Professors Sam Wang and Peter Tsai explain the role of the ‘little brain’ in cognition, social skills, emotion control and repetitive behaviors. Learn more: www.spectrumnews.org/
Nice presentation. One thing that needs mentioning is nerodivergent people are not flawed, we are different. Taking that into consideration is important when formulating ideas for research and development of therapeutics. I concede, helping increase communication skills and social awareness would be nice but it needs to be said, we contribute via our nerodivergence, erasing or pushing us toward neurotypical brain types is not only wrong but ignorant to our experience as well as cruel and arrogant.
Even from an evolutionary standpoint, the "treating autism" propaganda is objectively ignorant. Hunters for food and warriors for protection were invaluable when they exhibited atypical sensory responses in early nomadic groups across history. Being able to detect things that others may not be able to as easily could mean survival.
I agree. Life may be hard with some of my shortcomings due to my autism but I excel far more than neurotypical people in other areas of life. Even then, over time I have learned to socialize normally, at least to their level of normal. I have actively overcome many of those initial developmental issues. This is possible in many other autistic people I believe, especially with the proper support. However I would not want to stop being autistic.
no, i am flawed beyond belief due to my aspergers. i receive absolutely zero benefit or "abilities" beyond what a neurotypical person can already do competently. i would kill just to slightly reduce the effects of this mental disease. this video alone proves my brain is defective. i need treatment.
@@spicielinguinie5109 I have no choice but to agree with you. Because if you have already decided for yourself that you are inferior, then that's all you'll ever be. You will never look past your short comings, you will never appreciate your ability to type your response to me, and because of that you could never hope to find the niche that you excel at. I'm not saying to be grateful for your condition, or to feel pride in your ailments. But to recognize that your worth as a human is not determined by your cognitive abilities. You were forced to adapt in a world that for the most part doesn't acknowledge your needs, so of course you will be stressed in trying to meet it's standards. So I hope it works out for you, and I hope you do get the treatment you're searching for, but I also pray that first you find peace without needing anything external in this fleeting life.
Just found out I'm Autistic at 57 years old. Now that I'm aware it makes total sense of my life. Autistic people are different, not flawed. I was only flawed and broken when I tried to conform to neurotypical patterns and behaviors. The masking almost destroyed me. Now that I know the truth I am set free. I'm ecstatic to be neurodivergent!! What a GIFT!
15 year old autistic person here, was diagnosed at a young age, and i just want to say, I agree! I'm glad im autistic and truth be told, I wouldn't change that at all!
I have to agree with some of this but disagree with other aspects of it. I am ASD and drove public transit busses for 33 years. I would fully go into driving mode and increase my awareness to a heightened point where some passengers would even comment as to how I could tell what another car was going to do before they even made their action. Yet I responded before they even made that move. I would hyperfocus on my surroundings with an exceptional situational awareness. I could carry on conversations at the same time but the main focus was maneuvering in a safe but expedient manner. I still do this to this day without a thought as anything else is secondary to my driving. I was like that from my very first day in a vehicle.
I understand what you're saying. I think there are particular things that some autistic people are able to hyperfocus on: possibly more effectively than a neurotypical person. However, I think this relies on also being able to block out other things at the same time: something that a lot of autistic people are far less able to do than a neurotypical person. Sometimes I feel like I'm on autopilot and yet doing something quite complex: such as singing and playing guitar at the same time while my brain is thinking about other things. But I think that is because on stage, there is so much stimulation: loud noise, bright lights, heat, people looking at me etc, that my senses have to shut out anything I'm not focussing on. Before I realised I was probably autistic, I always described being on stage as like being drunk: everything and everyone is blurred except my hands, voice and ears.
@@HarrisonsGX it is interesting what you mentioned about performing on stage. I have really try to avoid crowds of 10 or more people where there is going to have to be interactions with the other people present. I dread it!!! I.E. house parties, weddings, cruise ships, etc. I don't mind small groups though as I can direct the conversations to topics where I am comfortable to talk about. I have a vast catalog of comedy material from 50 years of studying comedy (plus great recall of jokes, many original) music, performance, and entertainment. When driving the bus, I could engage in conversation (as mentioned) but would explain that I had pay attention to the road if that conversation got out of my comfort zone. The very odd part is that I would feel entirely comfortable being on a stage in front of a crowd of thousands or even 200. The difference is...the stage. I could keep anything said within my wheelhouse. Would I be like you when performing? I would think that it is possible that it would be somewhat like that.
@@treywest268 Yes, also on stage you can put on a persona, like a lot of people do. What I find more difficult is when I come off stage and then I'm me again, but also dealing with the fact that I've just performed for 40mins or whatever and actually, because of the way I feel about myself after 4 decades of masking, I'm embarrassed about it.
@@HarrisonsGX Exactly!!! As the great Professor Irwin Corey once said, "Beneath this exterior lies the real facade!" I find it interesting that this is supposed to be a comedic statement but it fits so well with people with a public persona with masking underneath it, yet the real "us" so deeply inside. I identified with the quoted statement for 40+ years now.
That bit in the video about re-wiring the cerebellum struck home with me. Before I was even diagnosed with ASD, I experienced a strange problem with vertigo. If I were walking along and turned to look in another direction, I would suddenly start flying off that way until I collided with some solid object or other. Lying flat and turning my head would produce a nauseating spinning sensation. This turned out to be benign positional vertigo, but the neurologist had a CAT scan done on my brain and told me that my cerebellum had deteriorated, probably from being made to take a regimen of old-school antipsychotic drugs and anticonvulsants simultaneously. I asked him how to re-educate whatever remained that was functioning, and he told me that that was "impossible". Between making myself tandem-walk around the apartment and by playing video games, I was able to stop the balance loss and improve my hand-eye coordination significantly. I guess I believed in neuroplasticity before it was a thing. Now I wonder just how much deterioration was caused by the chemicals and how much existed in the first place.
so, i'm autistic and at diagnosis i was told i manage to mask it well due to my high intelligence, because i managed to learn and assimilate what neurotypicals seem to do intuitively in terms of social stuff. in the context of this video, that could mean my "main brain" has learned to do a lot of the work my cerebellum is supposed to do. so, personally, i'd be interested in getting my cerebellum fixed, maybe that way i'd take off some of the load from the rest of my brain. though, ethically speaking, brain-altering procedures can be a bit iffy, especially in the context of disability. i wouldn't want my autism to be completely "fixed", some parts of it are actually pretty neat for me
I love my Autistic brain, and we need more tools to help cope with the challenges, but please don't ever cure Autism...We really don't want to be cured, and frankly, the world needs more people like us. It is my Autistic brain that is able to perceive that SOCIETY IS DISORDERED NOT MY BRAIN! If people like us changed society, there would be peace, love, fairness, no wars, etc... Very bad for the ruling elite. WE ARE NOT THE PROBLEM; WE ARE THE SOLUTION!
i'm autistic to and I wouldn't say we are superiour at all, i do believe that we are more honest, but we would still fight when we have to. there are also violent and vile people that have some autism and we are not one politically unified block either.
I´m 54 and autistic, found out last year thanks to a woman with a experience from aspergers walking into my life. Being an asperger - to a fairly high degree - has made my life a hell in many ways, but had I known it and been able to relate to it, also explain my peculiar way to people, it would have been so different. Autism is also a gift and the mere thought of treating it sounds to me like an insult.
Why must there be a treatment for being neurodiverse? I have Asperger’s syndrome and there is absolutely nothing wrong with me. I’m different from the average person, but I’m not broken! Given the choice, I’d take no treatment offered for my autism. You take that away and you erase who I am. Keep your dang treatments and learn to accept that some people are different. I’m unbroken! Quit trying to fix me.
There is nothing in this presentation that talks about "fixing" you, nor does it claim that those on the autism spectrum are "broken". Nor is there any suggestion that this research is intended to be any sort of "fix" for everybody. But the spectrum is exceedingly large, and not everyone is as fortunate as you. My autistic daughter might benefit from the results of this kind of research. My friend is desperate for some kind of non-pharmaceutical therapy for her son, whose violent outbursts make him impossible to live with. Right now millions of autistics are being given anti-psychotic meds off label because nobody knows how to "control" the behaviours. HINT: it's not all about you.
@@hfmcm Completely agree! There's too much of a fight against treatment for ASD, from the ASD community, and it actually baffles me. And to add my 10 pence, I'm what you'd call high functioning, i can hold a job and can sort of maintain relationships pretty well. But I still struggle, most days are tiring and stressful...and that I see as a problem, not myself and not other people with autism. Those who have made life work for them with ASD are incredible, good for them, but a little thought for those who do struggle would be fantastic.
have to say that going in and tickling something to stimulate further cerebellar purkinje cell growth in a child that cannot consent is more than a little sketchy but perhaps too many parents would agree to such interventions. Maybe ethics conversations within autism research needs to be a lot more prominent.
I disagree. I've seen so much of this rhetoric about "ethics" and "consent" that sometimes I feel people forgot what their original meaning was. I'm autistic and this video definitely resonated with me - I've always felt that I needed to consciously think about how to function socially whereas it comes naturally to other people. Also, I am very bad at watching someone do a movement and copying it. I would love to have the brain cells that allow me to perform these types of functions better. It is only advantageous, there is no "downside" that would give rise to an ethical dilemma. No child is going to grow up and say "Mom, Dad, how dare you help my brain develop useful qualities that make interacting with my peers more enjoyable and help me with coordination! I hate you!" Would you not make use of a surgery that could cure blindness, deafness, paralysis, chronic pain, etc in a baby because they couldn't "consent"? To me, it is seeing a way to make your child's life easier and choosing to NOT do it that would be unethical.
@@ivysauberan4798 see I definitely disagree, I think consent is extremely important. I think society needs to change, I think it is unethical that I need to change my brain to function in a way that non autistic people have deemed as normal and good. It is ableism. People need to accept my behavior, the behavior isn't harming me, it's how society treats me because of the behavior... I could not care less about connecting with peers that can't communicate with different types of people . Also, blind and deaf people don't want to be cured.
@@melithesilly "Blind and deaf people don't want to be cured" dude you're literally sick. If I lost my vision or my hearing or any other sense I would welcome medical intervention to get it back. So would probably like 99% of people. You're far too deep in the rabbit hole for me to even try reasoning with you. Imagine not allowing a blind or deaf child to see or hear because of your disconnected theory of "ethics." Disgusting.
@@ivysauberan4798 let's get rid of the label autism. We are who we are. Whether you like it or not it's about accepting yourself and growing and learning as an individual to be inclusive and accepting. We wouldn't be a functioning society without the disfunction, we just need to learn how to work together as a team rather saying "I wish, I had more brain cells to copy a dance", instead it should be "I can't dance but who cares I like doing it anyway" or, they aren't the best at dancing lets do something that makes them feel good and hone in on your abilities. It about creating awareness for parents and children, as I feel like each individual has a great quality to them. Most inventors are neuro diverse because they think differently and thank goodness they do, such as forgetting they left something outside and inventing cornflakes-yum! (just an example). No one knows what this treatment actually does. It is alike Donald trump, telling you to drink bleach to get rid of covid - would you do it? Because apparently it works. There is no scientific proof that it does, apart from one person who tried a diluted version when they were one years old, sprayed it on their skin- but let's try it on people, who have already developed and inject it anywhere and everywhere-boom, cured. Be careful please.
Not all types of autism need treatment. For some of us it’s a blessing. A different from NT doesn’t mean it’s always a disorder but rather just a “Difference”. Many higher functioning types are gifted: and idiot would want to lose their gift to be treated for irrational social drama? Not saying every aspie is gifted but many are simply because a less of a certain area blessed them with more of an area more meaning to them! Just like there’s lower and higher functioning autism, there are also lower and higher functioning Neuro-Typicals too!. So we are have a different spectrum from NTs: doesn’t mean it’s disorder.
@@JHJHJHJHJH there are different spectrums, some people on the spectrum do not function in a neurotypical society, for example need aid in personal care such as feeding and hygiene and require support for the rest of their lives.
I would not sign up to have my cerebellum tickled, no matter how frustrated I might get from my ASD. I wouldn't trade my good and bad for typical function and fitting the norm, not for the world. I get why some would rather go without ASD. Nothing wrong with wanting to feel accepted and understood by others, and equally understanding and finding ease with them in return
Have they considered that NTs have twice the normal amount of Purkinje cells necessary and autistics have the correct amount? Why are we always the broken ones in need of fixing? It all depends upon the point of view. Just because we are in the minority does not mean we are the ones with the problem.
@@Betryin It seems they are referring to this video. Though, seeing as they did not even mention any information on Purkinje cells, it seems you may be incapable of understanding simple sentences, thus you may be a good source of proof that the neurodivergent may not be the ones with the problem.
I would say that this is really cool, however, I can't help but have concerns that yall are focusing on curing autism. Something that the majority of autistic people don't want. Then there is also the fact that we can do social things just fine when with other people on the spectrum. I wonder if it isn't a reduction in those cells, but rather some sort of mutation that changes them to do something a little bit different. Also, not all autistic people have issues with depth perception or mobility issues, or our mobility issues stem from our bones and/or joints being slightly wrong instead of our brain not telling us what to do.
If I could cure it then I would. I feel alienated on my own goddamn planet. I wish I could reflect myself in the people I love and respect. Sometimes I feel like I can, and I need those moments. Please, someone cure me.
@@Ole_Rasmussen I feel like there's a definite difference in autistic people experiencing hardships as you have and wishing they could change themselves and non autistic people trying to find ways to "cure" autism. Mostly because the latter leads to eugenics and murder.
Instead of filtering out differences that are imperative to the advancement of society, why not include different thinkers in society so we can be more productive in advancing society.
I believe all research is important, and I believe that the brain can 'rewire'. Yet, the focus on trying to 'make' an autistic person become 'normal' brained seems intrinsically impossible as the brain is complex and different in each individual. It is not just one area that is affected.
Its pretty accurate, tumor on my cerrebellum changed more than just coordination ie multitasking,social interactions,planning/execution...its amazing how many things I use to do with no thought,now have to plan every step.
One observation I’ve made is because of that structure my speech is restricted to a slightly lower capacity than normal but the cerebellum has a higher level of independence like if it has it’s own working memory. So I can give it commands to run pre existing movement programs and it runs them autonomously and when I’m driving it can independently drive my car for me with it being just as reliable and safe as an elevator logic. It’s also something that allows me to put sections of my brain that are currently under-utilised in the moment in a sleep state to save on resources but they can quickly wake up when needed! :)
Cure for autism? Why would I want that? My sensory processing issues may be exhausting but at the same time I am really effing good at some things precisely because of it. it's not a disease, yo. It is hard, but not wrong.
Interesting 🤔☺️, I've got ASD too and never really thought about my cerebellum having that much of an influence on my condition like that 😶. Nonetheless, thank you for this interesting informative video.
I did not know or was not aware that what I had was Autism until my late 20s. As a child, I knew I was different but it didn’t bother me much. I would say that we need to focus less on trying to fix us and what our strengths are, and embrace those. I’m really good at teaching myself things that I enjoy. I’m trying to get into architecture what has held me back is I have never done well in a classroom. I don’t think it’s about fixing us because I don’t think certain things about us are fixable. Plus, there are certain things I would really miss about myself if I had a different brain. I also have ADHD and dyslexia and I would say I would rather those be fixed then Autism. I’m on medication for my ADHD and I do a lot better with medication but it’s not a cure all for it either. I think there’s a large percent of the population who are neurodivergent and we live in a Neurotypical world. It’s not about trying to fix us. It’s about trying to make things fair for us. Like when you go to the grocery store or pretty much anywhere else it’s always very overwhelming because of all the things going on there. But that’s because places like grocery stores are made for people who are Neurotypical, and not bothered by all the noise and the lights and the other people around them. My entire life opportunities have been taken away from me because people underestimated me, and this was before I even knew about some of my issues. I was diagnosed with ADHD as a teenager and almost everything was blamed on that. So much so that nobody ever cared about anything that I would do and the things that I enjoy doing I was told I was not smart enough to do. I’m almost 30 years old now I’m not going to let anybody tell me I can’t do something because my brain is slightly different than theirs. I wish people were more nice about it though. I also wish people would stop thinking there is going to be a brain surgery or something that’s going to fix us. I think it’s important that we work on certain skills that will help us thrive in society and not just barely get by. There’s also a lot of different struggles with developmental disorders. And some people struggle a lot more than others.
When I get overstimulated I get a really bad feeling exactly at the location of my cellebreum, it's like I can feel which part of my brain is overstimulated.
I was very interested in this at first, but then came the bit about ‘treating autism’ (and comparison of that with treatment of Parkinson’s disease). Autism isn’t a ****ing disease. It’s a neurotype. I’m Autistic. I don’t ‘have autism’. And I certainly don’t want to be ‘cured’, whatever that means. 😣
Could this be why some, if not many, people with ASD have been observed to exhibit poor motor skills and clumsiness? I find this aspect interesting as both myself and my daughter are autistic but she exhibits quite a bit of clumsiness (I say that with no disrespect just an observation) while I am very athletic. She's also not a bad athlete but her everyday movements are almost comical. She falls almost everyday, without getting hurt, out of nowhere😆. I on the other hand have a very strong awareness of my body in space but socially there is nothing automatic about my life😂.
Instead of figuring out treatments after the fact how about we find what's causing the brain damage in children to begin with? It started in the late 80's and has only gotten worse.
Ok but does it do anything with sensory overload? Idc about the social part i am who i am and honestly if it doesn’t help with sensory overload then its just trying to “correct ” our personalities tbh
Sure. The ASD spectrum is huge. This presentation doesn't claim to represent all autistics. Some on the spectrum have exceedingly reduced quality of life, however. If there's new research that might help my daughter or my friend's son have more fulfilling lives...
@@hfmcm Then you have to get deeper into what is going on with these individuals. As a parent. Learn all the neuroscience you can and then map out the areas where they are struggling according to th What this fellow is not saying is that we can also have a very strong prefrontal cortex, which is the place where doing the right thing over the socially acceptable thing is based. Autistic people can socialize just fine in a group of other Autistic people usually. But we are all still individuals.
Im autistic myself and i would want to treat certain types of autism if they are very low functioning without treatment i believe it would be smarter to treat them, if they are high functioning whatever you define that as just leave them be unless its with their full consent
@@JamieHumeCreative Amen! WTF!? There is nothing to cure. It's not an illness, a condition or even a syndrome, really. It's just a difference. Neurotypical people have more of an issue with autism than most Autists.
@@JamieHumeCreative Good for you. For some it's a gift, for some it's debilitating and for others, like myself, it makes life consistently stressful without many benefits. Just because there's treatment/cure/remedy it doesn't mean everyone with autism/Aspergers has a problem or a disease...it'll help those who DO struggle with it. Forget about yourself for a second, there are many people with our neurology that could and want to benefit from treatment. For loving who/how you are, you have my upmost respect.
@@camerondobbie3989 I have comorbidities. They are both a profound challenges and a great gift. However, the biggest issue is not any of them, it;s society and the health community. There is a lot of misunderstanding and confusion. Even things and attitudes that make things worse. What Autism actually is, seems to be tangled up in comorbidities and their challenges rather than Autism as well as the intolerance of people who are not Autistic. Everyone needs to to whats best for themselves, but I feel strongly that our voices and own advocacy needs to be more of not only a seen and heard, but a respected and participatory part of research and health care.
