Well, for the first post in a long time, it's serious issue time. The topic of the day/week/month/whenever I decide to post again is mental disorders and PSA sites dedicated to increasing awareness about specific mental disorders.
You might have seen the ads on TV that are trying to increase awareness about autism. There was one a little bit ago comparing the statistics for autism diagnoses versus other somewhat-more-serious ailments such as cancer, diabetes, and AIDS. These are all put out by an organization known as Autism Speaks, an advocacy group trying to increase awareness about autism to help parents identify it earlier, opening the door to more treatment options. According to them, 1 out of every 110 children has autism, up from 1 in 160 in an earlier ad, and for something so common to be so misunderstood is an injustice.
They've gotten a little more interesting with their advertising since then, with one coming out rolling back the degrees of separation from "I heard of some kid with autism" to "My son has autism" AUTISM!!!! Seems like they're making an unusually big deal out of it. How should I know? Well, according to the criteria they base their statistics on, I have autism.
When I was 15, I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, atypical autism is you're not good with remembering acronyms. My parents had always dismissed my shortcomings with social interaction as a "phase" that would pass over time. However, with the combined pressure of the extended family and the school system, they finally thought around the time I was in middle school "Hey, this might not be a phase, let's get him tested for this 'Asperger's Syndrome' we keep hearing about!" Autism Speaks and many other people and groups speaking out about autism would agree that my parents did all the wrong things, but I cannot blame them. They were just victims of the same misunderstanding that Autism Speaks is working to correct.
Well, OHSU concluded that I did not have Asperger's, but that I was still on the autistic spectrum. This was a relief for my parents, but it didn't help me all that much. I still had issues, only now I had a name for them and knew that at my age there was not really much that could be done about them. It doesn't exactly bode well for the 15-year-old psyche to be told, in a long roundabout way, that I would have problems for the rest of my life.
Back to Autism Speaks! Their intentions are noble, and for the most part their reasoning is sound, but some of their methodology seems questionable. Comparing autism to cancer or AIDS is quite bold considering that they are completely different in cause and severity. As an autistic speaking here, I don't feel like I have an incurable disease. I indeed have problems because of it, but I don't have the risk of dying an extremely slow, painful death.
One of the ethical issues regarding autism concerns what treatment is necessary. There are many parents out there who boast that they have found "cures" for autism, and many others with autistic children are perking an ear to it. On the other end, there are people who equate cures and treatments for autism with cures and treatments for homosexuality. I would have loved to have treatment options, but as I don't feel that I have a disease, I don't feel like I have anything that needs to be cured.
Autism gives people a unique perspective on the world, but it also deprives us of many of the tools to effectively share this experience to the world. If groups like Autism Speaks can encourage more parents to give their children these tools, then the world could have a lot to learn from us, all of us, not just the Bill Gateses and the Beethovens (allegedly). Just as misunderstanding leads to prejudice and fear, understanding leads to respect and cooperation, and if that's really what Autism Speaks is about, then I support them in their endeavor.
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