STOP THE CELEBRATIONS!
Wake up to the truth about these ‘neurodevelopmental and pediatric conditions'
As we approach yet another month of Autism Awareness/Acceptance in April, I brace myself for all the news reports on neurodiversity and inclusion. Stories will include appeals for normalizing this always-increasing disorder that U.S. officials still can’t figure out.
Autism has no known cause, cure or prevention. The best we can do for autistic kids is a behavioral therapy called ABA, Applied Behavior Analysis.
No official in America has ever been able to determine if more kids today have autism than 10 years ago or 50 years ago. Autism is symbolized by the ever-present puzzle piece.
The one thing everyone in charge agrees on is that vaccines are in no way linked to the explosion in kids with autism. That’s all that really matters.
The rate of autism can seemingly keep increasing forever. Each and every new rate update has been dismissed as likely more better diagnosing and greater awareness by doctors.
No one in authority has ever used the word “crisis” when talking about autism. “Serious public health concern” is the strongest language used by anyone at our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
I was surprised to learn about Neurodiversity Celebration Week happening Monday, March 18th to Sunday, March 24th. This was founded in the U.K. in 2018 and shows up just before April.
Both initiatives, Neurodiversity Week and Autism Awareness Month, are helping to normalize neurological disabilities which, we are told, affect 15 percent of world’s population.
The real message from the promoters of these events is that these are differences, not disabilities. They’ve always been here, and as enlightened people of the 21st century, we now recognize them. People are born with these neurological conditions, and we need to accommodate them.
The news coverage, of course, focuses on the “nice” side of these conditions, especially autism. We see fund raising walks with typical looking kids, and it’s easy to believe that there have always been people like this; we just didn’t know what to call them.
Those who are worried about the failure of experts to find comparable rates of autism and other neurological disorders in older populations are marginalized and ignored.
It seems that Neurodiversity Week just sets the stage for celebrating autism for a full month.
Here’s a peek at coverage of Neurodiversity Week. It is designed to quash anyone’s worries over autism, ADHD, dyscalculia, dyslexia, dyspraxia, etc.
This is more popular in other countries than in America, but I’m sure it will catch on here too.
India Mid-day: Neurodiversity Awareness Week: Here are 5 digital tools to learn more about neurodivergent brain
Australia, National Tribune: La Trobe academics available to discuss Neurodiversity Celebration Week
New Zealand Newstalk: Calls to improve education system to better support neurodiverse students
Scotland, Scottish Curling: Neurodiversity Celebration Week 2024—Celebrating the ASN Floor Curling Project
England, Shetland News: Community / Local neurodiversity film to be screened in Mareel
England DMU: Neurodiversity Celebration Week at DMU
England, Manchester Staff Net: Neurodiversity celebration week 2024
England, Bracknell Forest: Neurodiversity Celebration Week
Canada, Neurodiversity Celebration Week: Your experiences of sport
Malta, Times: MISCO to dedicate whole week to neurodiversity
There is not much coverage here in the U.S.
U. of Nevada, Reno: Neurodiversity Alliance to hold panel and lunch social March 21 during Neurodiversity Celebration Week
SURPRISE!
Just when I thought no one will wake up to what’s happening, especially to the developmental health of children, I found an incredible piece in Newsweek.
March 14th Newsweek published a stunning article entitled, ‘Very Concerning’ Neurological Study Finds Disorders Increasing Worldwide
There was nothing in the coverage about neurodiversity and inclusion. Newsweek listed conditions that are not dismissed as normal and acceptable, things like Alzheimer's disease, other dementias, meningitis, and stroke.
Neurological disorders are becoming more common worldwide, a new study has found.
The number of people living and dying with such conditions as Alzheimer's disease, other dementias, meningitis, and stroke has risen "substantially" over the past three decades, an international collaborations of researchers reported.
Their analysis revealed that, in 2021, 3.4 billion people suffered from a neurological condition—this is roughly 43 percent of the world's entire population.
What truly amazed me was what was noted a few paragraphs into the article. AUTISM was included.
The most common neurological health disorders in 2021 were found to be stroke, brain injury, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, migraines, nerve damage, meningitis, epilepsy, autism spectrum disorder and nervous system cancers. . . .
The new study greatly emphasizes the need for more research into these conditions. However, neurological conditions are famously hard to treat. . . .
Researchers cited childhood disorders, something no one is ever concerned about.
"The findings are very concerning because they show the extent of neurological disease and its contribution to global disease burden," he added. . . .
"They show the importance of systematic approaches to preventing and treating these diseases, as well as investing in research, which will be our main means of combatting neurological disorders."
Malhotra said research will be "critical" to change these numbers as the more we find out about these conditions, the easier they will be to treat.
Now I don’t know if mentioning AUTISM was an oversight or if these scientists actually see ASD as part of the explosion in neurological disorders.
The word ‘preventing’ got my attention. When it comes to autism, no one ever brings it up. It is simply not allowed. We’re conditioned to leave it an eternal mystery we have no control over.
"These findings are striking, but on the whole, unfortunately not that surprising," professor Paresh Malhotra—head of the Division of Neurology at Imperial College London and Consultant Neurologist at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust—told Newsweek.
He continued: "We know about the huge impact of stroke and Alzheimer's Disease, and this study also highlights the importance of neurodevelopmental and pediatric conditions, as well as very common conditions such as migraine."
Is it possible that the medical community could wake up to the devastating impact of these ‘neurodevelopmental and pediatric conditions’ in time to change what is happening to multiple generations of children?
Well done, Anne.
Neurodiversity is not an adversity so let's celebrate as autim grows, all illnesses are fun, everyone knows and don't forget to applaud heart disease and cancer, curing all illness is not the answer, just accept it all like we do with autism and note all disease has recently risen.