I know my grandson at first drove and wife a bit crazy but with the right help they got a handle on it now and like I said before he is going to a reg. school and doing fine. I know some cases are much worse and I feel sorry for the families that have to go through it.

One thing that I have wondered about is these sports guy's my son was a body builder at one time and you take football, basket ball and so on and you wonder if that might be part of it too? Just a thought and not a claim.

If my son took anything to help out I have no clue but so many in sports do, he ended up 2nd place in Mr. AZ about 12 years ago and now a police officer. 5 inches taller than me. :( Built like a rock.

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Cheers everybody
Life is short so don't sip
Beer speaks, people mumble

It seems that PETA has done it again pushing for a Darwin Award by linking autism to dairy products. :-(

http://www.news.com.au/world/peta-slammed-for-advertisements-linking-autism-and-dairy-consumption/story-fndir2ev-1226939633888

THE animal rights organisation PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has been slammed by scientists and on social media for a new campaign which links autism to the consumption of dairy products.

The advertisements have also been criticised for making autism, as one Twitter user described, “look like it’s the most awful thing ever”.

Florey Institute researcher Dr Emma Burrows told a science website that “The balance of evidence suggests that this link does not deserve any media attention”.

“This is just adding to the multitude of conflicting and bewildering recommendations that parents of children with autism have to sift through.”

There are certainly some idiots in this group.

Cheers.

The problem here is we don't have a word that satisfactorily describes what this is. It's not lying because there is a fig-leaf of denyability.

"Misleading" is too benign because the effects are malicious.

I hereby invent the word "Mislying".

PETA is mislying and should stop.

"the curious incident of the dog in the night-time" by Mark Haddon

Hi Andrew :) Yes - I have read it - more than once! And own it! Dark and beautiful and sad and funny. Superb!

Re: the discussion with Batter Up over the terminology surrounding autism spectrum disorders:

According to World Health Organisation definitions: Aspergers - coined by the professor who studied these children and called them "his little professors" was the label attached to those individuals where speech developed continuously (as in children without autism) thus putting them at the higher functioning end of the spectrum.
Autism was generally diagnosed in children who did not speak, or who were very late in developing any form of communication skills.

Then along came children like my son - who did not fit into either of these two categories - and who became part of a worldwide study (in which the Institute of Child Health - operating out of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London - played an integral part.) The research is still ongoing - but with CAT, MRI and PET scans now showing the workings of the brain in much more detail whilst involved with processing information in particular, it means even the term "autism" may cease to be used and ultimately replaced with the term "neuro-diverse" (as opposed to us boring "neuro-typical" types :))

What they are seeing is simply two different operating systems - windows/mac (if you like) Both are perfectly good :) (ahem - I am attempting to ignore the fact that I have just stepped into a hornet's nest people - so please be kind :)) - but trying to run one type of software under the other operating system is where the problems start. These wonderful people have to learn to reprogram themselves - not easy in this world we've made - AND learn everything else expected of someone not challenged in that way. That ANY of them manage it to any degree at all makes them amazing in my view! :) The support they get from those around them (us ORACLE VM VirtualBox types to continue the computing analagy :)) can be crucial to their future success and happiness.

So - to finish this point... whilst us neuro-typical types comes in all ranges of abilities, so do the neuro-diverse/autistic/aspergers/ASD types except they have to deal with our operating system stacked against them too.

It seems that PETA has done it again pushing for a Darwin Award by linking autism to dairy products. :-(

This is a classic case of getting the wrong end of the stick, putting the cart before the horse, then blaming it all on a pigeon flying overhead. Many people with autism DO suffer with digestive problems (relating to lactose, or gluten... as do many without) That doesn't CAUSE autism! Actually - I don't even know why I've bothered to say any of what I've just said :(

Honestly! It boggles my mind that things like this get reported. If it were true - given how long we have as a species been consuming dairy products - then people with autism would make up the majority - and they would be the ones trying to work out how to help us cope in the world that they had made free of lying politicians and deceitful advertising, and poorly researched "news" etc, etc, etc... If that were the case, one thing you can be sure of is that they'd have done a better job helping us cope in their world, than we have done for them in ours! :)

There are mountains of money to be made catering to the lowest common denominator. Vicious men like Rupert Murdoch consider it their divine right to have that money no matter who they hurt. I wish you well.

Sadly very true cov-route :( And thank you - I fear I won't make even a dent sometimes though :(

....Actually - I don't even know why I've bothered to say any of what I've just said :(

But didn't it feel good to get that off your chest Annie?

Cheers.

Firstly, welcome back from your absence Annie, nice to see you again. I am a member of PETA, because I believe in the wider spectrum of what they are trying to achieve, but I have to agree that they do have some people there that are not helping their main cause.

It also needs to be said that animal welfare organisations like PETA are not very popular with food producers, because treating animals ethically from birth to a painless death as part of the human food chain is expensive. It is a hell of a lot cheaper and easier, and makes more money, to treat animals badly, that is what I am personally fighting against. So people like PETA will get as much bad press as can be thrown at them from those with their own agendas.

Back to autism now. In the 1950's when I was at school we didn't know about things like Autism, Aspergers, ADHD etc there was the class duffer, the class joker, and just plain naughty kids. These days we are much more enlightened about behavioural problems and quite rightly too.

.

Thank you :) It's lovely to be back. And you're right.

I too support PETA Chris :) - but given the nature of the powerful lobby groups ranged against them, it upsets me when someone working for a good cause, either gets misquoted, or comes out with something they're far from expert on - giving amunition to the opposition and thereby undermining the otherwise good work that they do. The horrors pf the dairy farming industry CAN and SHOULD be more widely known. It is SO disgraceful... they really don't need ANY speculative, unfounded "augmentation" to get people to change their ways as much as they can.

Having said that - to put it into perspective... any "harm" done by this report to those with autism is minor and easily dismissed by informed parents when compared to the potential for long-term damage and medievil style "witch hunts" generated by the pathetic, bigoted ignorance that has been displayed in the press and spouted parrot-fashion on a board elsewhere in these forums a few days ago.

Was that quite heated? I'm just warming up! :)

And you're right too Wiggo - it's good to get things off one's chest :)

BBC - Autism costs '£32bn per year' in UK

The economic cost of supporting someone with autism over a lifetime is much higher than previously thought, research suggests.

It amounts to £1.5m in the UK and $2.4m in the US for individuals with the highest needs, say UK and US experts.

Autism cost the UK more than heart disease, stroke and cancer combined, said an autism charity.

But only £6.60 per person is spent on autism research compared with £295 on cancer, according to Autistica.

The research looked at the costs to society of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in both the UK and US. The right research would provide early interventions, better mental health, and more independence”

Christine Swabey Autism research charity, Autistica

Autism cost the UK at least £32bn a year in terms of treatment, lost earnings, and care and support for children and adults with ASD, found the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics.

This compared with £12bn for cancer, £8bn for heart disease and £5bn for stroke, said Autistica.