ranty rant rant rantingness
many small children have known nothing but shopping centres and processed foods. it is an interesting experiment we have been doing on ourselves for the past few generations. one that has me wondering how connected this new culture of ours is to the 'rise' in certain socio-behavioural 'issues'.
i'm less concerned about microdoses of mercury compounds than the steady supply of complex chemicals in our diets. particularly when most single-event toxins require significant doses or toxicity to have lasting effects on the generally very plastic physiology of small children [we can thank adaptive evolution for that - if the opposite was true, we'd have been extinct long ago.]
this is not to say that i'm claiming any specific consequences of our increasingly modified diets. but i do wonder how much of any 'new' conditions out there flow from our very recent changes in environment and social behaviours.
we should not overlook the impact of changes in diagnosis, classification, and/or transformations in understanding or awareness of differences within the population through developments in psychology, sociology and other social sciences. event he way social sciences are changing the way they position themselves as disciplines has a flow on effect to what they can and do have to say about us.
for anyone to say that something as complex as human social behaviour arises out of, or is solely affected by, any particular event or circumstance is to declare a failure to progress beyond middle school thinking.
even if autism were as simple as mercury poisoning during early infancy, that does not address the question of what to do about the way individuals and society treat autistic people. even if removing mercury from the few vaccines left would prevent further autistic 'onsets' - that resolves nothing of the very real issue of societal ignorance and fear when it come to difference.
by the by, even if there was a connection between thimerosal or its friends with autism [and plenty of studies show no causal connection], autism existed before vaccines. and if these behavioural 'issues' are mercury related, removing a few tiny doses from a child's environment ought to be less pressing than removing the tons of heavy metal pollutants our industrial societies have pumped and continue to pump into our local environments.
my take on the anti-thimerosal community is to wonder how closely they are related to the anti-vaccines community more generally. much like the question of how many 'intelligent design' advocates are also fundamentalist christians.
or how many are associated with litigation hoping to get damages from pharmaceutical companies. [you can even fill out a web form to have your case evaluated ...] this is the connection that dr wakefield fell afoul of above.
it is also interesting to note how many people out there claim to have 'cured' their autism - especially when you consider when they managed this feat, and how much they obsess over the idea. many people with many different 'disorders' learn to manage/cope/adapt to them as they mature. particularly when so many of their treatments have not shown any connection with long term 'improvements' - or even short term ones. much of the 'evidence' can be attributed to the placebo effect. [heck, any kid's gonna be happier when their parents aren't being grumpy shits all the time.]
oh, and i'm loving the websites that claim that mercury poisoning is behind all manner of 'mystery' illnesses.
autism isn't a disease requiring a cure. it's a fact of life. just like homosexuality. part of the normal distribution of difference across the population.
and for the bleeding heart mundanes out there who think i need help, fuck off you patronising fucks. you need to get over your pathetic hang-ups! apparently i'm the one with socialising problems ... at least i'm not a self-paralysed psychosocial twat.
i'm less concerned about microdoses of mercury compounds than the steady supply of complex chemicals in our diets. particularly when most single-event toxins require significant doses or toxicity to have lasting effects on the generally very plastic physiology of small children [we can thank adaptive evolution for that - if the opposite was true, we'd have been extinct long ago.]
this is not to say that i'm claiming any specific consequences of our increasingly modified diets. but i do wonder how much of any 'new' conditions out there flow from our very recent changes in environment and social behaviours.
we should not overlook the impact of changes in diagnosis, classification, and/or transformations in understanding or awareness of differences within the population through developments in psychology, sociology and other social sciences. event he way social sciences are changing the way they position themselves as disciplines has a flow on effect to what they can and do have to say about us.
for anyone to say that something as complex as human social behaviour arises out of, or is solely affected by, any particular event or circumstance is to declare a failure to progress beyond middle school thinking.
even if autism were as simple as mercury poisoning during early infancy, that does not address the question of what to do about the way individuals and society treat autistic people. even if removing mercury from the few vaccines left would prevent further autistic 'onsets' - that resolves nothing of the very real issue of societal ignorance and fear when it come to difference.
by the by, even if there was a connection between thimerosal or its friends with autism [and plenty of studies show no causal connection], autism existed before vaccines. and if these behavioural 'issues' are mercury related, removing a few tiny doses from a child's environment ought to be less pressing than removing the tons of heavy metal pollutants our industrial societies have pumped and continue to pump into our local environments.
Investigations Reveal an Unreported Conflict of Interest and Problems With Reporting in Wakefield's 1998 Autism-MMR Study. Information on the investigation by The Lancet into problems with Andrew Wakefield's study. February 27, 2004. |
my take on the anti-thimerosal community is to wonder how closely they are related to the anti-vaccines community more generally. much like the question of how many 'intelligent design' advocates are also fundamentalist christians.
or how many are associated with litigation hoping to get damages from pharmaceutical companies. [you can even fill out a web form to have your case evaluated ...] this is the connection that dr wakefield fell afoul of above.
it is also interesting to note how many people out there claim to have 'cured' their autism - especially when you consider when they managed this feat, and how much they obsess over the idea. many people with many different 'disorders' learn to manage/cope/adapt to them as they mature. particularly when so many of their treatments have not shown any connection with long term 'improvements' - or even short term ones. much of the 'evidence' can be attributed to the placebo effect. [heck, any kid's gonna be happier when their parents aren't being grumpy shits all the time.]
oh, and i'm loving the websites that claim that mercury poisoning is behind all manner of 'mystery' illnesses.
autism isn't a disease requiring a cure. it's a fact of life. just like homosexuality. part of the normal distribution of difference across the population.
and for the bleeding heart mundanes out there who think i need help, fuck off you patronising fucks. you need to get over your pathetic hang-ups! apparently i'm the one with socialising problems ... at least i'm not a self-paralysed psychosocial twat.
"but my child requires so much work!"
what the fuck did you expect?
children are not pets for fuck's sake!
what the fuck did you expect?
children are not pets for fuck's sake!