Discrimination against persons with low functioning autism disorders takes many forms. It is particularly rampant in the autism research world where studies purporting to inform us about autism almost invariably exclude low functioning autistic participants. Conclusions are again being drawn about persons with autism spectrum disorders based on a study which excluded low functioning autistic participants.  The study examined the effectiveness of the antidepressant Prozac in treating repetitive behavior and obsessive-compulsive behavior in adults with "autism". 

Presumably physicians will be prescribing Prozac either as a consequence of this study and similar confirming studies. If all their clients are persons with high functioning autism and Aspergers they will at least have done so on some evidence basis.  If physicians prescribe Prozac to low functioning autistic adults based on this and similar studies however they will be doing so without any evidence basis. 

As reported in TIME, Prozac May Reduce Symptoms of Autism in Adults:

"Repetitive behavior is a core symptom of the illness," says lead author Dr. Eric Hollander, medical director of the Autism and Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, explaining that "from a very early age, these children have rituals and routines. For example, they like to line up their toys and they get very bent out of shape if there is any deviation."


The abstract for the study, A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial of Fluoxetine for Repetitive Behaviors and Global Severity in Adult Autism Spectrum Disorders, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry,  refers to the participants as adults with ASD's, or Autism Spectrum Disorders, but does not indicate that the study does not involve any low functioning autistic participants. The title of the study report also refers to adult autism spectrum disorders without identifying the exclusion of low functioning autistic participants.

Aspergers? CHECK High Functioning Autism? CHECK Low Functioning Autism? NO, not in the "autism" research world.

Dr. Laurent Mottron has spent his entire career studying persons with high functioning autism and Aspergers.   Even as the parents of autistic children and good hearted people everywhere feel sadness and grief over the loss of another autistic child presumed lost Dr. Mottron promotes and oversells a study he led which according, to the good Doctor, supports his belief that autism should not be cured.

I have been unable, in the several years that I have been aware of his anti autism cure ideology,  to find any indication that Dr. Mottron has spent any time working with, or studying, those severely affected by autism disorders, whether they be the 75-80% of persons with Autistic Disorder and Intellectual Disability, those who engage in debilitating and dangerous self injurious behavior or those who wander from home and caregivers to danger, and sometimes, death.  The loss last year of James DeLorey in a snow storm, the Australian child who wandered from home into automobile traffic, the still ongoing tragedy  but now presumed death, of Adam Benhamma near Montreal, will have no impact on the entrenched "autism is beautiful beliefs" of Dr. Laurent Mottron. 

I admit straight up that I personally do not subscribe to Laurent Mottron's anti autism cure ideology and do not trust any study by him  like the one now being touted, which he led, concerning "autistic" brains.  I would ask the professionals who actually work trying to help autistic children lead  fuller lives, including those who actually work with autistic children with severe autism disorders, to analyze carefully and critically Dr. Mottron's new study.  I will be very surprised if the "autistic" brain Dr. Mottron reports on is anything other than a snapshot of some of the very high functioning autistic subjects he has worked with for decades to the exclusion of  severely affected, intellectually challenged persons with autism disorders.

Dr. Laurent Mottron is not just a researcher who has devoted decades to studying high functioning autistic persons.  He has also removed himself from the realm of scientific detachment and objectivity and  involved himself in Canada's legal system in an effort to prevent medicare coverage of ABA treatment for autistic children in British Columbia in the Auton case Auton (Guardian  ad litem  of)  v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [2004] 3 S.C.R. 657, 2004 SCC 78  case.  In Auton  Mottron helped launch the career of high functioning autism researcher and anti ABA advocate Michelle Dawson  with his affidavit in support of her intervention, as an "autistic", before the Supreme Court of Canada.   In his supporting affidavit the good Doctor solemnly declared and affirmed the following statement of expert opinion:

Personally I have never seen Michelle Dawson make any statement that reflects any understanding, let alone a "tremendous" understanding of the difficulties faced by autistic individuals in Canadian society.  I have never seen or heard statements by her acknowledging the existence of the many persons with Autistic Disorder and Intellectual Disability. I don't know how her life experience as a very intelligent, adult diagnosed "autistic" gives her tremendous, or any,  insight into the challenges faced by low functioning, intellectually disabled autistic children.  Nor have I seen her, or the good Doctor, make any statements describing or addressing in any intelligent fashion the many serious behavior challenges faced by those severely affected by autism disorders.  What is clear though is that Michelle Dawson and Dr. Laurent Mottron both believe that autism is a good thing that should not be cured.  They have long held these anti cure, including anti ABA treatment,  autism beliefs. 

Dr. Mottron also appeared as an unidentified expert witness "the mysterious Dr. M" in Ms Dawson's case before a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, Dawson v. Canada Post Corporation, 2008 CHRT 41,  in which he described the idea of curing autism as nonsense:

....

And now, surprise, surprise, surprise,  Dr. Mottron has published a study which, according to the good Doctor, supports his long held belief that autism should not be cured.  I wonder how many low functioning, severely challenged, intellectually disabled autistic subjects were included in Dr. Mottron's study? I do not buy what the mysterious Dr. M is selling and I doubt that most parents with autistic children, and most professionals tasked with addressing some of the serious and dangerous challenges faced by autistic children and adults,  will buy it either.  

Dr. Mottron is not necessarily an objective, detached medical professional or scientific researcher.  He has long held a belief that autism should not be cured and his latest study conclusions are used to support  his own beliefs. Given his long held personal beliefs his study, and his public commentaries about what conclusions can be drawn from that study, should be given close, careful scrutiny.   In particular his conclusion that the study supports his belief that persons with autism should not be cured should be given very close examination.  As Dr. Mottron stated in the Vancouver Sun:

""While this study does not conclusively show a causal effect between brain activity and the enhanced abilities of those with autism, lead researcher Laurent Mottron of the University of Montreal said it is the most "robust" evidence yet suggesting a link. He said it adds another argument against attempts to "cure" autistics.

When we try to turn an autistic toddler into a non-autistic toddler, it's painful, it's expensive and it does not work," he said. "We should not try to assimilate or break the difference (between autistics and non-autistics), but just admit that it's a difference that has good and bad consequences."

High functioning autism researcher Dr. Laurent Mottron has been promoting his anti autism cure belief for many years.  Hopefully his latest efforts to thwart treatment and cure of autism disorders will enjoy no more success than his previous efforts.  The chance to improve the lives of autistic children and adults is too big a price to pay for the promotion of Dr. Mottron's personal belief system.

The above range refers to the entire range of Autism Spectrum Disorders including Aspergers whch, by definition, excludes anyone with an intellectual disability. If you exclude Aspergers from the calculation then you are looking at a figure similar to the 80% figure referenced for non-Aspergers autism referenced in the 2006 Canadian Senate brief of the Canadian Psychological Association.  Yet we continue to ignore intellectual disability in our public discussion of autism.  Intellectual Disability is very much the elephant in the autism room.

One aspect of autism awareness events that puzzles me about autism awareness events is the extent to which they don't really raise awareness about the realities of autism disorders.  In many cases there will be no mention of the fact that autism disorders are exactly that ... disorders ... diagnostic categories listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association.  As the father of  a son with Autistic Disorder and "profound developmental delays" .... intellectual disability .... I have long been annoyed by the persistent attempts to hide under euphemisms like "profound developmental delay" and under blurred professional terms like "co-morbidity" the obvious fact that Autistic Disorder is actually a form of intellectual disability.  I am not just talking about IQ test scores although I am not a member of  the trendy IQ scores don''t count crowd.  Serious functional impairment in daily life is a real characteristic of Autistic Disorder.