Autism Toilet Paper
Here To Help You Clean Up the Messes!
What We Used To Believe
Autism was once thought to be one of the following: mental illness, result of poor parenting, related to mental impairments, an unwillingness to connect to people, a behavior disorder, or caused by immunizations. Science has taught us that it is a neurodevelopmental disorder and none of our old beliefs were accurate.
The Appearance of the Brain
When studying the brain of individuals with autism, science has found observable differences in the amygdala which regulates emotional responses, the cerebellum which regulates movement, balance, and coordination and in the cerebral cortex (the general "gray matter" of the brain).
Perception and Brain
Researchers have found that when an individual with autism looks at a face, their brain reads that information as an object. Unlike those without autism, who interpret the face as human in the fusiform gyrus of the brain. People with autism will look at items and their brain activates in the same place where those without autism would register people. This may lead insight to an individual's increased interest in objects and decreased sensitivity to eye contact, reading facial cues and social interactions.Yale University. "People With Autism And Asperger Syndrome Process Faces As Objects, Yale Study Of Brain Abnormalities Finds." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 April 2000.
Monkey See Monkey Do Nerves
For years, athletes have been watching films of themselves and others to improve their performance. This activates the mirror neurons in the brain. Initially discovered in 1990 through research with monkeys, these neurons are active when we do something, as well as when we watch something. It enables us to see and do. There is discussion they play a role in understanding others' actions, or "the theory of mind". Gregory Hickok thinks the function of mirror neurons is not about understanding others’ actions per se, but about using others actions’ in the process of making our own choice of how to act. Some studies have found that these neurons act differently in those with autism. Though no global dysfunction of the mirror neurons of those with autism has been concluded, this active area of research continues to advance the understanding of the neurology of autism.
The Debate About Vaccinations
Fraudulent Research for Profit
Andrew Jeremy Wakefield, a former British surgeon and researcher, published a paper in 1998 claiming a link between the MMR vaccine and the appearance of autism and bowel disease. Four years after that study, no researcher was able to duplicate his findings. In 2004, a financial conflict of interest was found and his co-authors withdrew their support of the findings. Additionally, the General Medical Council (GMC) conducted inquiries into allegations of misconduct. In 2010, the GMC found three dozen charges proved including 4 counts of dishonesty and 12 counts of abuse involving developmentally challenged children. He is now barred from practicing medicine in the UK. In 2011, his work was identified as an "elaborate fraud" to create a need for medical testing from which he hoped to profit. Wakefield's claim that vaccines caused autism led to a decline in vaccination rates in the UK, USA , and Ireland and a corresponding rise in mumps and measles resulting in serious injuries and deaths.
Columbus Public Schools Autism Spectrum Disorders Team
Supporting Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) , the Teachers Who Educate Them and Their Families
Email: mckinneyj@discoverers.org
Website: www.unl.edu/asdnetwork
Phone: .