"some autistic people will never talk or go to the bathroom unassisted" okay. are babies human? is that what a human being is? someone who talks and goes to the bathroom unassisted?
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This began with disabled patients living in mental health facilities and other care institutions in Germany, whom Nazis considered to be a drain on resources and "life unworthy of life."
All others with a need for hands on assistance with ADLs (bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, eating, mobility) who rely on public assistance are next
This has hit a nerve. Like humans are so skilled at pattern-seeking (inc. in speech) that we get pareidolia / apophenia. LLMs work *because* they hit those buttons; so much that some can't resist the urge to treat them like people... While also falling to do that for the non-verbal. Aaargh.
There are many levels of autism. It has become understood that it is a matter of information overload. They can't handle it.Autism may be a step in human evolution. The mind may be changing to handle a much larger quantum information highway we the "normal" are not aware of yet. The future normal?
For babies it's normal and totally temporary. For my 18 year old son it's a devestating disability and permanent. It's not about whether he is human. Of course he is. It's about normalizing what happened to my boy, because everyone is afraid someone who may have very mild neurodivergence might be
offended if you say autism is a public health emergency, or an epidemic, and that we need a whole of government attempt to stop it if it can be stopped. A big part of the problem is the DSM5 totally reordered the autistic "spectrum" from a "spectrum" of seperate disorders that overlapped slightly
to a spectrum of neurodivergence, from mild to severe, based on impact to the individual. This normalized "autism" to the extent that a disorder that often destroys lives and families became just a normal part of genetic diversity. This has caused a situation in society where if you even dared call
autism a "disease" you are attacked because "autism" has come to be treated sort of like race or gender. Just a normal part of being human. It further isolates families of people severely affected. Not only do we have to deal with life turned upside down by being an adult that can't use the toilet
I really hope you and your son get the help you need and that people are kind and sympathetic to both of you. I have family in the same boat. I’m certainly not telling you that you have to join the neurodiversity movement, just that RFK seems like he doesn’t care about autistic people at all.
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https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/question/what-conditions-and-ideas-made-the-holocaust-possible