Martha Herbert is impressive! Take a look at her website on the how and why of autism. She first mentions 'civility'! A call for good manners and tolerance of alternative views. She quotes John Stuart Mill that one ought to understand one's opponents arguments better than one's own. Not a bad idea for any discussion. I imagine dealing with disappointed and frustrated parents is a good way to bring the need and value of civility to mind. Not to mention aggressive and competing academic types.
She has a page of excellent questions that may lead to a good grasp of what one is actually trying to do, a page on the meaning and types of evidence she knows about, a page on various causes and partial causes of autism and related positions on the autism spectrum of abilities and disabilities, a page on references for further information. The web site linked above is only one she works with and is explicitly linked to her book "The Autism Revolution." Herbert is a careful thinker and writer and she needs to be since much of her experience working with autistic kids contradicts what she was taught and what is accepted knowledge.
In the radio interview of her by Anne Strainchamps, Herbert makes clear the important role of just what foods autistic kids eat. She mentions a word I have heard increasingly with matters of health and that is "inflammation". She also refers to another concept I have seen before, which is that our gut is almost a second brain in our body. The researcher Candace Pert makes clear in some of her materials that our intestines have sensors much like parts of our brain. Herbert says that the "beige diet" of high-energy, low-nutrient foods like white bread, white pasta, white rice, pizza and chicken fingers can be related to inflammation and upsets of the body. She also implies that such a diet can prolong body difficulties and sensitivities that started from other causes.
You may have heard that the number of autism cases seems to be on the rise, especially in the U.S. The related book "Journal of Best Practices" by David Finch is a good one for grasping the nature of a marriage being undermined by ignorance of the condition and very unsatisfying exchanges of emotion and love until the husband's problem is better understood.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
