Genetic Screening for Autism
Prenatal testing in various forms is standard procedure. Genetic screening is a particular type of prenatal test which attempts to identify genetic sequences or biological markers of genetic traits.Autism is a genetic trait, in that between 90% and 97% of autism is considered inherited.[1] This suggests that a tendency for autism could be identified through genetic screening.
Studies of heritability vary, but all point to a strong genetic relationship of general autistic personality traits, and by extension the parents' personality traits.
How This Became an Issue ...
The interest in genetic screening and prenatal testing is fueled by specific fundraising propaganda. The propaganda, promotes addressing autism as a genetic defect.
... Disguised Eugenics Research
This is especially poignant because the majority of funds raised in this manner are diverted from social services and education to eugenics research. A separate summary describes the advantages autism has as a a genetic model for eugenics research. The problem (besides the ethical problem with this type of eugenics) is that the fundraising harms autistics and urges parents with autistic traits to investigate elimination of these traits.It would be specious to presume that the purpose of such fundraising for eugenics research has the purpose of encouraging prenatal testing for autism. The apparent purpose of referencing autism is merely to avoid scruteny of the fundraising for eugenics research and of the eugenics research itself.
The Nature of Autism
Prior to the DSM-V, Autism was divided between "autism" (sometimes called "classic autism" or "Kanner's autism"), Asperger's syndrome, and PDD-NOS. These old definitions enabled some groups to attempt to characterize autism as a separate condition. (This suited the "Tragedy of Autism" fundraising tactics of some of these groups, but the same scare tactics stigmatized Autistics.)DSM-V proposes to combine all autistic conditions into a single defined condition, because in reality there are no "bright line" distinctions. This commonality becomes more clear when one views the differences between different autism spectrum conditions as being incidental details.[2]
There are a number of well-known autistics, many of whom have made substantial contributions to humanity.[3] , [4] While many of these are speculative, the point is that autism is not as portrayed in the propaganda of high profile fundraisers.
A more familiar characterization of autism is as a personality type. This could be something as simple as limited ability to read facial body language or as complicated as a complex of atypical sensory processing. Regardless, autism is reflected in its effects on personality.
What Autism is Not
- Autism is not lack of empathy.
- Autism is not an inability for a child to grow to meaningful adulthood.
- Autism is not the tragedy portrayed by organisations using Jerry Lewis pity and fear tactics to raise funds.
- Autism is not defined by non-verbalism.
- Non-verbalism (more precisely "selective mutism") is an anxiety/speech disorder; not evidence that a person is somehow "locked in" or whatever this week's Jerry Lewis-style hyperbole depicts.
- Autism is not a disease which is "cured".
- Autism is not caused by the toxin du jour (currently mercury and
vaccines with thermiosolselected vaccines that at one time were made with thermiosol but now are not).
Inherited Traits and self-elimination
There is an obvious implication -- if autism and autistic traits are heritable, then these are personality traits inherited from the parents. That means that screening for autistic traits is essentially screening for the parents' personality traits. There are of course genetic traits that most parents do not want to pass on to their children; however, those would not include the parents' personality traits or other desirable characteristics of the parents.The self-elimination results from eliminating of an essential part of the parents both as they see themselves as individuals and as partners.
Prenatal Screening Tests for Autism
The question "Should I get a prenatal test for Autism?" or obtain or perform prenatal screening is really one of prevention -- prevention of the parents' own desirable characteristics.
The URL is www.scn.org/autistics/prenatal.html
- So far, Google and Yahoo this webpage by using any of the following searches:
prenatal testing autism personality
or
prenatal testing autism personality traits
or
prenatal screening autism personality
or
genetic testing autism personality
or
genetic screening autism personality
and look for the "www.scn.org" listing (typically the first non-commercial listing)
- So far, Google, Yahoo and AltaVista pick up this website by using the following searches:
relationships and the autism spectrum- or
"relationships and the spectrum" autism
"What would happen if you eliminated the autism gene from the gene pool? ~~ You would have a bunch of people standing around in a cave, chatting and socializing and not getting anything done." - Temple Grandin (date unknown, but cited 2005, Lyons & Fitzgerald, Asperger Syndrome - Gift or Curse)
[1]^ The heritability is reported to range between 36% and 95.7%, depending on whether a narrow diagnosis (36% to 90%) is taken or a broader phenotype (95%) is taken.The relevance to genetic testing is that the higher numbers (95%) encompass personality traits. This means that the heritability of autistic personality traits is almost as high as for purely Mendelian traits (e.g., eye colour). Considering that Wikipedia as of 3-2010 lists 25 genetic markers for autism, the heritability of autistic personality traits is extremely high.
[2]^ An example of a lack of difference can be seen in verbalism. It was once thought that the difference between early and late speech could be used to differentiate "Aspergers" and "autism". Verbalism in autism is really the presence or absence of mutism and not a difference in precociousness. (i.e., non-verbal, mutism and selectively mute characteristics are not generally related to difficulty in the use of language, much as stuttering is not generally related to difficulty in the use of language.)
This Website
- Autistics als Lebensunwertes Leben Abortion, Eugenics and the Politics of Autism - The Eugenics of Autism, whether to abort for autism and abortion as related to autism
- "Lebensunwertes Leben" (Life unworthy of life) was used as a descriptive slogan the Nazi T4 Program.
- Fundraising for Eugenics Research under the Guise of Autism Research Fundraising
- Abortion and Eugenics of Autism
- Environmental Fad-Causes of Autism
- back to index
External Links
opposed to eugenics
- Commercial Eugenics (also here (Tripod.com site))
- From "Whose Planet Is It Anyway?" The abortion debate that wasn't - Under the radar, pregnancies increasingly are being terminated when fetuses are prenatally diagnosed with disabilities"
- Autistic Genocide Clock
examples of the "cure" approach
- "Ready or not, here come genetic tests for autism"
- This article indicates that, except for conditions such as Retts syndrome, the testing is limited to "hindsight" searching for a genetic cause. It also states that the information may be harmful. Nevertheless, they state:
"Genetic tests 'are absolutely ready for prime time,' says Arthur Beaudet, chair of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas."The obvious conclusion is that "early screening" means a very serious attempt at eliminating autistics.
Written 4-Feb-07 and first posted 20-Jul-08. Last revised 11-Jun-11.
Questions - see FAQs.
Comments about this site: email me www.scn.org/~bk269/
