Let's compare and contrast!

[conuly]

Some of these traits are traits of autism and some of them are traits of cancer. Let's see if you can spot the difference!

This is a disease which is marked by excessive growth, aka tumors. Answer: Cancer. Hard to tell, but the word "tumor" gives it away.

This is a neurological difference/disability which is marked by either gaze aversion or staring. Answer: Autism. People with cancer generally will look you in the eye for the appropriate amount of time.

This can develop later in life. Answer: Cancer. It should not be possible to become autistic later in life.

This can kill you. Answer: Cancer. Contrary to popular belief, autism does not snatch children, nor does it kill them.

Congratulations. You now know the difference between autism and cancer. There will be a quiz later.

Comments

Autism can kill, apparently, but in a very roundabout way ;))

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

This reminds me...

I was reading the county newspaper a few weeks ago, and it described autism as a disease that can kill people. I ran into the living room where my family sat, brandishing the newspaper, screaming "THIS DARN THING SAYS AUTISM CAUSES DEATH!!" As I was doing this 'complicated' maneuver, my legs had sort of gotten mixed up and I fell flat on my face in front of my brother.

My brother: "See, autism does cause death, just like you demonstrated."
Me: *owww*

:DDD

Oh, and a bit of nitpicking:
It should not be possible to become autistic later in life.
What about Childhood Disintegrative Disorder? I don't know whether "before age 10" counts as "later in life". If one's past 10, one cannot really become autistic all of a sudden, you're right; but before that, there is a slim possibility.
CDD is very rare, though.

Re: Autism can kill, apparently, but in a very roundabout way ;))

[eofs.livejournal.com]

If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true, that would be a cause of later developing autism.

[rho]

How indicative of autism is gaze aversion type things? I've always had a huge problem with that, ranging from when I was little and used to get told off for not looking people in the eyes and wondering what on earth it was I was being reprimanded for, up to last Tuesday when I found myself doing it in a conversation with disability support woman from university.

(and yes, before any asks, I'm well aware of the danger of playing games of "match the mental condition", but historically, I've found that getting information about how people with symptoms similar to my own experience conditions and what have you can lead me to a better understanding of me. if that makes any sense)

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

Errrrrrrr.

What was the point of this post? This one was a bit weird.

If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true,

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

I have yet to see any indication of that.

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

Check a previous one for context:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/conuly/622226.html

Re: Autism can kill, apparently, but in a very roundabout way ;))

[conuly]

Except that all the studies show that there isn't a correlation.

Even if there were, I would call that "vaccine induced neurological disorder" instead of autism. Different cause, different name.

[conuly]

Very. Gaze aversion is the classic sign of autism. Many autistics are the opposite, and stare, but that's not a classic sign of autism.

[conuly]

People have this thing where they compare autism to cancer. I have no idea why, they just do. And the two are nothing alike!

[conuly]

Of course, it can be attributed to other things, notably a different cultural background.

[interactiveleaf.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you. I didn't read it very carefully the first time.

[rho]

Of course. But still interesting for me.

Re: If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true,

[eofs.livejournal.com]

It was a big scare over here. My Mum had a couple of kids at school whose autism had been connected to it. *Shrugs* I'm not allowed it anyway for entirely different reasons.

Re: Autism can kill, apparently, but in a very roundabout way ;))

[eofs.livejournal.com]

If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck...

Re: If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true,

[conuly]

It's the big scare everywhere, but study after study shows no connection.

The fact is that the age most kids get their MMRs is the same age many people start to realize their children are autistic - and, by coincidence, the same age some children begin to display autistic traits. But it's just a coincidence. If it rains every time I wear blue, I can't say that it rains because I wear blue.

Re: Autism can kill, apparently, but in a very roundabout way ;))

[conuly]

Then it's a kid dressed up like a duck and going quack.

It's nonsense to use the same term for multiple conditions just because they superficially appear the same.

Re: If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true,

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

(You beat me to replying - yer fast!)

I second Conuly on everything she wrote.

[prezzey.livejournal.com]

I think it's even worse when they compare it to The Plague. >_

Re: If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true,

[phoebonica.livejournal.com]

And even if there was a connection, you can't die from autism. You can die from measles. In fact, my mother knew someone whose daughter had a severe reaction to the MMR jab - ended up in a coma - and the doctor told her to be thankful that she'd had the kid immunised, because if she'd caught the actual measles virus she'd have been dead.

Which reminds me of the other thing I don't get about this debate - how is having single vaccines supposed to be better? Isn't it basically the same thing?

(That got a bit off topic, didn't it?)

Re: If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true,

[eofs.livejournal.com]

Well in my case I'm not allowed the MMR because I reacted badly to the measles jab as a baby. So if single vaccines were easier to get hold of I could actually be protected against rubella. I'm just glad I had mumps as a baby - we've had a couple of outbreaks in English universities over the last 12 months (one of which I missed, the other of which included people I was working with) and my city was one of the worst hit. Our medical centre provided free MMRs, but that's no use to me. As you can imagine, I wholeheartedly support the provision of individual jabs.

As for why - perhaps it's just the body reacting badly to having all three introduced at once. If I recall correctly, when given individually there is some time between them.

Re: If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true,

[phoebonica.livejournal.com]

Well, if there's an actual reason why you can't have all three, then fair enough. I really meant why do people think that giving three single vaccines is less likely to trigger reactions than one combined one.

I don't see why having all three being introduced at once would cause problems. When you think of all the germs you breathe in just sitting on the bus or something...

Re: If the suspected links between the MMR jab and autism are true,

[conuly]

Actually, I do believe that giving them separately is safer. Normally, you don't get exposed to three dangerous diseases at once. Doing that to an infant is reprehensible.

Re: Autism can kill, apparently, but in a very roundabout way ;))

[missfahrenheit.livejournal.com]

Exactly- the first MMR/autisum correlation type thing was based on onkly twelve people, and it was recently discovered that it's much more likey to be a negative correlation in that kids who don't hasve MMR are more likely to be diagnosed as autistic.

I don't think there's a connection at all, personally. But I'm glad that my mum made sure me and my brother both had our MMR jabs- as eofs pointed out there has been a massive mumps epidemic around British universities lately because lots of these people missed out on the jabs while they were kids.

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

In my case, I never used to have a problem looking people in the eye, but after spending a chunk of time in East Asia, it bothers me a great deal. The unfortunate side effect is that many people think I'm "hiding" something, when in reality, I've hit the point where I find meeting someone's eyes for an extended period of time in unbearably rude.

I'll look at your chin or your mouth though. Just not your eyes.

[wakasplat.livejournal.com]

Believe it or not, I've known a couple very vocal people who insist that autism does kill.

They look at it something like:

* If an autistic person is institutionalized and dies in there, they're dead because they're autistic. (Not because institutions suck.)

* If an autistic person walks into the street and gets hit by a car, they're dead because they're autistic. (Not because there was a car there.)

* If an autistic person doesn't report that they're in pain and dies of a disease that wasn't treated in time, they're dead because they're autistic. (Not because people weren't vigilant about looking for signs of disease in a person who can't communicate that kind of thing.)

* If an autistic person basically does anything dangerous that non-autistic people wouldn't be doing at the same age as the autistic person, they're dead because they're autistic.

And, the absolute worst:

* Autism should be re-labeled a terminal illness because it can cause your parents to murder you. (I shit you not, I've heard that from parents of autistics.)

So therefore they say that autism does kill and that those of us who are against curing autism are just ideologues who don't respect the lives of the "poor miserable LFAs".

As someone who's walked into streets, put myself in dangerous situations, failed to report potentially fatal illness, and survived attempted murder in an institution, I seriously beg to differ.