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ISSUE #1
National Institutes of Health Funding: University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Excellence in Autism Research
We have taught about the medical diagnosis of autism for almost 25 years. Before the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded brain research, teaching felt like simply trying to convince people, without evidence, that behavior and communication were different because an autistic person’s brain and body made them that way. People still walked away skeptical. Teachers still blamed parenting. Folks said it was vaccines. Giving talks felt weak and at times pointless when too many people had closed minds.
Pictures Speak 1,000 Words
The number of skeptics leaving our classes dramatically reduced once NIH-funded brain imaging and other studies showed the medical facts. Autistic brains are wired differently. Some parts – like the piece that controls facial muscles being really small in many – are very different than average. Teaching with images finally showed how and why autistic people needed to do the various things others found hard to understand. Science helped us stop much of the punishment, torment, and abuse heaped on children and adults who moved, talked, and behaved in ways others found confusing or unacceptable.
A typical involvement of frontostriatal systems during sensorimotor control in autism
The NIH helps parents, other caregivers, and supporters learn to adapt their ways to better nurture and accept the people they love, care for, and support. It helps employers tap talents while giving reasonable accommodations to let people flourish while building corporate revenues. And research helps law enforcement make better decisions on a 911 call response, and judges to better understand when someone makes a disability-based error or simply is doing “autistic things” lacking criminal intent, which triggered a stranger’s 911 call.