Autism on the Horizon Mike Diamond Comp 106 Prof. Yerks

The Changing Definiton of Autism 1 in 128 children are diagnosed with autism (Indiana Resource Center for Autism of Indiana) Changes are being made to the primary book for diagnosis to make autism more broadly defined Classic autism and Asperger's syndrome, and everything in between, will be labeled as “autistic spectrum disorders” Cases of mild autism will be more widely diagnosed because of the updated definition

The Perception of Mild Autism Asperger's syndrome (AS) became widely known after a “Wired” magazine article about it was published in 2001 The light shone on AS led to a great deal of self-diagnoses Diagnoses will rise as more people become aware of the symptoms

The Perception of Mild Autism There are many mildly autistic people on the Internet who give the rest a bad name Foremost among these is Chris-Chan (at right) “Fans” of Chris-Chan have created an online database containing his every action Chris is perhaps the face of autism for the Millennial generation

The Perception of Mild Autism I used SurveyMonkey to ask ten people who they believe is the face of mild autism The majority picked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Evidence for his autism is shaky at best Similarly, Albert Einstein and Bill Gates are too socially able to be considered autistic icons

Early diagnosis is best, but... Early intervention can be the best chance a child with autism has to lead a normal life For older people with autism who also suffer from depression, diagnosis is not always preferable For children, however, early diagnosis can lead to the learning of vital social skills The cost of lifelong care can be reduced by 2/3 with early diagnosis and intervention

Early diagnosis is best, but... Famous author and animal scientist, Temple Grandin (at right), believes that efforts should be made to cultivate the child's strength The strength is usually also the area of interest This can lead to the person with autism finding a job he loves and that doesn't cause him/her undue stress

Depression and Diagnosis If an older person with depressive tendencies is diagnosed, they can become focused on that fact In this manner, their mental health can be adversely affected by diagnosis

Depression and Diagnosis Excessive navel-gazing can cause anhedonia (lack of pleasure) to set in Symptoms of autism make it easy for a sufferer to demonize himself or herself One's autism should be accepted in order to function properly

Depression and Diagnosis One of the things a sufferer can ruminate over is his or her lack of theory of mind Theory of mind allows humans to put themselves in another's shoes Without this ability, a person with autism can treat others like androids and alienate them in the process This is because the person with autism sees himself or herself as like an android The feeling is projected onto others

Depression and Diagnosis People with autism also lack executive functioning, or “will” Knowing this can lead to elevated depression because of a feeling of hopelessness Without a chance for self-improvement, life can seem overly difficult and pointless Depression can make an autistic person regress even further

Autism on the Horizon Although diagnosis is best for most sufferers, it can be damaging to people with other conditions For older people seeking a diagnosis, they should consider whether or not they want to know the truth