Religiosity & autism

[cjolley]

That's the deviance definition they meant to convey in the headline.
Variance from neurotypical, yeah that's the ticket.
LOL

[Brian Ellis]

What is neurotypical? IMHO, there is nothing typical. If there were, we'd all be the same, how boring. The spectrum is so broad that the distribution curve is more or less a flat line, albeit with a smidgen of chaos thrown in for good luck. Religion is mostly a result of brainwashing, most frequently as kids, no matter the faith. Catch 'em young and break 'em in to your liking.

[Dr Mordrid]

What is neurotypical? IMHO, there is nothing typical.

Here ya go -

neurotypical
–adjective
Having a normal (usual, ordinary) ability to process linguistic information and social cues; used especially as an antonym for autistic.

Neurotypical (or NT) is a term that was coined in the autistic community as a label for people who are not on the autism spectrum: specifically, neurotypical people have neurological development and states that are consistent with what most people would perceive as normal, particularly with respect to their ability to process linguistic information and social cues. The concept was later adopted by both the neurodiversity movement and the scientific community.

In the United Kingdom, the National Autistic Society recommends the use of the term in its advice to journalists.

[Brian Ellis]

This is the whole point of what I said. You are dividing the world into black (autistic) and white ("neurotypical"). The world ain't like that, it is full of shades of grey, a whole broad spectrum, as I said. I've come across a small number of autistic kids and no two of them were alike. One was totally shut off into his own world with no means of communication with him, who had to have everything done for him. His parents tell me (he is now 25) that there has been no improvement since then and they can no longer cope. At the other end of the scale, a boy, met casually, had been diagnosed as autistic seemed a bright, normal, kid, yet he had a number of difficulties, especially learning. I've also met "normal" kids with general learning difficulties who have not been declared as autistic. You remember the kid in the photo with our "giant dog"? He is close to genius level, he is now 8 and understands differential calculus and reads full length adult classics, but he has difficulty communicating with both peers and adults, but he is not autistic. This is why I refute the notions expressed in this thread by convenient labels.

[Umfriend]

So you're saying autism is no valid diagnose? Either that or neurotypical != autistic.

I don't see the issue here (aside from issues with sample selection etc). And I'm an Atheist (and very very disagreeable! Grrrrr)

[Brian Ellis]

So you're saying autism is no valid diagnose? Either that or neurotypical != autistic.

I don't see the issue here (aside from issues with sample selection etc). And I'm an Atheist (and very very disagreeable! Grrrrr)

Not at all. As an analogy, let us take the case of a myocardial infarction. The symptoms may range from sudden death to none, via angina pectoris in the shoulder/arm, sharp chest pain, a feeling like a heavy weight compressing the chest, loss of consciousness, vomiting etc. Any of these symptoms over a wide spectrum may lead to a diagnosis of ischaemic MI or something else. Similarly, a wide range of symptoms may lead to a diagnosis of autism, probably with a larger degree of error, as we don't have diagnostic tools like EKG or angiography, which would help in the case of MI.

If I were you, I would not say, "There is no God!" too loudly, in case He hears you! I don't believe in Judeo-Christian-Islamic dogma, as laid down by human clerics and the writings they teach from. That is a far cry from denial of a supreme spirit. Again, there is a spectrum of faith from hard atheism, via degrees of agnosticism to blind faith. I have known many clerics preaching the above dogmas. Most of the more intelligent ones I have discussed their and my faith with have gone through periods of doubt; in fact, I can think of only two, both Irish Catholics, by chance, who have said that their faith has been whole from an early age to a long priesthood. I admire their simple faith, but neither could debate in a reasoned or intelligent manner; their whole life revolved round their sacerdocy. I was brought up as a hard-liner Presbyterian in the Kirk of Scotland. I attended services reasonably regularly up to about the age of 30 (I was even ordained a deacon and an Elder of the Session). As I delved deeper into the meaning of Christianity, I realised the the Kirk's dogmatic Westminster Confession of Faith, derived from the teachings of Jean Calvin and John Knox, I realised that there was a wide divergence between the teachings of Jesus and the hate and spite of the church. There was a long evolution, including some reading about other faiths both within and without Christianity. Within it, I could not reconcile any of the established churches with the legacy of Christ practised by a few in the first years following his death, as far as we know it. I don't believe in fairy tales nor in those that surround the life of Jesus as written, years later, in the Bible; but I do believe he was a historic man who was an excellent teacher who was murdered for his teachings, but he was not divine (nor did he claim to be). Where my faith now is limited to an acknowledgement of the potential existence of spirituality within a few enlightened individuals and possibly of some sort of supreme spirit, big bang creator or whatever, I do not go along with the claptrap of any organised religion.

So, where does that place me in the autism-neurotypical spectrum? God knows!

[cjolley]

Yes, but does anyone on MURC not believe in Kirk The Creator?