• yesman@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    When left-handedness became acceptable the number of left handed people was far higher than experts had predicted.

  • solomon42069@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Just as easily applies to queerness and gender expression too. My favourite part on the these specific issues is the ignorance in the west, acting like being trans and queer is uniquely American and new.

    Meanwhile South East Asia is right there…

  • withabeard@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Something I noticed recently

    The same people who quickly bemoan “everyone wants a label now” seen to be the same people who say “all kids do this like that”.

    • Randelung@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Have we tried slapping them out of existence? Or just telling them to think harder and maybe that’ll make them stop existing?

    • Furbag@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      There is an incorrect belief that autism is on the rise and that it must be caused by something, but in reality we are just getting better at identifying it and diagnosing people correctly. So it’s not that there is an autism epidemic, we’re just discovering that it’s less rare of a condition than previously assumed.

      • wowwoweowza@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        So… someone went through a great deal of trouble to share this. Why? I’m confused. What is the message and the audience? Is there something I am supposed to do?

        • ghterve@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          One example is anti-vaxxers claiming vaccines are causing the increase in autism. When challenged, one possible response they parrot is “well then what is the cause?”. The message is that there isn’t a cause because there isn’t an increase in the first place

          • wowwoweowza@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Between Trump, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine… I just ain’t got time for one other thing. Not this. If there’s nothing I can even imagine doing about this, why is it my business?

  • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Epidemic? That means it’s a contagious disease, how do I spread my autism to others? By biting them? (If you ask: I consider some vampires “autism-coded”, and I might be making a game with even more autism coded vampires)

  • saltesc@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Got to say, I don’t really understand. But words ending with the -demic morpheme aren’t used lightly where I’m from and still mean what they do. I assume that’s what’s going on in this comment.

    • A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      There are bad-faith actors trying to convince people that autism is “caused” by vaccines and similar garbage. They see the growing autistic population as a “woke epidemic”

  • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Unlike planets, people with autism have indeed been born in the last few decades and were not always in existence like some shadow beings

    • meliaesc@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      But there’s no way to measure if there’s an increase in autism, because in previous generations, it went undiagnosed.

      • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        I knew kids who for sure had it, and have a cousin who is severely autistic. That shit was rough back then, especially in a third world country, but I commend my aunt for raising him to live in the hard world he was born into, he’s 40 now and can hold down a job and has an apartment. It was hard for him but he made it. The other side of the coin is people in North America who have autistic kids, and stop pushing them intellectually and just go “he’s autistic, don’t push him or teach him to adjust and live, he’ll never get it ” mentality, or the “yay im autistic, how cool” mentality some young people have.

        Autism isn’t Super power it sucks

        • meliaesc@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          My son (8 years old, born and raised in the US) was diagnosed last week. I’m hesitating to let the school know because they’ll lower their expectations, when he’s so curious and clever. Not sure how I’ll navigate it yet, but I (born and raised in Jamaica) know I likely have some form of it too.

        • jj4211@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Yeah, that’s the thing, I’ve seen the gamut (and people will say “of course it’s a spectrum”) and a non-trivial amount are people almost treating it as “trendy”, and self-diagnosing or shopping professionals seeking a diagnosis.

          I remember at the time they were announcing removal of Asperger’s from the DSM that there was some thought that the high functioning “condition” did more harm than good. It seems the ship has sailed and anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable in social situations and also wants to use it as evidence of their intelligence will go for an Autistic diagnosis. I’ve dealt with a few people who got mad at their mental health professional for telling them they are within the realm of “normal” and everyone finds a challenge in dealing with other people to an extent.

          Meanwhile, the people who would have been diagnosed as autistic whether today or 40 years ago suffer some dilution of accommodation, as it seems everyone asserts they are neourodivergent/spicy/autistic online and it ceases to mean much in the popular perception.