MetaFilter posts tagged with autism

science and futurism overlap

nickyskye — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:43:40 -0800

One Pill Makes You Autistic -- And One Pill Changes You Back. It might also lead to recreational autism, where people who want to take a break from having messy emotions about other people decide to unplug and enter a state where human relationships are no more important than inanimate objects. Other future oriented science and tech stories about innovations with the potential to impact culture and politics by the same author,Annalee Newitz, mentioned previously. Radio-Controlled, Implantable Sperm Valve is New Vasectomy The First Child to Have Three Genetic Parents A "Morning Before" Pill to Prevent HIV Infection And thrown in for fun, Scariest Special Effect Ever Created (NSFW)

"It's good to know sports - at its core - still can bring out the best in us."

kyleg — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:02:23 -0800

An inspirational update to the story of Jason McElwain.

Don't you wish your drugs were hot like Oxytocin?

Brandon Blatcher — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:50:48 -0800

"Tests have shown that oxytocin reduces anxiety levels in users. It is a hormone that facilitates social contact between people."

Autistic Student Kicked Out of Class

The Gooch — Sat, 31 May 2008 21:44:18 -0800

5-Year-Old Autistic Student Voted Out of Kindergarten, Survivor-Style. (Link to interview with a representative of the school district).

Construction Paper Feelings

Orb — Wed, 07 May 2008 09:56:50 -0800

"What the autistic 12-year-old can't express verbally or in social interaction he can show through his carefully cut out geometric shapes assembled into characters in a paper collage."

Owner of Neurodiversity.com Subpoenaed in Autism Suit.

kristin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:37:15 -0800

Kathleen is the owner of neurodiversity.com, one of the most comprehensive resources online in the topic of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Neurodiversity is just one person with a domain name and a computer, not a corporation, or a money-making enterprise, but apparently having good research skills and a willingness to share what you know is becoming legally problematic. Last week, Kathleen has received a subpoena commanding her to appear for deposition and document production in Rev. Lisa Sykes and Seth Sykes’ $20,000,000 personal injury lawsuit, Sykes v. Bayer. That subpoena request, that she turn over every piece of autism-related correspondence and/or contact she has ever had with any company, government agency, religious group, or any other person with any interest in autism, which includes all contact and correspondence with other autism bloggers. They are also asking for all of her financial records. Neurodiversity.com has posted about the Sykes ongoing litigation previously, and Kathleen has been outspoken against Sykes use of her church as a platform for her lawsuit, but this subpoena smacks of intimidation, given that Kathleen is not an expert, a scientist, has never met Sykes, nor been employed by Bayer. In her motion to quash the subpoena, Kathleen writes, in part:

The subpoena was not issued in good faith because its manifest purpose is not to elicit information relevant to determining Bayer’s liability for Wesley Sykes’ medical and developmental problems, but to indulge his parents’ and their attorney’s curiosity about my motivations and associations; to aggressively communicate their suspicion that I am not merely a fellow citizen who openly, intelligently and conscientiously disagrees with their public statements and actions, but a covert agent of the government, the pharmaceutical industry, or some other hidden force; to disrupt my relationships with my associates and news sources; and to intimidate, harass and retaliate against me for exercising my constitutional right to report and express opinions about matters of widespread public interest in which plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ counsel are involved. These are not legitimate reasons to invoke the judicial subpoena power. Indeed, in so doing, Mr. Shoemaker has engaged in a sanctionable abuse of his authority as an officer of the court.

Attempting to drag Kathleen in as a third party witness seems a pretty clear form of intimidation, given that she possesses no special third-party knowledge. Is this the future of niche-market blogging?

Facial Expression Simulator Lets You Play with Emotions

shivohum — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:03:02 -0800

Facial Expression Simulator Apparently it's useful for helping autistics learn facial expressions, among other things. Related.

Settlement in case of child who developed autistic symptoms after being vaccinated

arnicae — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 10:59:30 -0800

Hannah Poling is a nine year old girl with mild to moderate symptoms of autism, which developed three months after she received vaccinations. The Department of Health and Human Services announced that her family will receive a settlement from the vaccine compensation fund. Autism activists are encouraged, but the DHHS officials insist they are not admitting a link between autism and vaccines and maintain that for most, vaccines are safe. Rather, they say, the series of vaccines Hannah received exacerbated an underlying mitochondrial condition, causing the symptoms of autism. Hannah had a mutation in a gene which controlled mitochondrial function. When she received the immunizations, the DHHS concluded, this mutation was aggravated, predisposed her to deficits in energy metabolism, and ultimately caused brain damage with "features of autism spectrum disorder". For the nearly 5,000 autistic individuals and their families seeking compensation from the special fund, it is unclear whether Hannah's case represents an opportunity or not. The cases are reviewed by a special court None of the 950 claims the special fund has paid out since it was created by Congress in 1988 have been for autism. Officials insist that this case is no different from other claims paid out by the fund in the past. The cases are before a special "vaccine court" that doles out cash from a fund Congress set up to pay people injured by vaccines and to protect makers from damages as a way to help ensure an adequate vaccine supply. The burden of proof is lighter than in a traditional court, and is based on a preponderance of evidence. Since the fund started in 1988, it has paid roughly 950 claims — none for autism. The document released by the DHHS focuses on the rare mitochondrial disorder. It does not raise the issue of the organomercury preservative Thimerosal used in many vaccines, which many autism activists believe has a link to autism. Instead, the document states that the "five vaccines the girl received on one day in 2000 aggravated her mitochondrial condition, predisposing her to metabolic problems that manifested as worsening brain function with features of autism spectrum disorder". DHHS officials claim that Hannah's is a unique case, and that the underlying condition she had is very rare. Neurologist Jon Poling (MD/PhD), Hannah's father, who co-authored a paper in the Journal of Child Neurology on his daughter's case does not agree, saying: "I don't think Hannah's case is as unique as many experts believe." Some believe that autism could in fact be a mitochondrial disease. A study of 69 Portuguese children conducted in 2005 and published in the journal of Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology found that five had mitochondrial abnormalities. Interestingly, Dr. Poling says that he still supports giving vaccines to children. "Each treatment has a risk and a benefit," Dr. Poling says.

Gregory Blackstock

Armitage Shanks — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:07:55 -0800

Autistic retired pot-washer Gregory Blackstock creates striking artworks of everyday items. Short YouTube interview here. If you're in Seattle, you can see him tonight at the opening of his exhibition at the Garde Rail Gallery.

Honesty, deception, and autism

Prospero — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:50:07 -0800

An interesting article by Simon Baron-Cohen on honesty, deception, and autism.