Freezer failure at brain bank hampers autism research.
I'm sure it does. It's probably not hampering any of the autism research I actually care about, but as a science person, I'm always sad when someone's research gets messed up. And, while I'm not sure what it is because of the focus on ``what causes autism anyways" and ``how do we make people less autistic" that's running around in the research done on brains, I'm sure there ARE actually useful things we could learn by studying autistic brains. But Autism Speaks owns this collection- I doubt they're likely to do that kind of research. But they COULD, someday. And about a 50 of the brains they could have used for it are gone because a freezer failed. And... for the actual autistics who want to be not autistic anymore, it's not my place to tell them no. (I don't think that being re-wired to not autistic is something a parent can choose for a kid who doesn't want it; the person who is actually autistic has to want it.) If and when they find a way to make someone not autistic anymore, my fear isn't for the people who want to become neurotypical- it's for those who don't, especially minors who don't. I mean, I'm pretty sure that rewiring someone's brain and potentially causing that someone to get culture shock from his or own cognition qualifies as abuse if the rewiring was unwanted, so maybe that's how we keep people from doing this to anyone who is unwilling- actually protect autistics from abuse, then make it known that ``curing" autism against the will of the autistic is abuse.
And I'm off topic. Brains melted in a freezer. Autism Speaks is worried. This was enough of a perfect storm that they are wondering if there was foul play. I hope there wasn't, because sabotaging research is not the way to protest an organization.
I'm sure it does. It's probably not hampering any of the autism research I actually care about, but as a science person, I'm always sad when someone's research gets messed up. And, while I'm not sure what it is because of the focus on ``what causes autism anyways" and ``how do we make people less autistic" that's running around in the research done on brains, I'm sure there ARE actually useful things we could learn by studying autistic brains. But Autism Speaks owns this collection- I doubt they're likely to do that kind of research. But they COULD, someday. And about a 50 of the brains they could have used for it are gone because a freezer failed. And... for the actual autistics who want to be not autistic anymore, it's not my place to tell them no. (I don't think that being re-wired to not autistic is something a parent can choose for a kid who doesn't want it; the person who is actually autistic has to want it.) If and when they find a way to make someone not autistic anymore, my fear isn't for the people who want to become neurotypical- it's for those who don't, especially minors who don't. I mean, I'm pretty sure that rewiring someone's brain and potentially causing that someone to get culture shock from his or own cognition qualifies as abuse if the rewiring was unwanted, so maybe that's how we keep people from doing this to anyone who is unwilling- actually protect autistics from abuse, then make it known that ``curing" autism against the will of the autistic is abuse.
And I'm off topic. Brains melted in a freezer. Autism Speaks is worried. This was enough of a perfect storm that they are wondering if there was foul play. I hope there wasn't, because sabotaging research is not the way to protest an organization.
Heh. Is it bad that I'm a little pleased the brains melted? Because ya know...Autism dollar peaks.
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