Do you know someone with, or do you have Autism?

**Mark30001** · July 4th, 2007, 00:36

I grew up knowing a kid with autism, since we were in the first grade till we graduated high school.

I'm completely ignorant about how one is diagnosed with autism, but according to him, he became autistic after taking some sort of medicine when he was much younger.

**Nodtveidt** · July 4th, 2007, 13:43

A large number of autism cases are caused by the chemicals in vaccines.

**ExcruciationX** · July 4th, 2007, 19:36

Originally Posted by Nodtveidt

A large number of autism cases are caused by the chemicals in vaccines.

I'm convinced that's the problem, although the medical profession won't admit that.

**Tesseract** · July 4th, 2007, 20:01

OFFICIALLY, there's no known cause. The number of people being diagnosed has spiked within the past 20 years or so.

I hate conspiracy theories, though, and I haven't been researching long enough to come up with a hypothesis of my own...

**gdf** · July 4th, 2007, 21:24

maybe you are just a spazmoid! no joking. but yeah i know a dude with asbergers, pretty ****ed up guy. some totally autistic people are awesome at maths especially...

**VampDude** · July 4th, 2007, 22:46

Originally Posted by gdf

maybe you are just a spazmoid! no joking. but yeah i know a dude with asbergers, pretty ****ed up guy. some totally autistic people are awesome at maths especially...

They tend to make up in areas other than whats affected, so where someone is psycho that person could be the smartest person alive. I know it's not autism, but look at Stephen Hawking he is a genius!

**ExcruciationX** · July 4th, 2007, 23:35

Originally Posted by gdf

...some totally autistic people are awesome at maths especially...

Unless you talk to me. I suck at math. It's dumb to me.

For me to excel at school, I need be on a sedative (to slow me down enough so I can learn something) all the time. I'm also good at humor when I'm sedated or off my meds.

**Tesseract** · July 5th, 2007, 00:00

Yeah... something like that would probably help with my issues with learning stuff... I love number-math, but I can't wrap my head around stuff like Calculus or geometry/trigonometry. Basically, if it deals in absolutes, I'm fine. Which is where my problem with learning how to program comes in :P I can handle HTML, 'cause it does exactly what you tell it to ("I don't even see the code. All I see is Blonde... Brunette...Redhead..."). I can't handle Java or C++ or whatnot 'cause you have to tell the computer how to decide what its supposed to do.

I just don't think I'd like the Idea of having to 'underclock' my brain just to learn stuff. :P I'd also be worried that my 'real' personality would be undermined by whatever meds I might be advised to take to combat the other stuff going on....

(EDIT: Ah, here we go. Found something useful I had been looking for for a previous post...)

Pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) like autism and Asperger Syndrome have been on the rise for years. Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccines and thimerosal-containing vaccines (which are approximately 50 percent ethylmercury) have been suggested as possible causes. A new McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) study, published in the scientific journal Pediatrics, assessed the link between childhood immunizations and PDD in 28,000 Quebec children and finally clears MMR vaccines and thimerosal-containing immunizations as risk factors.