I have always been one who thought that genetics played a huge role in how autism is passed from generation to generation. My own family has a lot of the support to my own thoughts. Our genetic history has many people we suspect have it in our blood. I was diagnosed quite late in life after my bout with a traumatic brain injury. I remember my discovery day quite well,as it was also quite accidental. What an eye opening day it was for sure. Now I finally had the answers to many questions about why I turned out the way I did.
I come from a family with four siblings that are not all auties,but in fact split in a strange way. Two blood sisters and a brother who are NTs. My father is suspected as well to share my form of the condition along with my other brother. My maternal grandfather is suspected to have been spectrum as well. The paternal side of my family has a long history of inventors and over the top talented individuals that span many generations who are all now suspected auties in my family history.I was told by my paternal great grandmother that her father was the guy that invented the the Rotair triple air safety braking systems on trains and his idea was bought out by George Westinghouse for $500 when he died suddenly in what he considered a humanitarian deal for her widowed mom. Westinghouse went on to patent it and form WABCO (Westinghouse Air Brake Company) in Wilmerding Pennsylvania USA.Yes,even old George exploited the auties for a profit. It always hurts me to know that my family could have been royalty level rich if not for that unfortunate event. Oh well,we made our own marks on the planet just the same in spite of being robbed of that particular chance.
I fully understand now that the spectrum is way too broad for any two of us to be exactly the same. We can share common traits,or none at all. Some of us got the goods in a bigger pile,and then some get short changed and tons of junk to deal with. The public and media doesn't help our cause at all as we are misinterpreted and displayed very wrong and damaged. The feel good for some is that they now have someone to pity and to frown upon.The other side of the coin is that they see an individual that they can expand on and exploit their condition for a profit.
I was caught up in the exploitation event my entire life. I was considered mean and hot-headed when disturbed,but was a valued employee that most put up with and other sought for my raw talent.I helps to be one of the sharper tools in the box when dealing with that sort of mentality. We are stereotypically thought to all be geniuses,but like all humans,that is often not the case.I ran into what I consider the smartest person in the world syndrome way too many times for my particular taste. Most that had that syndrome were quite possibly the stupidest people I ever met,way too stupid to see how far off the mark they really were.
With all that out of my system for a moment,now it is time for a short video presentation that supports my thoughts from geneticist Wendy Chung on a TED talk Youtuber I ran across.
Wendy Chung: Autism — what we know (and what we don't know yet)
I come from a family with four siblings that are not all auties,but in fact split in a strange way. Two blood sisters and a brother who are NTs. My father is suspected as well to share my form of the condition along with my other brother. My maternal grandfather is suspected to have been spectrum as well. The paternal side of my family has a long history of inventors and over the top talented individuals that span many generations who are all now suspected auties in my family history.I was told by my paternal great grandmother that her father was the guy that invented the the Rotair triple air safety braking systems on trains and his idea was bought out by George Westinghouse for $500 when he died suddenly in what he considered a humanitarian deal for her widowed mom. Westinghouse went on to patent it and form WABCO (Westinghouse Air Brake Company) in Wilmerding Pennsylvania USA.Yes,even old George exploited the auties for a profit. It always hurts me to know that my family could have been royalty level rich if not for that unfortunate event. Oh well,we made our own marks on the planet just the same in spite of being robbed of that particular chance.
I fully understand now that the spectrum is way too broad for any two of us to be exactly the same. We can share common traits,or none at all. Some of us got the goods in a bigger pile,and then some get short changed and tons of junk to deal with. The public and media doesn't help our cause at all as we are misinterpreted and displayed very wrong and damaged. The feel good for some is that they now have someone to pity and to frown upon.The other side of the coin is that they see an individual that they can expand on and exploit their condition for a profit.
I was caught up in the exploitation event my entire life. I was considered mean and hot-headed when disturbed,but was a valued employee that most put up with and other sought for my raw talent.I helps to be one of the sharper tools in the box when dealing with that sort of mentality. We are stereotypically thought to all be geniuses,but like all humans,that is often not the case.I ran into what I consider the smartest person in the world syndrome way too many times for my particular taste. Most that had that syndrome were quite possibly the stupidest people I ever met,way too stupid to see how far off the mark they really were.
With all that out of my system for a moment,now it is time for a short video presentation that supports my thoughts from geneticist Wendy Chung on a TED talk Youtuber I ran across.
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