Autism explained

[latraviata]

I am not easily shocked, but this is really byond stupid and vile. The poor, poor children be at the mercy of parents who believe this pile of.....you know.

http://www.fstdt.com/QuoteComment.aspx?QID=82877

[browngrl]

Is this fiction or does the writer really believe this garbage? I tried to find the writer but my computer skills are not up to the task. Whoever wrote this needs to have their blog taken down (and also to get psychiatric help). :shock:

[xDreamerx]

Yes, because they want to do all things. This woman (or man) is fucking idiotic.

"Pain really doesn’t affect them

They speak a strange language and they actually can communicate between each other"

Really? Really!

I give you this video in response crazy fundie:

Edit: Wait this is the full one that explains her story. If you have not heard Carly's story I recommend this. Incredible.

[medievalist1980]

as the saying goes, if you have met one person with autism, you have met ONE person with autism.

i remember reading a saint's life by a medieval cleric who was trying to create a cult around a girl that mostly just slammed her head into the wall. my only reaction was "i think she may have been autistic."

in the middle ages, the line between being divinely inspired or demonically possessed was thin and often dependant on the churchmen who came to evaluate you.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm guessing that 'pain doesn't really affect them' is fundie-speak for 'their (unwanted) behaviours cannot be beaten out of them'

[Jessica]

You can feel a heaviness about them? Really? My high school campus was shared with a school for autistic kids so we had a class where we got to play with them. I love those kids! Especially my sweet little Joshua! :)

[emmiedahl]

I don't think that people with autism are demon possessed; quite the opposite, I think many of the 'demon possessed' in the past were autistic or schizophrenic.

A fundie family that I grew up kinda seeing occasionally had a severely autistic woman in the congregation that they attempted to exorcize. From what I was told: They all had a meeting to pray and heal Polly, and they chanted Bible verses and put their hands over her and she started screaming. They saw that as proof that she was possessed. I see it as proof that she was nonverbal and had no other way to deal with a scary situation involving strangers yelling and touching you.

This family is now 'big' in Redding's Bethel Church.

[3 is enough]

As the aunt of 3 fantastic nephews who are on the spectrum, I am utterly appalled.

LOVED the comments, though!

[lovemyaspiekids]

As the mother of two children with Asperger's, I don't think I have the appropriate words here. My children's lives are full of constantly struggling to act normal and then decompensating when the stress becomes too much. Try holding your breath underwater for 12 hours (school, etc.) and see how well you do afterward. And do it every single day for the rest of your life. No days off ever.

Sadly, I've heard this viewpoint. Even before the diagnoses started to solidify, I was on the receiving end of horrible and disturbing comments about my children and my parenting as well as ways that I could "cure" them. And, yes, one person offered me the name of her priest so I could consider an exorcism for my son.

[nuri]

I usually ignore things like this, but it really makes me glad that I'm heading to my parents this weekend to take care of my brother while they are gone. I'm gonna hug him until I can tell he doesn't want to be touched anymore.

My brother is not possessed. Strange, yes, but my whole family is. My brother is just moreso :)

[latraviata]

as the saying goes, if you have met one person with autism, you have met ONE person with autism.

i remember reading a saint's life by a medieval cleric who was trying to create a cult around a girl that mostly just slammed her head into the wall. my only reaction was "i think she may have been autistic."

in the middle ages, the line between being divinely inspired or demonically possessed was thin and often dependant on the churchmen who came to evaluate you.

Years ago a Dutch newspaper weekly published an alternative hagiography of famous catholic saints.

According to their psychopathological 'research' they all seemed to suffer from some sort of psychiatric disorder.

[medievalist1980]

not autism related, but there are some great books about medieval female saints and their relationship with food, such as "holy anorexia" and "holy feast and holy fast."

i was raised roman catholic, but when you read saints' lives (of which i have for both coursework and now a small portion of my diss), you just have to wonder how many suffered from mental or physical disorders. at least those that were recognized as saints were well cared for, i suppose, but it was a very different world and i am glad to live today.

[doggie]

I think this crap is written by possessed people.

[latraviata]

not autism related, but there are some great books about medieval female saints and their relationship with food, such as "holy anorexia" and "holy feast and holy fast."

i was raised roman catholic, but when you read saints' lives (of which i have for both coursework and now a small portion of my diss), you just have to wonder how many suffered from mental or physical disorders. at least those that were recognized as saints were well cared for, i suppose, but it was a very different world and i am glad to live today.

I know, there have been a fair share of anorexic female saints LOL

I was raised roman catholic as well and it was really a hilarious and witty sequence of articles.

[Terrie]

This sort of thing makes me so mad. Kids have been killed by exorcism means "drive away" the "demons" of autism.

[lovemyaspiekids]

This sort of thing makes me so mad. Kids have been killed by exorcism means "drive away" the "demons" of autism.

Yup. This past year, my son's school teacher kept him from lunch period and snack because he was having fits. She felt that withholding food would teach him a lesson. If that's what one supposedly educated person does, I can't imagine worse things. Oh, and she's not in that school anymore.

[xDreamerx]

Yup. This past year, my son's school teacher kept him from lunch period and snack because he was having fits. She felt that withholding food would teach him a lesson. If that's what one supposedly educated person does, I can't imagine worse things. Oh, and she's not in that school anymore.

I hope this woman was fired.

[Beeks]

This is obviously extreme and nutso, but there are a surprising number of normal people who have all kinds of very negative stereotypes about autism. There is a huge stigma attached to ASD. It's really sad.

[mnb357]

My son had asperger's. I say had, because he was brutalized in the school district which assured us of "services." I still blame myself, because I so wanted to believe the tripe from his father that "this way nobody will be able to tell, and he can be like everybody else." At least, that was what the school said they would do. Long story short, it was much as a previous poster said...12 hours spent holding your breath, until you can come home and cold breathe. His summers here were his respite, as he was finally able to articulate, just before his senior year. But, the bruatlity got to him, and one day after school, he chose not to breathe. He was found dead in the bathroom. He hung himself.

[Beeks]

My son had asperger's. I say had, because he was brutalized in the school district which assured us of "services." I still blame myself, because I so wanted to believe the tripe from his father that "this way nobody will be able to tell, and he can be like everybody else." At least, that was what the school said they would do. Long story short, it was much as a previous poster said...12 hours spent holding your breath, until you can come home and cold breathe. His summers here were his respite, as he was finally able to articulate, just before his senior year. But, the bruatlity got to him, and one day after school, he chose not to breathe. He was found dead in the bathroom. He hung himself.

I am so, so sorry.

[mnb357]

You know, now I'm really pissed! I just want to say further, that every single person in my son's father's city, and every single person out here where I live who thinks this is a parenting issue is a Bible Banging Fundamentalist. And, every single kid who picks on my youngest, who I suspect of having Asperger's as well, is the rat-assed, nasty, mean spirited kid of a Bible Banging Fundamentalist. Oh, they LOOK nice, they have the nice clothes, (shirts which my Aspie won't wear, buttons bug him) and go to the "right" church, but they are WHACK JOBS. I seem to meet SO MANY of these creeps in my quest for homeschooling support for my youngest. They see my son doing something cool, like acting out a play with his shadow, and they think they need to hide their kids. Fact of the matter is, I need to keep my boy from them, evil motherfuckers that they are. Ignorance is evil, you know, evil, Evil, EVIL!!!!

[mnb357]

And finally, if any of you have school age kids, and know of one of their friends "on the spectrum" as they say, do yourselves a favor, and try to help your kid get to know them. I say yourselves, because seriously, you will see that the neuroligically atypical have amazing gifts...they are kind, generally unwilling to be malicious for the sake of malice, and have incredible depth of soul.

[mnb357]

And finally, if any of you have school age kids, and know of one of their friends "on the spectrum" as they say, do yourselves a favor, and try to help your kid get to know them. I say yourselves, because seriously, you will see that the neuroligically atypical have amazing gifts...they are kind, generally unwilling to be malicious for the sake of malice, and have incredible depth of soul.

[Beeks]

And finally, if any of you have school age kids, and know of one of their friends "on the spectrum" as they say, do yourselves a favor, and try to help your kid get to know them. I say yourselves, because seriously, you will see that the neuroligically atypical have amazing gifts...they are kind, generally unwilling to be malicious for the sake of malice, and have incredible depth of soul.

This is so true and made me tear up a little. I wish more people could recognize some of the positive traits that many people on the spectrum have,

[latraviata]

My son had asperger's. I say had, because he was brutalized in the school district which assured us of "services." I still blame myself, because I so wanted to believe the tripe from his father that "this way nobody will be able to tell, and he can be like everybody else." At least, that was what the school said they would do. Long story short, it was much as a previous poster said...12 hours spent holding your breath, until you can come home and cold breathe. His summers here were his respite, as he was finally able to articulate, just before his senior year. But, the bruatlity got to him, and one day after school, he chose not to breathe. He was found dead in the bathroom. He hung himself.

I am so, so sorry.

For what it's worth I lost my younger son (28) 18 months ago, I know what it is to lose a child and wish I could say something meaningful.

I am so sorry you had to read this appalling carbage.