Home > Fact > Ouch Q&A #15: Autism
Ouch Q&A #15: Autism
25th July 2007
Q: Dinner on the table, clothes washed and ironed, rent-free living - there's a lot to be said for staying at home and sponging off the folks, isn't there?
A: Apparently so, but not all adults opt for the KIPPER - Kids In Parents' Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings - lifestyle so voluntarily. The National Autistic Society [NAS] has found that , not necessarily because they have plumped for the cushy lifestyle but more because of lack of support and services.
Q: What else did they discover?
A: The NAS also found that only 15% of adults with autism in England are in full-time paid employment - a figure which could be increased if the right planning, support and services were put in place during the crucial stages of transition between school, higher education, training and employment.
Q: Autism - that's what Dustin Hoffman's character had in the film Rain Man, wasn't it? That bit where those toothpicks dropped on the floor and he instantly knew how many there were was incredible. Are they all so amazing with numbers?
A: People with autism who have such extraordinary toothpick counting talents are referred to as , but they are rare. Maybe only one or two people in 200 individuals with an autistic spectrum disorder might have a genuine savant talent. One well-known savant is our very own Stephen Wiltshire MBE, who can draw detailed drawings of cityscapes after seeing them only once.
Q: Aren't people with autism all obsessed with planes, trains and automobiles?
A: You can get vehicle-spotting habits creeping in, as one of the traits of autism is the development of strong, narrow, obsessional interests. The other two characteristics are difficulties forming social relationships and problems with verbal and non-verbal communication. Autism varies across a wide spectrum of severity and is a lifelong developmental disability.
Q: I've also heard that it affects boys more than girls. Is it only a bloke thing, then?
A: There are about 500,000 people with autism in the UK, with boys being to develop autism than girls.
Q: Now I remember, there was all that controversy about the MMR jab and autism, wasn't there?
A: The - a combined vaccine against the three common childhood diseases of measles, mumps and rubella which research suggested might be connected to autism - hasn't gone away. It seems that for every study that disproves any link you can find another that claims to prove one. The states that "overwhelming weight of evidence proves that MMR is safe, and the number of studies demonstrating this is growing"."
Q: So if MMR is apparently off the hook, what does cause autism?
A: Experts reckon it is by interaction between several complex genetic and environmental factors.
Q: That sounds rather imprecise. What you're trying to tell me is that they don't really know, do they?
A: Well, the experts clearly say that it's nothing to do with emotional deprivation or the way a person is brought up. But ultimately, no, the causes of autism are still something of a mystery.
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Comments
Autism as mysterious as the universe.. who knows why we are so different we just are, those of us on the autism spectrum are ok with that but for some reason many find this hard to expect, sorry but I am going no where and deep within me I know my autism heart, the core of who I am will help me stay true to being an autistic individual...
Please put away the fad treatments as none of us want to be your experiments, especially because we just are..
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