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NAS Professional Conference 14: Dr. Roy Richard Grinker
A compilation of live tweets from Dr. Grinker’s presentation The Cultural Origins and Futures of Autism Spectrum Disorders, at the National Autistic Society’s Professional Conference 2014 in Harrogate, UK. Any errors or omissions are my own. -SR
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Dr. Grinker’s work centers on #autism, but from an anthropological perspective. Especially focusing on culture & perception. #NASprof14
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Dr. Grinker’s #autistic daughter is now 22 years old. #NASprof14
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We know very little about autism internationally, yet there is a wave of #autism awareness around the world. -Roy Richard Grinker #NASprof14
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Traditional healers in South Africa find out about #autism the same way we all do – through the Internet. -Roy Richard Grinker #NASprof14
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People in other parts of the world are as likely to click on the #NAS as they are to click on a local #autism doctor. -Grinker #NASprof14
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Just because people study #autism in a culture doesn’t mean people consider the role of that culture in perceiving #autism: #NASprof14
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#Autism societies around the world are common. But only a handful of countries actually count their #autistic people. -Grinker #NASprof14
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The first basic step in #autism research in a country: Is there autism, and what does it look like? -Grinker #NASprof14
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In cultures that value hierarchy/honorifics, like Korea, #autism may be detected when kids do not make that distinction. -Grinker #NASprof14
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What do we mean when we talk about culture? The meanings and values that we attribute to the world, how we conceive of a person. #NASprof14
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There is nothing in nature that suggests an #autistic person should be discriminated against. Culture makes that happen. -Grinker #NASprof14
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Clinicians cannot reliably distinguish between #autism & #Aspergers, one reason for an umbrella diagnosis re: DSM 5. -Grinker #NASprof14
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The diagnosis of Aspergers was of its time and helped destigmatise ASD at a time when it was stigmatised so served its purpose #nasprof14
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The question should not be “Why is #autism so common today.” It should be “Why was autism so rare in the past?” -Grinker #NASprof14
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@AppcessibleOrg Yep, that’s the idea — #autism has always been here.
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Talking about the god-awful Ransom Notes campaign, how (among other serious problems) not based on any kind of science. #autism #NASprof14
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The #antivaccine movement has piggybacked on the misconception of #autism causing loss and damage. Not surprising. -Grinker #NASprof14
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Psychiatric diagnoses as techno-phenomena: How the world sees someone affects the way they see themselves. -Grinker #NASprof14 #autism
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If something is cultural, it’s not fixed. We made it. That means we can change it, e.g., negative attitudes towards #autism. #NASprof14
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#Autism wasn’t rare in the past. It’s just that other diagnoses were more common, e.g., childhood schizophrenia. -Grinker #NASprof14
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When we talk about #autism, we cannot see it in isolation. We have to see it integrated in a matrix of culture/history. -Grinker #NASprof14
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Race, class, poverty, gender, and geography all make a huge difference re: #autism diagnosis, and timing thereof. -Grinker #NASprof14
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Kanner studied 11 kids when he described #autism in 1943. Many fathers were psychiatrists. This is not a random sample. -Grinker #NASprof14
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Diagnosis drives services. So diagnosing #autistic people who had been overlooked in the past is a good thing. #autism -Grinker #NASprof14
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Sometimes, what appear to be scientific advances are often products of culture & history. -Grinker #NASprof14
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#nasprof14 @Autism #grinker the changes in attitudes in Korea came after film marathon – what appears as scientific advances is cultural
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You can only find something that you’re looking for. #Autism awareness & understanding is a good thing, re: diagnosis. -Grinker #NASprof14
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It may look like there is an #autism epidemic in New Jersey — but NJ gets more diagnoses because it provides good services. #NASprof14
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Grinker does not think we have an #autism epidemic. He thinks we are finally getting accurate diagnoses numbers. That’s good. #NASprof14
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With destigmatization of #autism, people advocate – for themselves, for their students, for their kids, for employees. -Grinker #NASprof14
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Jim Sinclair: “We need & deserve families who can see us and value us for ourselves.” -Grinker #NASprof14 #autism #autistic
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Re: window of plasticity & early intervention: Consider that Grinker’s daughter made her greatest strides after age 18. #autism #NASprof14
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Functioning labels are not helpful. Some #autistic people can work while their friends w #aspergers cannot. Who is more “high functioning”?
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It’s critical, not to mention respectful, to ask #autistic & #aspergers people how they want to be described. -Robyn Steward #NASprof14
