I just have to say it:If taking paracetamol (tylenol) while pregnant caused autism, the vast majority of us would be autistic

[remittancegirl@mstdn.social]

I just have to say it:

If taking paracetamol (tylenol) while pregnant caused autism, the vast majority of us would be autistic.

I am so deeply tired of this shit. Bone tired of the blatant lack of logical thought predominating American culture right now.

[remittancegirl@mstdn.social]

And the ‘science’ has become so profoundly ideologised, that I have to resort to anecdotal evidence.

And that’s not a great place to be. But it seems to me that the rise in the incidence of autism is far more likely to be a growth in the diagnosis of autism. Alongside a staggering intolerance for difference.

While I absolutely understand why many autistic people are relieved to get a diagnosis, a far better solution would be for society as a whole to learn to accommodate neurodiversity.

[remittancegirl@mstdn.social]

While profound autism does indeed require social support, medical support, etc. The majority of neurodiversities demand that we simply understand that difference is a massive asset to our survival as a species and always has been. That accommodating different learning strategies, different levels of the tolerance of stimuli, etc, is going to make life better for ALL OF US.

That ‘normals’ can tolerate a never-ending barrage of sensory cacophony belies the reality that it stresses us all.

[remittancegirl@mstdn.social]

I see two underlying paradoxes:

That a sense of identity (via diagnosis) is attractive and emotionally satisfying on the surface but equally creates more ‘us and them’ situations.

Capitalism demands an ever-increasing tolerance for stimulus in order to perpetuate ever-increasing demand.

[a_cubed@mastodon.social]

@Remittancegirl
A "diagnosis" is the wrong term, really (not from you, but in general). It's an evaluation of how a particular person works, not howthey're sick. Fromthat PoV, it's really useful. Knowing that one is prone to cognitive and/or emotional overwhelm, for example, is as useful as knowing one's medium term physical stamina is for athletes. They have to avoid over-training but can exceed their medium twem stamina in competition, knowing they have time to recover after.

[remittancegirl@mstdn.social]

@a_cubed This seems like a really good analogy.

I also strongly agree that ‘diagnosis’ is a terrible term. Indeed, even evaluation would not be necessary IF we were simply willing to accept difference as a positive attribute.

The ethical response to ’this person experiences the world differently’ should not be ‘what’s wrong with them’ or ‘how can we fix it’ but ‘yay’ - how can we help make that person’s experience more positive for them?

[remittancegirl@mstdn.social]

And where once I would have been minded to read this study with care and an open mind, since the US has utterly gutted its own federal public health system and chosen to put ideology ahead of science when funding for scientific research, I can say with sadness that I no longer view studies like this with an open mind.

I have to fall back on the fucking obvious: IF paracetamol used during pregnancy caused autism, we would have seen an astronomical rise.

[colman@mastodon.ie]

@Remittancegirl @a_cubed we should be teaching everyone how to deal with their weaknesses, not assuming people with a particular set are broken.

Maybe it's the people who are desperately status driven — they spend *how much* on cars they don't need??? — that are broken.

[holdenweb@freeradical.zone]

@Colman @Remittancegirl @a_cubed accumulation of ridiculous amounts of surplus wealth indicates an abnormal mental pathology to me, but I am a lay person.