Looking at that list, I think I prefer today
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200 years ago
- Thread starter AspieChris
- Start date
Being born autistic is like being born black or Jewish.
The severe co-morbids of ASD2/3 are like sickle cell anemia or Tay-Sachs disease.*
All three genetic conditions (autism, black, Jewish) give one a predisposition to those diseases, but of the three, our severe co-morbids are largely preventable (if not treatable).
*My family has a genetic condition that is, similarly, more common among Vikings.
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MNAus
Well-Known Member
My pet theory for the types of ASD that see a larger number of neurons in the frontal cortex: the general availability of antibiotics and other medicines means we suffer less from infection which for most of human evolution might have been pretty much chronic. This has led to both a drop in body temperature and resting metabolism, but has also given opportunity for the body to invest more in growth. In some people with genetic predisposition this leads to an abundance of neurons and dense connections in the frontal cortex at cost to connections to other brain areas.
Cryptid
Only Rumored To Exist
200 years ago (c.1824) slavery was still legal in America. People could be bought and sold by other people, and escaped slaves could be hunted down, captured, and returned to their owners for a cash reward.
Also, women did not have the right to vote, to own real estate, to go to college, or to own their own bodies -- they had no rights other than what was granted to them by their fathers or husbands.
200 years ago, women were slaves in everything but name.
Also, women did not have the right to vote, to own real estate, to go to college, or to own their own bodies -- they had no rights other than what was granted to them by their fathers or husbands.
200 years ago, women were slaves in everything but name.
To be clear…..
I’m not implying that life was better for everyone 200 years ago. Women were basically enslaved. It was actually illegal in some places in America to teach a black person to read. And the average life expectancy of a white man was something like 50 years old.
All I’m saying is that someone on the spectrum may have gone un-noticed back then because there would have been plenty of ‘down-time’ due to the lack of technology.
Even when I should get some ‘down-time’ I’m using my phone to post here.
I bet that person noticed. Just like all of us who were undiagnosed for many years. We knew all along even though we didn't have the words for it.
Cryptid
Only Rumored To Exist
Children who had 'fits', were non-verbal, and who stimmed constantly were likely either sent off to asylums or were locked away in cellars, attics, and back rooms.
The higher-functioning ones were likely beaten regularly, and then cast out as soon as they were old enough to work on their own.
Those of us who were merely 'eccentric' may have done well enough.
Hard to do more than speculate, as ASDs were not recognized back then.
The higher-functioning ones were likely beaten regularly, and then cast out as soon as they were old enough to work on their own.
Those of us who were merely 'eccentric' may have done well enough.
Hard to do more than speculate, as ASDs were not recognized back then.
Asylums still had records...
Cryptid
Only Rumored To Exist
Try accessing them. Many records have not survived . . . floods . . . fires . . . wars . . . or maybe the asylums were simply sold and demolished with their contents, and the properties repurposed.
If true, that would make your theory conjectural.
Without antibiotics, many such asylums were full of untreated syphilis.
(That is why powdered wigs were a thing...)
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What I meant was that my issues went un-noticed for decades. I hid them really well….. most of the time. I was intelligent, strong, etc. I learned at a young age to not talk too much. I had plenty of romantic partners. I was funny (class clown). And I’m told that in my younger days I was envied by other men because of all of these things. (I still don’t believe that, but it’s been said to me by a couple of people).
Take away cell phones, alarm clocks, automobiles, etc. I would maybe just be a farmer. No issues at all. Plenty of downtime. Praying for rain.
Perhaps I would have gone undiagnosed because there weren’t any problems to diagnose.
I had a list of reasons for admission to a mental asylum from that era, and it has very little in common with today's diagnostic range. My mother was born with HFA from her father, and she passed on just one important lesson - avoid getting a diagnosis. No good can come of it, and much harm. She had many superficial relationships, and volunteered at a mental institution to cement her position as "staff," and get tips on how to not become an inmate.
