#chiropractor
The Hotness of the Anti-Aging Docs … ⚕️
helo i am hatinge of thise playse i am freekinge out a lil bitt
helo momther pls to bazzy leavinge thise playse
Unpacking anti-autistic ableism (part #1 in a series)
Yesterday, a follower DMed us to ask if we could discuss a post about autism made by a neurotypical chiropractor. The post itself, and the comments section, are an absolute fiasco.
Before I show you this post, I want you to keep two things in mind. First, chiropractic medicine is pseudoscientific, and the only medical condition it has been proven to effectively treat is back pain. Even then, it can cause complications if not performed correctly. Second, there is no peer-reviewed scientific evidence that chiropractic medicine is effective as a “treatment” for neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD or autism.
Now, here’s the post. I have made the decision to block out the face of the child depicted in these photos, since they show him in a meltdown state.
Okay, let’s pause.
Question 1: what was the “shoe battle”? And who “lost” it, the parent or the child?
Based on context clues, I’m inferring that the child had a sensory aversion to wearing a pair of shoes, possibly the sandals in the first picture. I might be incorrect, but let’s keep going with that assumption for a minute.
Instead of recognizing that the child had a legitimate sensory need which wasn’t being met, it appears that the parent ignored the need and instead engaged in a “battle” with the child over wearing the shoes- which inevitably led to a sensory meltdown.
The parent then blamed this meltdown on “inflammation [taking] over,” instead of reflecting on what they may have done to worsen the situation/what they could have done to improve it.
When you’re used to viewing autism as an outside entity that controls your child and makes them act in unusual ways, it’s easy to see yourself as being engaged in a “battle” for control over your child. But that’s not what’s actually happening in these circumstances.
What’s happening is that autistic kids are reacting to stimuli in the environment in a way that’s different from the norm, and because it’s unusual or inconvenient and they don’t understand the reasons why the kid is acting a certain way, parents decide not to be accommodating. Because maybe, just maybe, if they ignore the needs of the child, the child will adapt and begin to only have needs that fit the neurotypical worldview of their parents(/s).
…
That was a long digression, but it’s important when discussing the caption of this post & all the comments underneath it.
The caption begins with this chiropractor’s assertion that he is “infuriated” and “deeply saddened” by autism. The (perhaps unintentional) undertone of of that message is, “I am deeply saddened and infuriated by autistic children and all of the hardship they create for their families and themselves.”
Because while this chiropractor and many in the comments section view autism as a disease, as an entity that can be cut away and separated from a person, that is not the truth. Autism alters the structure and function of a person’s entire brain and nervous system. There is no way for “autism” to be separated from a person and their cognition. Therefore, when someone says they are infuriated by autism, they are saying that they are infuriated by autistic people.
Let’s continue with the caption:
Ok, pause.
There are two main things he does here:
- Articulate that there is not a single way (not one way!) that autistic children can connect with their parents
- Say that autism is worse than the coronavirus, using some wildly inaccurate statistics.
The first statement is so ridiculously dehumanizing that it’s hard to know where to begin. Of course there are ways that autistic children connect with our parents. Our communication methods and ways of showing affection might be different from the norm, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t expressing anything or connecting at all. If you want to connect with an autistic person, you have to be open to receive messages in unexpected ways.
The second statement is so irresponsible and unscientific that it pains me to read. This man made up both “statistics” he used.
First of all, it is well documented that children can and do become infected by the coronavirus. Second,comparing a (non-deadly! ) developmental disability to a horrific, lethal virus is the literal definition of fearmongering.
Third,the “1 in 36” number is wildly inflated and not even used by the CDC, which uses the (also inflated) “1 in 54” number.
The reason why autism prevalence rates seem so high in the US is often because the studies used to determine prevalence are methodologically flawed. 1 in every 5 children included as autistic in the CDC prevalence rate calculations doesn’t even have a professional autism diagnosis. Additionally,a study that examined the CDC’s methods found that “between 20 and 40 percent of children who met the CDC definition of autism [were] not actually [autistic].”
What’s next?
Ah, yes! One final comparison of autism to the coronavirus.
Again: autism is not an epidemic, a pandemic, or a rapidly spreading disease. You can’t “catch” autism, and over 80% of autism likelihood is determined by genes.
Lastly, the 26,900% number appears to be completely made up. I searched for it on Google, in many different ways, and absolutely nothing popped up. And, given his made-up “0.00%” for coronavirus cases in children, I think it’s safe to dismiss this number right out of the gate.
My next post will be dissecting some of the comments left on this post. Stay tuned!
~Eden
Mismatched Champion sock hottie on the chiropractic table getting adjusted while we drool over her socks that she’s wearing for us….
Dr Justin
