Rewiring the Autistic Brain 139
sciencehabit writes "Signs of autism — such as impaired social skills and repetitive, ritualistic movements — usually begin to appear when a child is about 18 months old. Autism is thought to result from miswired connections in the developing brain, and many experts believe that therapies must begin during a 'critical window,' before the faulty circuits become fixed in place. But a new study (abstract) shows that at least one malfunctioning circuit can be repaired after that window closes, holding out hope that in some forms of autism, abnormal circuits in the brain can be corrected even after their development is complete."
Patched over is not repaired (Score:4, Interesting)
Posting as AC, since I don't want my employer to read this.
I have been diagnosed with aspergers. Anyone I have encountered in over 40 years on this planet that has any form of autism, mild or not, has to use their conscious brain functions to "patch" what "neurotypicals" have woven into their subconscious brain. People that think they are "superior to neurotypicals" in general don't realize what the part is they are missing. They are mistaking a high IQ for superiority while in practice, people with lower IQs as themselves but not with autism, tend to be more successful in life; in procreation, in happiness and in fortune.
Sure, their higher IQs may make them "better citizens", but their high IQ and the decisions they make because of that, are not directly because of their autism. There are plenty of people with autism that don't have a high IQ, they get diagnosed with other forms like "classical autism" because they lack the brain power to consciously pick up the lack of social adaptation. This is a classical case of correlation is not the same as causation. I'm getting tired of those autistic people thinking they are superior just because they (once again) fail to see the point of social skills. The ones claiming this are usually not independently wealthy happy fathers, but rather single male workforce people that have individualistic jobs with no leadership requirements. Very few are female, but other than the single bit, they tend to be rather unhappy and not incredibly well off.
Regarding the OT, I am skeptical about actual repair. I do hope it is possible since it takes a lot of energy to get by in normal life, even if you are "well adapted" like I classify. However, I think that if you only look at behavioral results, you may mistake conscious learning and decision making for actual instinctive behavior. Further testing will have to be done before claims should be made.