Rejecting God; Atheism and Autism

By Elise Ronan – The Times of Israel: I want to introduce you to a term of art, “autism syndrome behavioral study of the week.” There is generally some new study into autism every few months. Most of them detail what may cause autism, why autistics may do certain actions, and who is best able to handle every autism–related issue that abounds (usually the individuals who did the study of course). Unless it’s a hard science discussion about autism, something that may truly help my boys, I generally shake my head and just say “whoopsidoodle.”

In fact, as a mom dealing with autism issues, I usually don’t wait for the latest revelation from the behavioral sciences ivory towers. They don’t tell me anything I don’t already know. I think to myself, heck I could have told the talking-heads the same thing as the study reported, and charged half as much as the researchers. You see my research is on-going and most of it has already taken place over the last two decades. I call it, life in the autism-fast-lane.

Now the real interesting aspect about the research that is done into autism behavior is that we, the parents and those self-advocates on the spectrum, have been ready, willing and able to tell the autism gurus the truth about behavioral issues and outcomes. But does anyone listen to us? Nope. It’s truly about time someone who has some pull did just that. Ask us and we will tell you the whys, wherefores and the whatnots. If the Phds want we will even let them take the credit for the study in its entirety as long as it is something that helps the majority of those in the autism community.

Furthermore, it’s also a question of what do you do with the study? Does anyone actually act upon any of the findings or do they just chalk it up to scientific research, put it on their resume and apply for another grant? How do these research studies actually benefit the average person with autism? Do these studies actually change society in anyway? Perhaps that should be part of the grant proposal. “How is your research actually going to benefit the day-to-day life of someone who lives on the autism spectrum?” Answer the necessity of that question and you get some of those very very very rare research dollars.

Unfortunately one of the rather more useless studies, to have emerged from the minds of Phds is to tell us that those with autism have the propensity to be atheists. Really, you don’t say. What a shock that people who operate with literal minds can’t and won’t take the leap into the realm of faith. So once again, how does this waste of time and money actually provide supports and programs for those adults on the spectrum?

Moreover, the study, interestingly enough, also missed out on one big factor. For some, like my oldest, it’s not about literal reality versus faith. It is about the feeling of abandonment. God’s abandonment. Not because he has aspergers. Quite on the contrary. He is very happy to have an autism spectrum disorder. His anger at God is something entirely different. Something not even related to himself, well not directly anyway.

Oldest-son was a Holocaust major in college. The more he learned about the tragedy that had befallen the Jewish people the angrier he became. Not just at the world at large but at the idea that God exists. Understanding why God saved the Jewish people from bondage in Egypt and had not saved them from the Nazis, isn’t something he could assimilate. And no matter how many times I tried to get him to read what religious people had written about the existence of God and God’s miracles in modern day juxtaposed with what happened during the Holocaust, it didn’t help. No matter how many times I tried to explain to him about the human responsibility connected to freedom of choice would he budge from his objection to the existence of God. Even when he took a class on Judaism, something that I thought might answer many of his questions,  it didn’t help. In fact, he drove the Rabbi to distraction.

Ultimately, I tried to point out the miracle that is Israel and how the Jewish people have survived. As a student of history he knows the story of the Jewish people. He knows the modern need for Israel and the place of the Jewish people in the history of the world. To understand how he views the world now you need to know that my nickname for him is traditional-secular-Zionist.

My youngest-son, on the other hand, is an agnostic. He is not sure what to make of God. He is not quite certain that he should just throw the idea of God away like his brother has done. Honestly, I think he is hedging his bets at the moment. Deciding that it might not be a good thing to anger the al-mighty powers that be in the long run. He is going to wait and see how things turn out. I figure he is trying in some way to manipulate the God-issue to his advantage.

Interestingly, one of the things that no one tells you in these wonderful studies on autism (but something we already know) is how adamant those with autism can be about their philosophies and beliefs. Some would call it rigid. I like to think of it as fervent. For an interesting view of daily living, just try living in a home with aspergeans with wildly differing views on major issues of the day. The continual individual need for them to try to get the other family members to agree with them creates a video game-like loop on steroids. It’s the same level over and over again with no one winning. Eventually you run out of lives (and aspirin for your headache) and you simply have to put a cabash on the entire discussion. You have to try to teach everyone to agree to disagree. Which also doesn’t quite work out at times either, since that lesson generally devolves into a discussion of why you need to respect someone’s “inane” opinion.

Now with Seder just around the corner, discussing the issue of God and his wonders becomes a rather interesting time in our home, once again. Because of the boys’ intense attachment to their own philosophies we have had to sit them at opposite ends of the room during the Haggadah portion of the evening. We have instructed them to ignore each other. Basically, no fighting, yelling or name-calling allowed. Meanwhile we find new ways to engage them and carry on the tradition of recounting the exodus from Egypt. Of course, when we get to the part where the Children of Israel are finally freed from bondage, the oldest without fail brings up the Holocaust. Hence, we begin, once again, our own unique version of life in Jewish-Aspergean-Wonderland.

Wrestling with God

The Search for Universal Truth: God and your Aspie

And just so you don’t think that the oldest only cares about Ashkenazi Jews here’s a link to his senior thesis:

History of Antisemitism in the Arab and Moslem Worlds

Yeah the research for that paper didn’t help with his acceptance of God either.

Related: 

Study shows exciting insights into the mystery cause of Autism…

Technorati Tags: Autism,God,Jews,Thoughts,Behavioral Scientists

Binge Drinking

Binge drinkers may not drink every day. They may drink weekly or less often, although studies show most drink about twice a week. They may or may not be addicted to alcohol.

Binge drinking statistics tell us that binge drinking peaks between the ages of 18 and 22. Many of these drinkers are college students. However, high school students binge drink as well. Statistics indicate that binge drinking often begins as young as 13 years of age.
The Dangers of Binge Drinking

There are a large number of dangers of binge drinking. Health-related binge drinking statistics can be alarming. The following health problems have been found to be associated with binge drinking:

• Alcohol poisoning.
• Liver disease.
• High blood pressure, stroke, and other forms of cardiovascular disease.
• Neurological damage.
• Sexually transmitted diseases.
• Unintentional pregnancy.
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (if pregnant women binge drink).
• Unintentional injuries (such as car accidents, falls, etc.).
• Intentional injuries (such as injuries from firearms, domestic violence, etc.).

In addition, it should be noted that the younger one begins drinking, the more likely they are to develop alcohol dependence. For instance, nearly 25% of those who begin drinking alcohol before the age of 17 become alcoholics, compared to 10% of those who begin drinking alcohol after 21 years of age.

Alcohol Poisoning

Alcohol poisoning is one of the greatest dangers of binge drinking. It is a serious condition that can occur when the blood alcohol concentration rises too high. Symptoms include severe vomiting, depressed respirations, and seizures. It can result in coma and even death. Alcohol poisoning requires medical attention and often requires hospitalization in order to stabilize and monitor the patient. Binge drinking is not the only cause of alcohol poisoning, but it is a common cause.

Prevalence of Binge Drinking

The binge drinking statistics tell us that binge drinking as a whole is on the decline, yet it is still very common. Consider the following statistics:

• Binge drinking is most common between ages 18 and 22.
• 42% of college students report binge drinking.
• One in five college students is a frequent (weekly) binge drinker.
• Half of all students who binge drink do so more than once a week.
• Two-thirds of alcohol consumed by college students is consumed by binge drinkers.
• 60% of all problems with the police on college campuses (such as injuries, vandalism, etc.) involve binge drinkers.

College students often over-estimate the number of their peers who drink, however, and the amount of alcohol consumed by their peers, creating a false sense of pressure to drink.

Preventing Binge Drinking

Binge drinking statistics tell us that the following interventions help to reduce the incidence of binge drinking:

• Reduce access to alcohol on college campus by having fewer stores selling alcohol nearby.
• Education by high schools and colleges about the dangers of binge drinking.
• Physician screening, counseling, and referral for treatment of alcohol problems.

Some also suggest raising the cost of alcoholic beverages and taxes on alcohol to prevent binge drinking. As you may imagine, this strategy is at best controversial. However, it would likely cut down on alcohol abuse altogether, not just binge drinking. It would particularly cut down on alcohol use and abuse among young people, who have less discretionary income, and might have a fairly significant impact on underage drinking.

Technorati Tags: binge drinking,alcoholism,addiction,teens,students,escapism

Dark Days, Darker Moods: Is It Seasonal Affective Disorder?

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Sometimes the winter blues indicate something more serious.

by Kathleen Donnelly for MSN Health & Fitness

As the days darken during fall and winter, many people find their moods occasionally darkening too. But for an estimated 10 to 20 percent of Americans, the lowered light and colder temperatures prompt more than a temporary bout of the blues. They bring on a depression that is as predictable as the change of seasons: Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.

"With the blues, you tend to have maybe one or two symptoms, and primarily they have to do with your mood," says Dr. Douglas Jacobs, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the nonprofit group Screening for Mental Health. "If you have Seasonal Affective Disorder, you'll have multiple symptoms. You not only feel down, you sleep too much, or lose interest in things, or overeat."

SAD is sometimes difficult to differentiate from other forms of major depression, Jacobs says, because some of the symptoms overlap: sadness, loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed and apathy, for example. But people who have SAD may also have extreme difficulty awakening in the morning and staying awake during the day. They may crave sweets and other carbohydrate-filled foods. They may overeat and gain significant amounts of weight. They may feel very tired and irritable, and find concentrating difficult.

"You may experience the blues for a couple of days, then you get some good news and you cheer up," Jacobs says. "With Seasonal Affective Disorder, you won't react so much to outside events."

And, most markedly, you may feel this way during the darkest months of the year –January and February are especially difficult for people with SAD – and not during the brighter days of spring and summer.

SAD was first identified only 20 years ago, and researchers still aren't sure what causes the problem. But from the start, scientists have suspected that the disorder is linked to light. After all, Jacobs points out, there is some evidence that the farther you live from the equator, the more likely you are to have SAD.

This may be because the low light of winter is linked to a biochemical imbalance in the brain. Because light suppresses the secretion of the hormone melatonin, the theory goes, people are exposed to more of the hormone during the short days of winter than they are during the long days of spring and summer. Researchers don't know exactly how increased melatonin affects people, but it may alter our cycles of sleeping and waking.

In addition, many studies have found that exposing people with SAD or more mild winter depression to bright light, both artificial and natural, can make them feel better, says Dr. David Avery, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington. Avery, whose research has centered on the timing of exposure to bright light, says that for most people morning exposure is most effective, whether the light comes from a specially designed fluorescent lamp, a dawn simulator that gradually becomes brighter, or the sun itself.

In most studies of light therapy, people have bathed in the bright light for a half-hour to two hours at a time, though Avery says exactly how much exposure a person needs tends to be individual and can decrease as therapy continues. What may be just as important, he says, is consistency.

"All of these light therapy studies have been done with instructions to the subjects to use the light at the same time every day, even on weekends," he says. "Many people in our culture sleep in on the weekends. In effect, when that happens, people are experiencing a kind of jet lag."

For people with more severe symptoms of SAD, getting help from your doctor is crucial. If your symptoms significantly affect your ability to function -- and especially if you have had thoughts of suicide -- get professional help quickly. Jacobs points out that in addition to light therapy, treatment with antidepressants and talk therapy can sometimes help. And although light therapy may seem like a simple idea, it's important to get direction on how and when to use it.

That's not to say people who have more mild winter depression can't help themselves, says Avery. For example, something as simple as putting a timer on a bedside lamp so that it lights 15 minutes before your alarm sounds may be enough to help some people who have trouble getting up on dark mornings.

Making a point to go outside even during the relatively weak light of winter is also a good idea. "One fact that many people are not aware of is that light outside, even on a cloudy day, is much brighter than most indoor light," says Avery. "People make the mistake of looking out the window, seeing it's cloudy, and thinking they aren't going to get much light if they go outside." If you can't get outside, he says, sitting next to a window during the day is "the next best thing."

Exercise may also help. While researchers have not studied its effectiveness with SAD specifically, Avery says exercise has been found to help with depression in general. Jacobs suggests getting at least a half-hour of exercise on three to four days a week – and exercising outdoors if possible.

"If you have mild symptoms, you can try some things and if they work, that's fine," Jacobs adds. "But if the symptoms really affect your daily life, get some professional help."