So, I have to get something off my chest because it’s been bothering the HECK out of me.
My husband and I are fans of “Blacklist” and a few weeks ago, we were watching and quite tired, so when the show was over, we just sat there. My husband decided to watch the next show, “Allegiance.” I’m a pretty fussy TV viewer so I had no interest in this show, which is based around the now-renewed cold war with Russia. (Frankly I think Hollywood has been holding it’s breath for Russia to become an enemy again.)
Now in this show, there’s a family of Russian spies, who are inactive and get re-embroiled in spy intrigue against their will – all except for their son, who works for the CIA. I was barely watching, but in the opening episode, after just a few months of employment, he gets promoted to the top because he’s that smart – a savant. Shortly after that, you see his mother tying his tie – because he CAN’T, because he presumably has autism.
So, yes, I did a little rant on the couch after that. I hate this manifestation of autism, just like I HATE the “Bones” manifestation of Asperger’s, i.e., bad behavior is ok because people are super-geniuses with a disability and, yes, I have seen that manifest into something much more dangerous. GRRRR. (NOTE: Someone informed me the character does not have nor is meant to have autism or Asperger’s. I have actually heard that several times, but agree to disagree. I still think this show elevates intellectualism over bad behavior repeatedly, and still see this as an ever-growing trend in America. I understand that appropriate social interaction is difficult for some; what I don’t understand is why her friends and family are often afraid to correct her, and why she sometimes pooh-pooh’s them when they do. And, no, she’s NOT always “just saying what everyone’s thinking.”)
For the record, people with high functioning autism (HFA), can be smart and can be supersmart or even “savants”. Or, they can be…ok, I’ve never actually heard anyone say “low functioning,” but if you are saying “high functioning” that implies that “low functioning” exists. To tell you the truth, a friend asked me about the distinction of what HFA is and I can’t figure it out. Know why? Because “if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” No two are exactly alike. Autism can manifest in completely different ways, even in the same family, even among siblings.
But Hollywood doesn’t agree and so we get shows like “Allegiance” and “Bones” which glamorize autism on TV as a way to worship on the altar of “Intellect.” So, since I’ve gone there, let’s ask the question: does autism represent an increase in intelligence or not? Are kids and people with autism smarter, making this a desirable trait to have?
AUTISM AND INTELLIGENCE…AND GLUTAMATE
I read up this some years ago when investigating Dr. Amy Yasko’s protocol for autism intervention, “Autism: Pathways to Recovery.” She has written extensively about autism and increased intelligence. People with autism have an imbalance in brain chemistry which can cause neurotransmittor called glutamate to fire often. Basically, Yasko explains that glutamate “can cause the nerves to fire, creating neurological inflammation and damage.” Another doctor, Dr. J.Z. Tsien discovered a relationship between the “glutamate receptors and superior ability in learning and memory” but also noticed that they correlated to an increase in stroke risk and seizure activity.
Get samples of her books on Scribd, or and learn more on Dr. Yasko’s video page. You can also purchase her book from my Amazon link at Feel Good Nutrigenomics: Your Roadmap to Health
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.”To put it plainly, the thing that is making (some) kids with autism smarter may be harming them and even killing them. This frustrates me on several levels. First of all, I get it. We all want our kids to be smarter, and I was pretty much a smarty pants in school (skipped ahead a grade, honor society, scholarship, blah blah blah.) Who wouldn’t want that for their child? But at the risk of seizures? Strokes? Not to mention, all the disabilities that come with autism, like speech delays, learning disabilities (yes, you can be smart and have learning disabilities), illegible handwriting, no sense of personal space, and my personal demon, elopement. Is this extra (sometimes) intelligence enough to make autism a “gift” as some claim?
IS “SMARTS” REALLY THE NEW, BEST STANDARD?
Secondly, I have another daughter and …I say this as respectfully and gently as possible…but book smarts is not her thing. She detests reading (and while Zoe struggles, her bed is littered with books – she’s trying on her own.) For Amelia, it’s a painful chore. Retention and memory stink for her. She can do math and excels in science stuff, especially nature and the solar system, or at least the school says she does, and that’s great. She’s a great one for movies and photos. And she has a wonderful gift for nurturing and caring for others, as well as encouragement. These are extremely valuable gifts in my mind.
Let’s also not forget that even for smart kids, even for kids who do not have learning disabilities at all, the world is a different place than when I was growing up. Back then, college was not just an option, it WAS the completion of your education. Now, college is barely or not affordable for most people and a Bachelors degree no longer confers a high paying job (nor even one that may pay back those student loans). In fact, vocational careers and schools are coming in fashion, in demand, cost less to attend and can land you a much higher paying job or career. While great intelligence can have benefits, it’s not needed as much as we tend to believe.
WHAT PRICE INTELLIGENCE?
When I see a bit of influx autism on TV shows, I get a little bit of a chill up my spine. First of all, the rates of autism in the U.S. have risen each and every year, in the last 20-30 years. (Actually it’s risen sharply since the 1950s, but let’s just focus on the recent past.) “Better diagnosis” simply cannot account for the sharp increase. (In fact, if you recall, last year, they removed the Aspergers’ diagnosis altogether from the psychiatric community’s diagnostic journal, meaning there should be less cases of autism. We shall see in the next iteration of statistics.) In addition, business is hopping for autism aides and therapists of every stripe. And just try to get your kid into an “autism only” program. Good luck with that – demand is high. Or ask a teacher that’s been the field 20 years or more if she saw this many kids with autism a few decades ago. It IS on the rise.
And now we get to a topic I don’t like to talk about: normalization. I don’t like this topic, because there is a really, really fine line between acceptance of those who have autism and normalizing the condition so that it’s “expected” or even glorified…so fine that I really cannot tell where that delineation lies. I do want people and kids to accept my daughter (as they do in her school) and I don’t want her bullied, abused or otherwise victimized because of her disability (and I know there’s a high chance of that happening.) But I also don’t want our community to say, “Autism is fine, it’s a gift. These people don’t need help, just push them along into the system.” Or, “It’s not a disability, we don’t need to find a cause, we just need to build more assisted living homes for them.”
My daughters is kind, sweet, caring, and affectionate. Like everyone else with autism, you can’t lump her in a group. (I recently read an article that said that “people with autism are detached” and it totally offended me. Zoe is anything BUT detached.) She is “smart” – so people say – but what I think they mean is that she’s somewhere on the average to somewhat smart level. It’s hard to tell because, thanks to autism, her intelligence cannot be easily measured. Sit still, take the test, do the modified testing, answer the question, make the craft, blah blah blah…it’s all challenging for her, or maybe she just wants to bend around that system and manipulate it. That sounds great in theory but it’s only useful if we can help her channel that creativity and outside-the-lines thinking into something useful.
WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
I will tell you, I don’t know what the answer is. I want my kids – BOTH my kids – to thrive, to flourish, to have jobs or careers they love. To live as independently as possible, to marry if they wish, to be ok and secure when Chris and I am gone. For this reason, I will do what I need to do to help them. I will fight for them, I will try alternative therapies, I will micromanage their eating, I will sign petitions, I will read late into the night, and observe, edit, change, improve, ask, modify, spend money, investigate – you name it.
As for this normalization process, I have no good answers. Anyone raising a child with autism has no illusion about the mom on “Allegiance” dismissing her son’s childhood as those “difficult” years (during which she was effectively a single parent…ok). Parenting a child with disabilities is tough if you have a spouse and support, never mind without. And no, I don’t have a problem with autism on TV shows, but there should be other kids too: kids with cystic fibrosis, and Down syndrome, and other physical disabilities (thank you, Glee), and Trisomy 18, and with cancer, and so on. I only want them to show the reality. The reality is not always cool or mind blowing and may not even pay the bills. People with autism and/or what was once called Asperger’s syndrome have great difficulties getting and keeping jobs, maintaining relationships, balancing the world in functional ways. Not all of them but many of them. And if the rates of autism keep rising in this country, I’m not sure who is going to run it or take care of those that cannot take care of themselves.
What’s your take on Hollywood’s portrayal of autism-like disabilities? How do you feel about normalization and autism on TV? I want to hear your opinions!
*After reading several chapters in Dr. Yasko’s book and conferring with people who had their kids on her protocol, we decided this route was too costly and too consuming for our family to implement. Part of her protocol has interest not only in balancing the glutamate levels, but in retaining the enhanced intelligence. Definitely a protocol autism families should investigate, even if they choose otherwise.
