Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Time to call BULLSHIT on yet another NT opinion about an Autism issue...

Just found an article that I think is completely bogus and I'll explain why after you read the reprint of the article below...

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Motor Skills Linked To Autism Severity

By


The ability to throw or catch a ball may be a predictor of social skills success in children with autism, researchers say.

In a new study looking at 35 children ages 6 to 15 with high-functioning autism, researchers found that kids who had greater difficulty with so-called object-control motor skills — activities like throwing a ball — also displayed more trouble with social and communication skills.

“So much of the focus on autism has been on developing social skills, and that is very crucial,” said Megan MacDonald of Oregon State University and the lead author of the study published in the July issue of the journal Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly. “Yet we also know there is a link between motor skills and autism, and how deficits in these physical skills play into this larger picture is not clearly understood.”

Researchers say the finding raises questions about whether children with autism are holding back on the playground, for example, because of social skills deficits or due to physical weaknesses.

The good news, MacDonald said, is that motor skills can be taught.

“We have programs and interventions that we know work, and have measurable impact on motor skill development,” she said. “We need to make sure we identify the issue and get a child help as early as possible.”

SOURCE: http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2013/07/09/motor-skills-autism-severity/18274/

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This is BULLSHIT for the following reasons...

1.) I was never very good at sports, that much is true. I never tried to get better either because I genuinely HATE them.

And the reason I hate them is because everyone and their mother kept trying to force them on me as a child. It had nothing to do with any kind of physical awkwardness. Believe it or not, I was actually a pretty decent Baseball player when I wanted to play.

2.) Not being any good at sports does not mean that you won't be successful in life. Not everyone is going to be a professional athlete.

Not that you could convince the Shitbags running that so-called 'Christian' school that I attended as a child of that fact...

I've accomplished many things that most other people will NEVER do. And I did most of it long before I knew that I was an Aspie: I've excelled in college, programmed and/or designed all manner of things that even my professors found impressive AND spent several years in the Army too.

Asperger's presents unique challenges but, it also tends to be more of an asset than a burden. Start treating it that way.

3.) There are many ways that one can be social without having to play a sport. Why not try training the autistic child with some of those social skills instead?

If nothing else, at least you'll spare him a LOT of embarrassment and self-esteem issues since he's always being picked last for the games at recess.

4.) Did any of you ever stop to think that the kid with HFA/Asperger's/Whatever doesn't communicate much out of his/her own personal choice?

Take it from me, people can be real Assholes when they (often very quickly) discover that you're different. Why would I purposely socialize with someone that I think is an Asshole when I don't have to for any practical reason?

5.) Personally, I think people like me can learn a lot of the social skills we need from just reading a few etiquette books.

It certainly beats being outed as something different and then made into a public spectacle. All that will do is guarantee that we become anti-social, hostile and possibly violent. It certainly did with me...

- Lord Publius

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