In Your Head: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Today we're exploring what science knows about the cause of autism and how people with ASD may experience the world.

Created by: Amanda Cortex
Edited by: Aaron Amygdala
Logo: Mike Ramsey
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Brief Brain Snacks Social Media:

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Sources:
"Cool Hand Luke" (1967) Warner Bros.

[PurpleRhymesWithOrange]

I sincerely appreciate this video. My entire life I knew something was 'wrong' about how my brain worked but I was not diagnosed with Autism until I was 40. This was after being in and out of therapy many times since I was 14 and being erroneously diagnosed and medicated for more than a dozen other conditions they later concluded I never had.

[bradbloom]

“...not the internal voice that continues to stab you in the rib cage, twists the knife and runs off laughing....”
😂🤣😭
I feel seen.
😊✌️💚🧠

[LeoDamascusVG]

This is quite possibly the best and most accurate video on autism I've seen!

I'm on the autistic spectrum. One of the key symptoms of autism is intense fixations on specific topics, to the point that Hans Asperger described us as "little professors" (he was working with children, but even adults tend to fixate strongly). In the autism community, we sometimes call these fixations, "special interests."

Autism itself is one of my special interests. I'm fact, my inability to stop trying to learn more about autism is the reason I clicked onto this video. Most videos like this that I watch, especially after all the research I've put into autism as a broader topic, really frustrate me. Even professional videos will sometimes, for example, inflate the merit of the mirror neuron hypothesis, or videos online from non-professionals with titles like this video's title could push something as harmful as autism denial. But I couldn't find anything to criticize in this video, and also really appreciate the specificity on the topic. This video even taught me some things I never knew! So, please understand, when I say this is the best video on autism I've ever seen, that's very high praise indeed!

I'm definitely going to be looking up your other videos, because if they're as high quality as this one, you're definitely a channel to which it's worth paying attention!

[wellingtonsmith]

I'm glad to see the folks with ASD liking this video, being seen is just as important as getting the facts correct.
well done!

[garycpriestley]

As always, a very informative and well-presented video. I particularly loved the respectful comments you made at the end regarding i) the individuals impacted and ii) the people that support research into these conditions. It is all too easy to get focused on the pathology and forget to see the humans involved. Well done (again, as always).

[jeroylenkins]

I would suggest that autism not be described as a "brain disorder". From the neurodiversity perspective of many autistic people it is a brain >difference<. An autistic brain isn't a defective version of a "normal" brain, it''s a different kind of brain. This difference along with many others has existed for tens of thousands of years. If it were truly a defective brain and provided no advantages to a group it would have been selected against and died out. The fact that it is consistently appearing across multiple population and time suggests heavily that the presence of autistic individuals provides an evolutionary advantage to the group they belong to.

[cfree]

Enjoyed the video, and I appreciate your knowledge and your kindness in sharing it with us. I admittedly don’t know a lot about autism, but I’ve always wondered if it could have anything at all with people having children a lot later in life than they did decades ago? Could the age of the parents have anything to do with the neural development of their child(ren)? I’m hoping that doesn’t sound like a stupid question lol!

[goldenangel]

I used to have a boyfriend who also has autism.