After reading this article, is anyone else on the autism spectrum outraged at their listing our strengths (e.g. good memory, logic, etc.) as "symptoms?"
Check out this article...
http://www.hhmi.org//news/sudhof20070906.html
If you could talk directly to this researcher, what would you say?
curious1
Favorite Answer
I read the article, and thank you for bringing it to my attention.
After reading the article, I would tell the researcher that he needs a better editor. I say this because it is clear from the overall article and research that enhanced cognition is considered a strength by the researcher. However, that is not what the summary quotation expresses.
I think the summary quotation, which does give the impression that good memory, etc., is a pathology, is, in fact, just the writer's bad writing skill. I think what the statement was trying to express was that the only pathology was lack of social skills, and that, in combination with enhanced cognition, made the case that the mouse model was a good model for researching Asperger syndrome.
By the way, I personally object to the word "pathology," but it is a technical term in research to indicate that the feature being discussed is a problematic feature for the individual who has it Unfortunately the same word, "pathology" is also used as a label with a heavy stigma. Just remember that in the context of research language, the word has a very specialized, and objective meaning and is not meant to be stigmatizing.
Nevertheless, I again think that the phrase to which you are referring was an unintentionally badly worded sentence, and not truly what the researcher was trying to communicate.
Hope this helps.
Anonymous
A symptom is not good or bad - it is neutral.
A high fever is a symptom of a person fighting off an infection. The high fever might be considered bad, but the fact that your body is fighting the infection is good - so the statement is neutral.
Having a excellent memory is a symptom of a difference in your brain functioning from other people. Analysis of this as a symptom and discovering why this symptom exists could direct researchers to the cause of autism. There is nothing intrinsically good or bad about having a difference in the way your brain functions - it too is neutral.
thisisme
Someone sent me the article earlier today. I deleted it after I read the title. I can not compare the results of a mouse with my son's autism.