Autism $peaks' direction, have been searching for a genetic cause for autism for decades now. They have been entirely unsuccessful. The fact is that autism is not a singular condition. We are all different, right down to our genetics. Because the issue can't be dropped (Autism $peaks might make less money and their climate of fear and their massive money stream might dry up), scientists are instead trying to find genetic subtypes of autism.
(If you're not familiar with why most of the autistic population holds Autism $peaks in contempt, please consider this short handout with all the information you need to know. If you were planning on donating this Autism Acceptance month, please consider ASAN or AWN instead.)
I have yet to see an overarching summary of these subtypes in the research streams I follow, though I heard a bit about it a couple years back at the governmental research review conference. I want to say there were at least 8 different types theorized, which is a lot of subdivisions.
The thing is, these subtypes were all directly focused on the clinical definition of autism. Which is to say, they were only interested in deficiencies. There was no care for what these genetic differences might mean for being better at certain jobs, or what positive personality traits might tend to go with them. All that mattered, once again, was how autistic people didn't live up to some imaginary perfect neurotypical experience.
Would it be useful to know the exact number of ways genetics can change to produce autistic people? Probably. Might it help us know what to expect in terms of gut issues, anti-depressants, and other quality-of-life concerns? Probably.
Y'know what would be more useful? Researching those treatments NOW, with even a fraction of the amount of money used to hunt these genetic differences. Include autistic adults in designing these studies and in carrying them out. Make those treatments and the information about them widely available to us and our families, so people suffering gut issues or mental illness or seizures can benefit NOW.
Happy Autism Acceptance Month.
(Pst! If you like seeing the latest autism-relevant research, visit my Twitter, which has links and brief comments on studies that were interesting, but didn't get a whole Reading the Research article about them.)
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