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by ridgeguy 164 days ago
It seems you substantially discount neural plasticity: "...cannot be cured".

IMHO, our understanding of autism, specifically, and neural development of the brain, in general, is rudimentary at best. It's too soon to conclude it's incurable.
1 comments
ACCount37 164 days ago
I do indeed. Because developmental windows exist. You can take the cat out of the vertical world, but you can't take the vertical world out of the cat. Trying to train them out of it only helps a little - too much damage is already done. The brain has developed a certain way, and you can't un-develop and re-develop it.

There is no consensus that autism is like this, but a lot of evidence points that way.

We'd need at least a generational leap in neuroscience to be able to pull off something like that. It's not a "laws of physics prevent you" level of impossible - we just don't have a clue of how would we even begin approaching something like that.

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pamplemoose 164 days ago
It's possible that those critical periods can be manipulated or induced. See https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3848041/
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ridgeguy 164 days ago
Hubel & Wiesel's work is fascinating, but may not map well to more complex systems (not dissing cats, they're plenty complicated!).

For example, humans clearly have a window for learning their native language. It just happens, and it's nearly magical. But humans can learn non-native languages after that window slams shut. We vary in our ability to do that, but if it matters, most can pick up useful conversational and reading skills.

I agree it's a matter of research. I think we've barely begun to scratch the surface of what's possible.

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ACCount37 163 days ago
The biggest points against it being anywhere near as easy as "teaching an adult a language" are: the existence of masking, and the limited success of behavioral interventions - especially in adults.

If people find it easier to learn and apply the workarounds than to learn the thing itself, then, clearly, something prevents them from just learning the thing itself. Behavioral interventions being generally more successful the earlier you do them lines up with that too.

Maybe there are "low hanging fruits", simple interventions that work well that we are yet to discover. But it's not like no one went looking. And the fact that we are yet to find them weights against it.

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