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    • What We Want --- SAMHSA Grant Opportunities Due Jan. 22, 2019
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      • DECONSTRUCTING ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER AND PSYCHOPATHY: A GUIDELINES-BASED APPROACH TO PREJUDICIAL PSYCHIATRIC LABELS [Hofstra Law Review 2013]
      • Personality Disorders -- Unscientific & Vague -- Must Be Reformed
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      • Job Accommodation Network on Executive Functioning Deficits
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      • OIG: STATE STANDARDS FOR ACCESS TO CARE IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Sept. 2014)
      • OIG: ACCESS TO CARE: PROVIDER AVAILABILITY IN MEDICAID MANAGED CARE (Dec. 2014)
      • GAO 15-710: MEDICARE ADVANTAGE: Actions Needed to Enhance CMS Oversight of Provider Network Adequacy (Aug. 2015)
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      • CMS Parity Compliance Toolkit Applying Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Requirements to Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs [Jan. 17, 2017]
      • Frequently Asked Questions: Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Final Rule for Medicaid and CHIP [CMS October 11, 2017]
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  • Microglia and the Brain's Immune System
  • Substance Issues & the Immune System



















                 








​                  NEURODiversity          Wednesday

Energy, Employment & Flow

8/24/2022

 
Neuro-Diversity and the Demands on Individuals, Families & Societies to do SHORT, MEDIUM & LONG TERM PLANNING to Avoid Burnout & Breakdown
The Healthcare and Criminal Justice Costs of NOT UNDERSTANDING Neuro-Diversity are HUGE ---
  • BUT this turns out to be LEGITIMATELY VERY COMPLICATED.
  • When it comes to EMPLOYMENT/ENTREPRENEURSHIP --- Individuals, Families & Societies have a BIG INTEREST in figuring this out for the often ASYNCHRONOUS, IDIOSYNCRATIC NEURO-DIVERSE PERSON.
 
  • For me personally, I can't wait years or decades for others to keep up with my ABSTRACT THINKING   --
    • and it's not likely to happen.
  • On the other hand,  others can't wait years or decades for my EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING to keep up with theirs ---
    • and it's not likely to happen.  
Employment Index
Strengths-Based Approach
Go With the Flow
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Oasis:  The Importance of Being Idle
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Martin Scorcese on "Citizen Kane"
American Film Institute


"If you use a wider angle lens --- you see the walls speeding past you."
One of the things that you see often in job announcements is a requirement for "ATTENTION TO DETAIL."
  • That is very much a matter of NEURO-DIVERSITY.

If we get it in our heads, as we tend to do --- that this "ATTENTION TO DETAIL"  is a fundamental competency or even moral issue ---
  • We've erected some BIG BARRIERS for a SEGMENT of the NEURO-DIVERSE population.
  • The irony is that the most sanctimonious people on this "ATTENTION TO DETAIL" --
    • can also be quite NEURO-DIVERSE.

I think this issue of "ATTENTION TO DETAIL" that we think is so GENERIC  is actually quite INDIVIDUAL and IDIOSYNCRATIC.

For me personally, I'm interested in understanding enough of the details so I understand the underlying GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
  • After that, I'm looking for ANOMALIES that would go to the UNDERLYING GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
  • I'm pretty good at understanding a system and even working individually with clients to better understand where that system may be falling apart---- BUT --
  • That is generally a DIFFERENT KIND OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL than most Employers are looking for.
 
  • Further, some of our traditional "ATTENTION TO DETAIL" is just silly --- BUT SOME OF IT ISN'T.


If we understand --- and we generally don't understand --- that not only we ourselves but human beings in general  are only perceiving a small fraction of REALITY ---We start to appreciate the importance of DIFFERENT TYPES OF ATTENTION and SENSORY/INFORMATION PROCESSING.  
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I want to thank Scott Durairaj PGC, MBA  with the NHS (National Health Service) England  for posting this on Linkedin.

Big Gifts, Big Energy Demands, Executive Functioning Challenges & Traps for the Unwary

8/15/2022

 
Conjecture

People with ADHD, Autism and/or Dyslexia are often coming with some BIG GIFTS and Executive Functioning Challenges that come with perhaps understandable but often destructive reactions from others or even ourselves:
  • "If you can do that --- I know you can do this." OR
  • "Your Executive Functioning isn't up to par -- You're An Idiot."
Those BIG GIFTS are often the result of some RAMPED UP SENSORY PROCESSING that is coming at a BIG ENERGY COST.
  • See Asperger's From the Inside
    Why So Tired? How Sensory Processing Effects Executive Function
 
  • Further, REASONING comes at a BIG ENERGY COST.
 
  • Additionally, EMOTION is a part of the Reasoning Process.
 
  • The "FATIGUE" that comes with all this doesn't necessarily look like what we're expecting ---
 
  • Further, most of the people around the world are drinking a lot of CAFFEINE ---it can RAMP UP YOUR INTELLECTUAL FUNCTIONING ---
    • Unfortunately, it ramps up that STRESS RESPONSE, too.
There are some people like myself --- I have had a panic attack -- BUT if I cut out the CAFFEINE --- that goes away --- that is not true for everyone.
  • BUT that CAFFEINE helps my EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING --- so that's the CATCH-22
  • Finding that BALANCE --- has been no easy trick.
  • BTW --- I do take Lithium
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Some studies have found that caffeine can boost concentration for people with ADHD.   Since it's a stimulant drug, it mimics some of the effects of stronger stimulants used to treat ADHD, such as amphetamine medications. However, caffeine alone is less effective than prescription medications.

How Does Caffeine Affect ADHD - Healthline
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See also:

"Research into how the need for energy has influenced and constrained the evolution of life"--- A Biochemist’s View of Life’s Origin Reframes Cancer and Aging.

I think ENERGY DEMANDS (which may be the result of RAMPED UP SENSORY PROCESSING & STRESS RESPONSES) are relevant to Neuro-Developmental Differences/Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders.
FREE
Florence + The Machine

I've posted this video a few times (I do love it).  My take --- it is a BRILLIANT interpretation of what it feels like to be a Neuro-Diverse Person in the Modern World and probably anybody.

There's so much to this --- the Colorful happy background  --- but in the foreground is her ANXIETY on a cell phone --- she looks tired and her ANXIETY is handing her a cup of coffee.

As she is running from one thing to another --- her ANXIETY is trying NOT TO SPILL THE COFFEE.

Singer Florence Welch Is Proud of Her Dyspraxia | Understood
  • Welch has both Dyslexia and Dyspraxia.
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Caffeine, Stress and Your Health - Verywell Mind

  • Caffeine and stress can both elevate cortisol levels. High amounts of caffeine can lead to the negative health effects associated with prolonged elevated levels of cortisol (as in chronic stress). However, small to moderate amounts of caffeine can lift your mood and give you a boost.
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Does coffee cause panic attacks?
  • These include coffee, sodas, tea, and energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar and 5-Hour Energy. All of these include stimulants that can increase your heart rate, blood pressure, triggering that fight or flight condition in your body. Without a doubt, caffeine is one of the key culprit[s] in triggering anxiety and panic attacks.
Does Coffee Cause Anxiety? - Calm Clinic 
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For Neuro-Diverse people with EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES in a SOCIETY that largely doesn't think it should have to ACCOMMODATE EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES----
  • The Traps for the UNWARY NEURO-DIVERSE person are numerous.
  • Further, if we have more of a CRITICAL MASS of People with an "UNDERSTANDING" of these Neuro-Developmental Differences and HOW TO TAILOR ACCOMMODATIONS and WORK-AROUNDS ---
    • It is likely to become much less of an issue than it is today.

The Problematic Dynamics of Empathy, Stress & Ramped Up Sensory Processing

8/7/2022

 
Like I already knew this . . .
Research on Recognizing Facial Emotion Expressions Could Change Our Understanding of Autism

August 2, 2022

Summary:  Autism-associated social difficulties may reflect differences that only become apparent in high-pressure scenarios and certain social interactions. The findings challenge the belief that those with ASD can’t adequately read facial emotional expressions.

Source:  Flinders University

So I have never really bought this "IDEA" that people with ADHD &/or Autism couldn't read facial expressions---- I think it can be quite the OPPOSITE ---

BUT

There are PROBLEMATIC DYNAMICS --- I think it is more related to RAMPED UP STRESS RESPONSES that can get out of control.

Further, I'm fine if we want to FOCUS on EMPATHY but it's not going to get us very far if it is not the DOUBLE EMPATHY of EFFORT rather than the split-second EMPATHY of which team you're on.

I think it can be helpful to bring in this concept of REJECTION SENSITIVE DYSPHORIA which is often associated with ADHD, but I think cuts across a lot of NEURO-DIVERSITY that appears to be associated with greater Neuro-Developmental Inflammation.


Further, I don't think this issue of emotions normal in every way except INTENSITY is limited to "REJECTION."
  • Whether we call this "EMOTIONAL INTENSITY" associated with "Giftedness" or "EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION" associated with a Neuro-Developmental Difference or Psychiatric Disorder ----
    • Can reflect a lot of "UNCONSCIOUS BIAS"

This INTENSITY is not all a bad thing, but it is not all a good thing either.
  • Further, I think it can become very hard on not only those around us but on our own bodily and mental systems.
Further, if we start to consider "PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS" as related to Neuro-Developmental Differences/Disorders ---
  • there are more problematic dynamics.

ADHD, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Depression and Schizophrenia are BLURRED, according to the US National Institute of Mental Health.

A particularly problematic behavior that has been associated with "BIPOLAR DISORDER" is ---
  • AGGRESSION as a means to stave off DEPRESSION
    • “Aggression protects against the onset of major depressive episodes in individuals with bipolar spectrum disorder.  Journal of Behavior Therapy (2017)

I think the problem is a lot less that people aren't sensitive --- BUT THAT THEY ARE TOO SENSITIVE.

I think that goes to some extent to explain the popularity of Mark Manson's books which I think are tapping into a counter-intuitive reality.

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Flinders University --- Adelaide, Australia
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Further, I think something that you hear Older Women say --- "Oh men are such babies -- they're so sensitive."

I don't think as girls and younger women we start out thinking that --- BUT I do think men are often more "SENSITIVE" and whether they are IMPLODING or EXPLODING --- it can be very problematic.

Especially, in the CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM where you often have men who are acting aggressively maybe as an unconscious way to stave off DEPRESSION---
  • AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION IS WORTH A POUND OF CURE
  • AND Both the PREVENTION and CURE may be COUNTER-INTUITIVE.

THIS IS HUGE -- The Center for ADAPTIVE STRESS

7/31/2022

 
To the right is information on the Center for Adaptive  Stress --- Science of Neuro-Diversity.
To me, STRESS is BOTH a key to the STRENGTHS and some of the most problematic BEHAVIORS associated with "Neuro-Diversity" when those ramped up stress responses careen out of control.  


We do need a "MEDICAL MODEL of NEURO-DIVERSITY." 
  • This is a Major Conceptual  Break-Through
In some ways, this brings us FULL CIRCLE from our criticism from 2015:
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When People Complain to Me About the Medical Model ---

I Usually Say What Medical Model -- It's A Sham Medical Model At Best

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The Science of Neurodiversity

Our Mission

At the Center for Adaptive Stress, we believe in empowering educators, researchers, and the next generation with tools to make a difference in healing our health, our communities, and our planet.

Through an Evolutionary Stress Framework, we want to build a Neurodiversity-Informed Medical Model.


Our Vision

Center for Stress will be a platform of new scientific models to incorporate evolutionary stress and systems theories into already existing support programs, medical therapies, and neurodiversity initiatives.

Representing a unifying model for a better quality of life for those living on the neurological spectrum and disability cultural integration.
See Also:
  • The Economics of Bringing Mental Health Practice in Line with the March 2019 Frontiers in Psychiatry Editorial & Current Research
    • Blogs from August 2019 generally are trending
 
  • AIDS, Covid-19, Black Lives Matter, and Mental Health --- Science, Anti-Intellectualism, Pseudo-Intellectualism and Health

Reasoning, Emotion, Sensory Processing & Homeostasis

7/20/2022

 
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Famed Neuro-Scientist and Author Antonio Damasio
Conjecture
  • Ramped Up Sensory Processing is going to CHALLENGE SHORT TERM or WORKING MEMORY.
  • It's probably going to look like "SLOW PROCESSING."
  • I can't remember EVERYTHING.
  • Using PRINCIPLES of LOGIC can help MAKE SENSE of all this SENSORY INFORMATION.

EMOTION
  • Emotion can be PROBLEMATIC, but I would maintain NOT FOR THE REASONS WE THINK.
  • EMOTION is NOT the OPPOSITE of REASON -- we're NOT REASONING in the ABSENCE of EMOTION.
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  • I have been known to say, "This is my major premise, this is minor premise, this is my conclusion ---- WHAT THE HELL ISN'T LOGICAL ABOUT THAT?"
  • I would say the goal is not just to hurl SYLLOGISMS and be a SMART ASS -- it is COMMUNICATION.
  • But if we're SHUTTING DOWN other people's COMMUNICATION on the PRETENSE that it's NOT LOGICAL --- when really we don't have the BANDWIDTH to deal with the EMOTION.
    • That's going to cause a lot of problems in RELATIONSHIPS --
    • It's going to cause a lot of problems in SOCIETY.

EMOTION isn't the OPPOSITE of REASON --- BUT WE HAVE OUR LIMITS
  • We don't have the BANDWIDTH to deal with INTENSE EMOTIONS, EMOTIONAL DYSREGULATION 24/7 as individuals, in relationships, families, or societies.
  • When I say we don't have the "BANDWIDTH" -- I mean BIOLOGICALLY EMOTION/STRESS are OVERLOADING the SYSTEMS of the BODY.
  • AND we are BREAKING OURSELVES AGAINST THOSE LIMITS.
  • That EMOTIONAL/STRESS OVERLOAD is often the RESULT of that very same SENSORY OVERLOAD that is FUELING REASONING.

ANOTHER RELATED CATCH-22
  • If we're SHUTTING DOWN other people's CONCERNS --- whether we think they are "TOO EMOTIONAL" or something else --
  • I think we may be INVITING some problematic EPIGENETIC CHANGES that will RAMP UP EVEN FURTHER --- SENSORY PROCESSING.
HOMEOSTASIS & SENSORY PROCESSING
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  • The problem is --- BALANCE DOESN'T LOOK THE SAME for EVERYONE --- and RAMPED UP SENSORY PROCESSING creates BALANCE CHALLENGES.
  • I don't think it is any accident that Neuro-Diverse people seem to be more subject to BURNOUT.
  • Further, given the association of Neuro-Developmental Differences/Disorders with PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS -- I would say Neuro-Diverse people seem to be more subject to BREAKDOWN.
Alice Merton
No Roots

We're NOT ASPENS --- BUT we are SOCIAL ANIMALS and we are Biologically Plugged into the SOCIAL ORDER --- through among other things the IMMUNE SYSTEM.

A LOT of People are questioning HIERARCHY right now --- just as we're realizing there are not a HANDFUL of FACTORS that identify us as INDIVIDUALS ---- THERE ARE TRILLIONS --- and they are NOT ALL HUMAN.

People are FIGHTING about who is at the BOTTOM of the HIERARCHY because --- it has TANGIBLE IMPACTS to People's Health & Well Being.

Pharrell Williams Freedom
We are from heat
The Electric one
Does it shock you to see, he left us the sun?
The atoms in the air
Organisms in the sea
The Sun, and yes, man
Are made of the same things
REAL HUMAN LIMITATIONS & the NEED for DIFFERENT PARADIGMS


The FLIP SIDE of Pharrell Williams "Freedom" is that we currently are much more limited than we realize --- taking in only a FRACTION OF REALITY.

We are REASONING ANIMALS but it comes at a BIG ENERGY COST

We don't have the BANDWIDTH to just RAMP UP that SENSORY PROCESSING  even relatively MODEST AMOUNTS without SUFFERING SOME CONSEQUENCES.

Earlier Ages --- certainly some prominent Theologians and Philosophers understood that the WORLD / the UNIVERSE / the ULTIMATE REALITY were BEYOND HUMAN COMPREHENSION.

[Interestingly, Spiritual Beliefs in "ONENESS" seem to help people do better.

See Neuroscience News:  "Spirituality Linked to Better Health Outcomes" (July 2022) and
People With a Sense of Oneness Experience Greater Life Satisfaction (April 2019).]


Our COMPREHENSION has increased greatly over the eons and certainly rapidly increasing over the last 50,000 years.

Further, things really picked up with the ENLIGHTENMENT.  BUT the ENLIGHTENMENT/Empirical Science --- has NOT TURNED ON ALL THE LIGHTS -- maybe it ultimately will.

In the meantime, issues of SUSTAINABILITY are plaguing our PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS and our BODILY ENVIRONMENTS.

The Need for a Public Education Campaign on Neuro-diverse burnout

6/21/2022

 
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Neurodiversity, empathy, anxiety, and burnout – a roller coaster of intertwined emotions?
FIGHTING & PREVENTING NEURODIVERSE BURNOUT
PANELISTS–
  • DR. MARSHA D. BROWN (Forensic & Clinical Psychologist / Host of Self-Care Chronicles Podcast / drmarshabrown.com)
  • SEAN INDERBITZEN (Autism Self-Advocate / Licensed Clinical Social Worker / Therapist / seaninderbitzen.com)
  • BROOKE SCHNITTMAN (ADHD & Executive Functioning Coach / Co-Host of ADHD Power Tools /coachingwithbrooke.com)
  • KATIE OSWALD (Autism Self-Advocate/ Founder of Full Spectrum Agency For Autistic Adults / fullspectrumasd.org) 
MODERATOR–
  • ALI IDRISS (ADHD Self-Advocate / Writer / Co-Host of ADHD Power Tools)
  • SARAI WELCH (Different Brains Intern Board Representative / Writer)

Tourette's is Part of Neuro-Diversity

6/19/2022

 
Maternal autoimmunity and inflammation are associated with 
  • childhood tics and obsessive-compulsive disorder: Transcriptomic data show common enriched innate immune pathways...
    https://www.sciencedirect.com › science › article › pii

    by HF Jones · 2021 · Cited by 14 -- Upregulated differentially expressed genes in maternal autoimmune disease and Tourette brain transcriptomes were commonly enriched in innate

Altered topology of structural brain networks in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (2017)
Contrasting these results, whole brain and right hemispheric networks of GTS patients showed significantly increased normalized global efficiency indicating an overall increase of structural integration among distributed areas.

Higher global efficiency was associated with tic severity (R = 0.63, p = 0.022) suggesting the clinical relevance of altered network topology.

Our findings reflect an imbalance between structural integration and segregation in right hemispheric structural connectome of patients with GTS.

These changes might be related to an underlying pathology of impaired neuronal development, but could also indicate potential adaptive plasticity.

Netflix:  Billie Eilish opens up about Tourette's with David Letterman
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Neuro-Diversity and a Ramped Up Stress Response

6/19/2022

 
At one time that ELEVATED STRESS RESPONSE may have been your secret weapon until it turned against you.

Further, I think we need to start considering:
  • Heart Disease
  • Autoimmune Disease
  • Cancer
  • Neuro-Developmental Differences involving Maternal Immune Activation,
  • Psychiatric Disorders and
  • Substance Issues

AS INTER-RELATED --- maybe different manifestations of the LONG TERM EFFECTS of DEVELOPMENTAL and AFTER-ACQUIRED INFLAMMATION.
  • See Frontiers in Psychology --- A Translational Perspective of Maternal Immune Activation by SARS-CoV-2 on the Potential Prenatal Origin of Neurodevelopmental Disorders: The Role of the Cholinergic Anti-inflammatory Pathway (2021)

To me, what we haven't come to terms with is:
  • people are coming with DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION
    • this is on one level more problematic than simple LIFESTYLE CHANGES,
    • on the other hand, it may require LIFESTYLE CHANGES that are FAR BEYOND our current conceptualizations. 

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Neurodiversity Is a Competitive Advantage - Harvard Business ...
https://hbr.org › 2017/05 › neurodiversity-as-a-competi...

“Neurodiversity is the idea that neurological differences like autism and ADHD are ... Managing neurodiverse employees' stress presents another challenge.

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Editorial:  Stress and Immunity (2019)

Long-term and chronic stress leads to persistently high cortisol and corticosteroid levels, which cause resistance to cortisol and impaired anti-inflammatory effects on the immune system.

Such effects result in chronic infection, chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases, or cancers as well as other physiological disorders.

Chronic stress also inhibits the cross talk of immune cells and signaling networks.  
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Stress and Drug Abuse: A Structural and Genetic Link
https://www.psychiatrictimes.com › view › stress-and-dr...

Oct 31, 2019 — Specific genetic changes are linked both to stress responses and an ability to abstain from addictive substances. A multi-center research study ..

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Psych Scene Hub:  The Impact of Maternal Stress on the Fetal Brain-- Key Mechanisms (updated 2020)
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Inflammation, Anxiety, and Stress in Attention-Deficit ... - NCBI
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › articles › PMC8533349

Stress and Inflammation in Patients with ADHD · by LF Saccaro · 2021 · Cited by 5 — Strengthening the hypothesis that HPA axis impairment may be related to ADHD symptoms . . .
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Study links heightened stress reaction to autism-related GI ...
“We know that it's common for individuals with autism to have a more-intense reaction to stress, and some of these patients seem to experience frequent constipation, abdominal pain or other gastrointestinal issues,” says the study's senior author, David Beversdorf, a neurologist with the University of Missouri's ...Jan 10, 2017
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Dyslexia as an adaptation to cortico-limbic stress system ...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › articles › PMC7231974

by JR Kershner · 2020 · Cited by 7 — The important upshot of this is that reading ability has a lower threshold for stress-induced environmental compromise than general intelligence. Hence dyslexia ...
‎Abstract · ‎Introduction · ‎Stress levels, behavior, and... · ‎Epigenetics, the stress axis...

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RCCX Theory and Gi
ftedness:  A Promising New Line of Research


According to Dr. Meglathery, those with the CAPS profile are
at higher risk of chronic illness, especially when an individual
has inherited two copies of CYP21A2 mutations, one from
each parent.

The crux of the CAPS profile is a brain wired for
survival--the ability to move fast, the ability to get into flow, the ability to really push oneself, all of which are what we in the gifted community view as overexcitabilities.


Dr. Meglathery’s description of a brain with CAPS echoes familiar refrains from the gifted literature: “[The CAPS brain] is characterized by an exaggerated stress response, sensory
sensitivities, hyper-focus, strong special interests, often
mental gifts paired with learning disabilities/Asperger’s, an  androgenized brain.”

-----page 8-9.

Giftedness & Parkinson's

6/8/2022

 
High IQ in Early Adulthood Is Associated with Parkinson's Disease
  • July 2020
  • Journal of Parkinson's Disease

Scientists link immune cells to Parkinson's disease onset. Summary: A new study adds increasing evidence that Parkinson's disease is partly an autoimmune disease.

In fact, the researchers report that signs of autoimmunity can appear in Parkinson's disease patients years before their official diagnosis. 
Apr 20, 2020

Autoimmunity plays a role in Parkinson's disease, study suggests

High intelligence: A risk factor for psychological and ...https://www.sciencedirect.com › science › article › pii

by RI Karpinski · 2018 · Cited by 147 — Further, increased evidence of allergies, autoimmune disease, sensory sensitivity and high IQ has been found in a subset of individuals with ADHD



High rates of parkinsonism in adults with autism
https://jneurodevdisorders.biomedcentral.com › articles

by S Starkstein · 2015 · Cited by 78 — The finding of high rates of Parkinson's disease in older adults with autism is likely to be only one of many potential new findings to be ...



Parkinson's disease and Dyslexia - eHealthMe
https://www.ehealthme.com › parkinson-s-disease › dys...

Dyslexia is found among people with Parkinson's disease, especially for people who are male, old. The study analyzes which people have Dyslexia with Parkinson's ...

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To mask or not to mask

5/19/2022

 
Conjecture
  • So a few things when it comes to the BLURRED CATEGORIES of ADHD and AUTISM ---- and I would say also DYSLEXIA, OCD and GIFTEDNESS and others as well:
    • More INTENSE EMOTIONS which are related to ---
    • RAMPED UP SENSORY PROCESSING  this is related to ---
    • The PERCEPTION & PRACTICAL REALITY of Slower Processing Speed
    • There is a lot of MISSED or LATE DIAGNOSIS
 
  • So I think Paige is right --- many people are MASKING and they don't even know it
    • AND because many are NOT NEATLY PATTERN MAPPING to DSM 5 Categories and MORE FUNDAMENTAL CATEGORIES are IN THE PROCESS of BEING RECOGNIZED and DISCOVERED (i.e. BIOMARKERS)---
      • Some of us have really been through it.
      • And what we've been through does qualify as "SOCIETAL ABUSE."
        • as UNWITTING as it is.
        • Further, some people have been through a lot more than others.

I would submit that MOST of the people who are HOMELESS or INCARCERATED are NEURO-DIVERSE -- and
  • They are in a SOCIETY that doesn't think it should have to ACCOMMODATE Executive Functioning Differences --
  • AND by and large wouldn't know how to ACCOMMODATE those DIFFERENCES even if they wanted to.

On the one hand, I do think not CRAMMING NEURO-DIVERSE people into Neuro-Typical Work Environments is part of the answer.
  • Supported Entrepreneurship
  • We, of course, already have Supported Entrepreneurship ---
    • it's a few Neuro-Diverse people at the TOP
    • often EXPLOITING Neuro-Typicals so those Neuro-Diverse great ideas actually have a chance of succeeding.

This really is Different Minds need to learn to play nice and work together without BURNING each other out or EXPLOITING each other.
Paige Layle
WHAT IS MASKING? | Autism & How Masking Makes Me Feel

Asperger's from the Inside
The WORST ADVICE you can give an Autistic person [Just Take Off the Mask]   #TakeTheMaskOff

How to ADHD
The Problem with Masking ADHD and Autism (burnout, etc.)

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    Neuro-Diversity
    Wednesday

    (with variable spellings of Neurodiversity)


    NEURODIVERSITY  is BLURRED. 

    What people are keying off of is:  EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING DIFFERENCES or DEFICITS --- and saying "Hey, that's me."

    BUT they are also saying:  "Hey, I've got some BIG TIME STRENGTHS and I need those recognized too." 

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