Autistic Girl answers questions + video

[Infinite]

So I found this and sent it out as a pm to a few people...

But I've decided it deserves a full public view!

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/22/autism.emails/index.html

The first part is her answer questions but there is a video link and I am quite honestly moved beyond words.

I simply had no idea seriously no idea that an autistic person could communicate with such grace and intelligence.

--Infy

 

[Kacey]

I simply had no idea seriously no idea that an autistic person could communicate with such grace and intelligence.

The video was quite interesting... although having heard Temple Grandin speak, I have no difficulty believing that an autistic person could speak so well.

For too many people, autism is seen as being locked within oneself. Research is finding, more and more, that autism can be seen on brain scans - and can be linked directly to depressed functioning within the premotor cortex, as reported in TIME magazine:

An even more provocative result comes from a study undertaken in 2005 by UCLA developmental psychologist Mirella Dapretto and her colleagues. They found that autistic children, compared with other children, showed depressed activity in their premotor cortex while imitating or observing facial expressions--and the more severe the autism, the more depressed the activity was. The results did not surprise Dapretto. A central problem in autism, after all, is an impaired ability to understand the feelings of others, and it seems plausible, if far from proven, that a deficiency in the mirror-neuron system could be involved.

The inability to understand emotions does not equate to a lack of intelligence; rather, it equates to a difficulty communicating that is the hallmark of autism. One of the speculations about the recent rise in the incidence of autism is the greater ability to differentiate autism from other disorders that prevent communication - mental retardation being a prime misidentification for severe autism, and social maladjustment of various levels for less severely impacted individuals. Only through the willingness of people with autism such as Ashley X, shown in the video and article, to explain their perception of the world, can that misunderstanding be changed.

 

[Tames D]

The video was quite interesting... although having heard Temple Grandin speak, I have no difficulty believing that an autistic person could speak so well.

For too many people, autism is seen as being locked within oneself. Research is finding, more and more, that autism can be seen on brain scans - and can be linked directly to depressed functioning within the premotor cortex, as reported in TIME magazine:



The inability to understand emotions does not equate to a lack of intelligence; rather, it equates to a difficulty communicating that is the hallmark of autism. One of the speculations about the recent rise in the incidence of autism is the greater ability to differentiate autism from other disorders that prevent communication - mental retardation being a prime misidentification for severe autism, and social maladjustment of various levels for less severely impacted individuals. Only through the willingness of people with autism such as Ashley X, shown in the video and article, to explain their perception of the world, can that misunderstanding be changed.

Well said Kacey. Your right on the mark.