Left Behinds

The anti-andrewsullivan.com. Or, the Robin Hood (Maid Marian?) of bright pink Blogger blogs.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Do You Suffer From Neurotypical Disorder?

Whenever I get sick I sincerely convince myself that everything is wrong with me (from AIDS to autism). In the course of my self pity party I stumbled upon this documentary.

My mother, a clinical psychologist whose 35-year field of expertise is developmental disorders, did not hesitate in dismissing the fundamental premise of the documentary, that the narration reflected Sue's true thoughts.

"Facilitated communication has been thoroughly debunked. It's almost always a fraud. This is so typical. Notice how the facilitated communication sounds suspiciously like some cheezy, flowery social worker, with that self help language that's so typical of social workers and so atypical of autistics who can communicate without facilitation. Not that the facilitators necessarily do it on purpose. It's like a ouija board, or if I made a documentary all about my cat in which I completely anthropomorphized her interior life. It's sad and desperate, really."

She hedged that it was impossible to be certain without interviewing Sue directly, but "the chances are maybe 1 in 1000 that that narration is actually mostly hers." She also thought that Sue almost definitely was a relatively high-functioning developmentally disabled person with some sort of chromosomal syndrome.

Assuming that diagnosis is correct, the film is really tragic for everyone involved.

Anyhow, in my research, I also found this very amusing site.

What Is NT?

Neurotypical syndrome is a neurobiological disorder characterized by preoccupation with social concerns, delusions of superiority, and obsession with conformity.

Neurotypical individuals often assume that their experience of the world is either the only one, or the only correct one. NTs find it difficult to be alone. NTs are often intolerant of seemingly minor differences in others. When in groups NTs are socially and behaviorally rigid, and frequently insist upon the performance of dysfunctional, destructive, and even impossible rituals as a way of maintaining group identity. NTs find it difficult to communicate directly, and have a much higher incidence of lying as compared to persons on the autistic spectrum.

NT is believed to be genetic in origin. Autopsies have shown the brain of the neurotypical is typically smaller than that of an autistic individual and may have overdeveloped areas related to social behavior.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Normal Disorders: 666.00 Neurotypic Disorder
How Common Is It?
Tragically, as many as 9625 out of every 10,000 individuals may be neurotypical.
Are There Any Treatments For NT?
There is no known cure for Neurotypical Syndrome.

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