Europe's cure for autism is death

[Santosha]

I wonder if these doctors ever tried dietary changes. From what I've read in "Nutrient Power", about 85% of autistics who change their diet notice improvements in their symptoms.

Ya. It's true that autistics are often highly sensitive to medications, chemicals, food allergies, etc. The canaries in the coal-mine. And many studies have shows than with dietary changes, early intervention (speech, occupational, ABA) symptoms can be minimized tremendously. However, the real issue with autism, imho, has never been about doing what we need to do to make them more functional/acceptable to our society. The issue is with society, and its many outdated norms. Those on the spectrum challenge the way neurotypicals perceive. They challenge inauthentic social interactions. They challenge the people closest to them to get with the program and realize the many, many ways they have limited themselves in their efforts to conform. And it is no surprise to me, that they are coming in large numbers now (though I know many will argue that this is simply a case of awareness and diagnostic changes.) A lot of work is coming out about autism and paradigm shift. I find it really interesting.

Bottom line, I don't believe autism needs a 'cure'. Though I do believe there are more effective and less effective ways of helping them navigate a world designed by neurotypicals.

 

[Thalassa]

I vote instead it be the "cure" for psychopathy. Then we'd probably have a much more easy time getting along as humans, without all the psychopaths murdering or harming people for pleasure, or simply hoarding resources and creating political structures that keep them at the top. Then we'd just be left with people with pain or ignorance, instead of cold dead evil.

 

[Cellmold]

Slippery slopes!

Raining from the sky!

Please continue to argue about the few exceptions of pressure on the emotionally unstable and unhappy to take a way out.

I'll be busy over here in this corner, giving out weapons and an external focus for their internal issues instead.

C'mon people, we need more mass shootings, not euthanasia.

 

[Thalassa]

They have an unending string of hoops and evaluations before they actually even get to the decision. And it is petitioned by the very people who want it to happen, themselves. This isn't about temporary suffering. It's about long-term, life-crippling suffering that they want to end.

I'm all on board with your pov if it's a temporary and a fixable condition.

I'm absolutely pro euthanasia if it's not.

(And as far as I'm concerned, animals are just as much living beings that can suffer as humans are, so I don't make any distinction there
As for humans acting like animals...a) we are animals, b) people have never had a problem acting like it, nor do I consider it to be 'wrong' to act like your own nature, and c) we are way more harmful to others and our environments than most other animals are- but that's a tangent, I'm sure).

We are animals and in that simple recognition we should show more compassion to non-human animals...however, the fundamental difference is extremely important.

I struggled with this as a teenager and well into my adult life, but it's only because I was missing information. Once I understood all the things religion says is sinful actually make huge impacts, I was devastated. As of right now, gluttony and greed are in all actuality the cause of increasing global warming. Lust is the cause of sexism, dehumanization of prostitutes, and objectification of women. Eating and sex aren't wrong - but gluttony and lust aren't a healthy expression of appetite. A lot has been lost in translation. ..but I understood deeply from childhood that men deserved punishment more than any animal. That is because animals, like plants, like the wind, simply do act in their nature and relative to their entire environment. Men do not, and it's actually absurd to suggest that they do, unless they suffer from Downs Syndrome, maybe.

 

[Amargith]

We are animals and in that simple recognition we should show more compassion to non-human animals...however, the fundamental difference is extremely important.

I struggled with this as a teenager and well into my adult life, but it's only because I was missing information. Once I understood all the things religion says is sinful actually make huge impacts, I was devastated. As of right now, gluttony and greed are in all actuality the cause of increasing global warming. Lust is the cause of sexism, dehumanization of prostitutes, and objectification of women. Eating and sex aren't wrong - but gluttony and lust aren't a healthy expression of appetite. A lot has been lost in translation. ..but I understood deeply from childhood that men deserved punishment more than any animal. That is because animals, like plants, like the wind, simply do act in their nature and relative to their entire environment. Men do not, and it's actually absurd to suggest that they do, unless they suffer from Downs Syndrome, maybe.

I've treated obese cats who get 'greedy' due to environmental circumstances or trauma. Ive seen such aggressive cats that they will attack viciously anyone who they perceive is a threat to their territory - so called bullies, who became that way due to trauma or chronic stress or just poor socialisation. And ime, tom cats who are frustrated due to lack of territory or due to boredom are a lot more likely to bully female cats due to the fact that they're...well, smaller and therefore easier to use as play prey - though both genders will resort to this and just pick a potential 'victim' cat regardless of gender, as well. Fix the circumstances, rechannel their attention, potentially re-introduce the two under pleasant circumstances, while rebuilding the victim's confidence (so they stop acting like prey) and that problem often resolves itself, though.

I did earlier address what you're touching upon, though, I think - we are a species that is even more opportunistic and numerous, probably due to our big brain, so it's easier for us to go off the rails and leave a destructive impact on our environment.

But it's all the same system. And systems often malfunction when they're damaged or out of alignment with their environment in some other way - until they're adjusted, fixed or scrapped.

 

[Reborn Relic]

For reasons purely related to self-preservation, I support keeping euthanasia legal in at least some circumstances--certainly if I were put into a situation where my brain was even somewhat damaged or degraded, I wouldn't want to wait, most likely even for possible recovery.

I do wonder if the doctors' standards were focused in the wrong direction, though--whether someone treatable rather than whether someone was informed or stable enough to believe that getting better is a possibility--although this then raises questions about what constitutes instability, etc.

I also have a few ideas about solutions but I'll wait before bringing most of them up--well, save one: What about an opt-in process for the lucid, for euthanasia?

 

[prplchknz]

the cure for life is also death.

 

[Thalassa]

I've treated obese cats who get 'greedy' due to environmental circumstances or trauma. Ive seen such aggressive cats that they will attack viciously anyone who they perceive is a threat to their territory - so called bullies, who became that way due to trauma or chronic stress or just poor socialisation. And ime, tom cats who are frustrated due to lack of territory or due to boredom are a lot more likely to bully female cats due to the fact that they're...well, smaller and therefore easier to use as play prey - though both genders will resort to this and just pick a potential 'victim' cat regardless of gender, as well. Fix the circumstances, rechannel their attention, potentially re-introduce the two under pleasant circumstances, while rebuilding the victim's confidence (so they stop acting like prey) and that problem often resolves itself, though.

I did earlier address what you're touching upon, though, I think - we are a species that is even more opportunistic and numerous, probably due to our big brain, so it's easier for us to go off the rails and leave a destructive impact on our environment.

But it's all the same system. And systems often malfunction when they're damaged or out of alignment with their environment in some other way - until they're adjusted, fixed or scrapped.

Yes but animals don't know better. That's the bottom line. Humans do. Humans know better, and don't care. And I'm kind of disgusted with making excuses for people who are killing off species, and putting the entire human race in danger, because they can't stop compulsively watching television and eating beef. I've really had it, especially with people who are educated enough to know the difference, and these people do not care, they will not care...and that's the difference between a man and an animal. An animal usually only kills for food or territory, and if it gets out of control, something in the environment squashes it's arrogance. Something needs to squash human arrogance. Fast.

Anyway, I don't agree with euthenizing humans. If I did, I'd want to take out a couple billion of them, so it's best to stick to ahimsa.

 

[Kullervo]

Assisted euthanasia should be legal. While it is easy to take the moral high ground and declare it immoral, we should remember that a lot of people who die in pain, slowly, every day would welcome a quick death. As far as I'm concerned, that is their decision to make. While stuff gets complicated when the person is clearly very sick but unable to give consent (e.g. critically ill neonates, children and adults in a vegetative state), I still think doctors should also be able to perform euthanasia in these situations, with familial consent. I agree that there do need to be far clearer guidelines around when it is and isn't acceptable to perform, but that isn't the point here.

As an aside, I kind of feel frustrated seeing people get so worked up over social issues. Priorities...