Reply #184: who exists as our model?

[rqstnnlitnmnt]

interesting thoughts sendero. i agree with you on every point -- we are all disordered somehow. it's society (especially american) that cultivates this xenophobia that is inherently human.

now, what's criminal about it are the constructs that we are fed regarding formalized "disorders" (i.e., autism, ADD, other anxiety disorders, etc.) humans love to form perfectly rigid models of things they don't know about (race, culture, origins of religion) and who do we leave the dissemination of these definitions to?

mainstream media (self-help books, tv news, articles in Time...), and corporate backed medical information professionals (doctors, corporate-financed information handouts, etc.)

and since most people don't have direct experience with individuals with autism, or other more overtly aberrant patterns of behavior (schizophrenia, dissociative disorders) we necessarily rely on these cultural constructs, and accept these campaigns as scientific fact.

from my experience with children with autism....i can't even begin to describe it. as with neurotypical children, patterns of behavior in kids with autism are tremendously varied. no kid is alike, especially since the nature of the disorder is a disconnect from rules of appropriate social conduct.

if there's one "disorder" that illustrates your point best, sendero, it's PDD/ASD.


EDIT: Disclaimer: After re-reading this, I realize that the phrase "appropriate social conduct" carries a superior and arrogant tone. What I am against, like many of you, is the tendency of therapy techniques like ABA towards molding blank-faced automotons who are punished for fulfilling their inner drives. What I teach to my kids are skills that will allow them to lead lives in which they are as independent as can reasonably be. I love the personalities of the kids I teach, and their creativity, and their Art of being. I just hope that I can somehow get through to them in a way that respects them foremost as a human being, but at the same time cultivates skills that they are incapable of learning by osmosis. Teaching a child to use the toilet independently involves so much detail, energy, and forethought -- but in the end, the individual's quality of life is invaluably enhanced. I respect all of my children as I respect any other human -- it would be absolutely immoral of me, with that being said, to ignore the teaching of functional skills that are necessary to live an existence that uses all of the individual's capabilities. We simply cannot leave these children to live as they were created because of the guilt we feel when we think we are extinguishing their uniqueness. Their personalities (the true parts untouched by methods of therapy) are so amazing to experience -- but what kind of life is it when one is perfectly free, but unable to engage in *any* self-help task independently. The inner drives of these individuals MUST be respected and honored (and in my experience, they are) but one must draw the line somewhere, especially when one encounters an individual with virtually no independent daily living skills.