Antivax Radio Hosts Die Of Covid
Yet another conservative radio host who publicly spoke out against COVID-19 vaccines has died from the coronavirus. Marc Bernier, 65, a prominent conservative radio host from Daytona Beach, Florida, died Saturday after a nearly month-long battle with the virus. He is now the third conservative radio host to die from COVID-19 after publicly questioning the need for vaccines. Bernier wasnt just a vaccine skeptic, he had even characterized himself as Mr. Anti-Vax at one point.
… Benier died a week after Phil Valentine, a 62-year-old conservative radio host in Nashville, died of COVID-19. Valentine had expressed skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine but reportedly changed his mind and urged friends and family members to get vaccinated from his hospital bed. Earlier, Dick Farrel, a 65-year-old conservative radio host from Florida, died of COVID-19 on Aug. 4. Farrel, who was also an anchor on Newsmax, frequently criticized vaccines on Facebook but his friends said he changed his stance on the issue after he was hospitalized. COVID took one of my best friends! RIP Dick Farrel. He is the reason I took the shot. He texted me and told me to Get it! He told me this virus is no joke and he said, I wish I had gotten it! Amy Leigh Hair .
Great Strengths And Abilities
In general, people with autism are honest and dependable; most are focused on their work and are rarely distracted by social activities or outside interests.
Quite a few have exceptional talents in areas such as computer coding, mathematics, music, drafting, organizing, and visual arts. While it can be tough for autistic adults to set up and manage their own space and schedules, many are outstanding employees.
Some corporations have started to recognize the value of actively recruiting and hiring autistic individuals; a few include:
- Freddie Mac
- SAP
What You Can Do If You Are Feeling Suicidal
Talk to someone about how you are feeling. There are people who would like to help and will listen to you.
- tell a friend, family member or someone you trust about how you are feeling
- speak to someone on a confidential phone line service
You can call the following numbers in confidence
- Papyrus – call
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Variability In Adults With Autism
Not all adults with autism are alike.
- Some adults with autism have successful careers in demanding fields such as information technology, robotics, and video game production.
- Some work part-time while also taking advantage of day programs and resources.
- Some are unable to function in the workplace and spend their days in sheltered settings.
- Some adults on the spectrum are happily married or partnered.
- Others have romantic friendships.
- A significant number are unable to form meaningful, reciprocal relationships with peers.
These vast differences make it just as tough to define or provide services for adults with autism as for children on the spectrum.
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Why Are People With Autism At Higher Risk Of Covid
The higher risks of COVID-19 that researchers found in people with autism arent due to the developmental or intellectual disabilities themselves, but rather because people with them are more likely to live in a group setting, be unable to communicate about having symptoms, or have trouble understanding or following safety measures, according to the CDC.
Sometimes it is difficult for people with ASD to wear masks and keep social distancing, themselves and others at increased risk of spreading or acquiring COVID-19, says;Robert Hendren, DO, a psychiatrist and the director of the program for research on neurodevelopmental and translational outcomes at the University of California in San Francisco.
Early symptoms may be overlooked because people with ASD may not be able to express their discomforts, such as sore throat. If someone with ASD gets COVID-19, they may have a very difficult time being in the hospital and receiving treatments that are unfamiliar, uncomfortable, and potentially scary, Dr. Hendren explains.
Further, and as noted by the authors of the NEJM Catalyst report, people with intellectual disabilities are more likely to have other health problems at the same time that put them at higher risk for infection and COVID-19 disease, such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Banks says this is true of people with ASD as well.
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Suicidal Thoughts Alarmingly Common In People With Autism
The idea that people with autism dont feel strong emotions is a myth: Many of them are vulnerable to depression and despair in unique forms.
by Sarah DeWeerdt;/;31 July 2014
As a teenager, Bianca Marshack often flew into rages over seemingly minor problems as when her mother, Kathy, didnt bring her favorite chicken dinner home from the grocery store. Her anger would quickly spiral out of control, and she would threaten to kill herself.
I would try to just hold her, to calm her down and say, Im here, Im here for you, recalls Kathy Marshack, a Portland, Oregon-area psychologist.
Bianca had been diagnosed at age 13 with a high-functioning form of autism called Asperger syndrome, and as she got older her moods could be explosive. Sometimes she would say, If you would just kill me, then we would both not have to suffer anymore, Kathy remembers.
Biancas behavior reflects the striking paradox of emotional turmoil in autism, an aspect of the disorder that has received attention only in the past few years. Often, people with the disorder can seem emotionless, with a flat affect and little interest in talking about feelings their own or anyone elses. But they may also have outbursts in which they make dramatic, shocking threats to end their lives.
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Suicide Risk Among People With Autism Spectrum Disorder
A recent national retrospective study from Denmark found individuals with a diagnosed autism spectrum disorder have an increased risk for suicide attempt and suicide death.
The study design involved secondary analysis of Danish national register data. The countrys national registries contain anonymized socio-demographic, educational, employment, morbidity, and mortality data on the entire Danish population, which offer unique opportunities for research. Participants included 6,559,266 people ages 10 and older living in Denmark from 1995 through 2016. The primary outcome variables were suicide attempt and death.
Among study participants, 35,020 had received a diagnosis of ASD. When adjustments were made for sex, age, and time period, individuals with ASD were over three times more likely to attempt suicide than those without ASD. This difference was more pronounced for females with ASD, who were more than 8 times more likely to attempt suicide than females without ASD, while males with ASD were 1.93 times more likely to attempt suicide than males without ASD. Individuals with ASD were also nearly four times more likely to die by suicide compared to individuals without ASD. Among individuals with ASD, males were over 3 times more likely to die by suicide and females 2.63 times more likely than males and females without ASD.
Autistic People Die Younger Study Finds
Autistic people are dying on average 16 years earlier than the general population, often through suicide or epilepsy, research has found.
Autism charity Autistica has called for a national response to what it calls a hidden crisis, including massive investment in research and an NHS England review of premature death in autism.
A report by Autistica, titled Personal tragedies, public crisis, includes recently-published data from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden showing that, on average, people with autism die 16 years younger than the general population. Those with autism and intellectual disability die 30 years before their non-autistic peers, with epilepsy the leading cause of death. Autistic adults with no intellectual disability die an average of 12 years earlier than the typical population, driven in large part by suicide. ;
Although autistic people are at an increased risk of dying early from virtually every cause of death, autistic adults with learning disabilities are 40 times more likely than the typical population to die prematurely from a neurological condition, particularly epilepsy. Autistic adults without a learning disability are 9 times more likely to die from suicide compared to the general public, with autistic women at the greatest risk.
Autisticas report puts forward recommendations for action and calls on the government to ensure national, regional and local care providers have clear and specific plans to reduce premature mortality in this group.
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Premature Autism Deaths Are ‘hidden Crisis’ Says Charity
Certain groups of autistic people die 30 years younger than their peers, say charity Autistica, calling for an immediate review into autism deaths
Premature deaths among autistic people are at shocking levels according to a charity report which found that certain groups with the condition die 30 years younger than the general population.
The striking figures amount to a hidden crisis in public health according to the charity, Autistica, which has called on the NHS to launch an immediate review into the scale and underlying causes of autism deaths in Britain.
The organisations report draws on published studies that reveal high rates of suicide among autistic people, with women at greatest risk of taking their own lives. Autistic people with no learning disabilities are nine times more likely to die from suicide compared to the rest of the population, the report states.
Some of the worst affected are those with secondary brain disorders, such as epilepsy, which is 20 to 40 times more common in people with autism. Those with such conditions on top of autism had an average life expectancy of only 39 years, according to research on 27,000 autistic people in Sweden that was published in November last year. Non-autistic people in the same study lived to an average age of 70.
People With Autism ‘die Younger’ Warns Charity
People with autism are dying earlier than the general population, often through epilepsy or suicide, a charity has warned.
Citing recent research carried out in Sweden, the charity Autistica described the problem as an “enormous hidden crisis”.
The study, in the British Journal of Psychiatry, suggested autistic people die on average 16 years early.
The charity now wants to raise £10m for more research into the condition.
In the UK it is estimated 1% of the population – or 700,000 people – have autism and it causes difficulties in how they communicate and relate to others.
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What The Research Says About Mortality
Two groups participate in autism mortality studies. One has autism, and the other does not. Researchers determine when each set of people died and of what. These are observational studies, so researchers can’t say why an early death happens. But they can make assumptions about how long one group lives when compared to another.
In 2016, a group of Swedish researchers selected more than 27,000 people with autism and more than 2,000 people without for an observational study. At the end of the study, 0.91% of people without autism died, but 2.6% of those with autism died.
This study was remarkable, and it caused many people to pay attention to early death in those with autism. The study contained few clear, simple answers about causes.
How Did The Researchers Interpret The Results
The researchers said: Our observation of excess cause-specific mortality in individuals with ASD may signify a generally increased biological vulnerability in ASD, as well as insufficient awareness, diagnoses and treatment of comorbid diseases within the healthcare system.
In other words, people with autism may be more vulnerable to getting certain diseases that can lead to death, and doctors may not be as good at diagnosing and treating diseases in people with ASD.
Looking at suicide as one example, the researchers suggested that people with ASD may be at more risk of getting depression, but also may be less likely to be diagnosed with depression and have support networks in place to help them with mental illness. This means they may be more likely to take their own lives rather than be successfully treated.
They concluded that,;Adequate and co-ordinated medical care for individuals with ASD and research into the phenomenon should be a target for a considerably broader audience of medical specialties than psychiatry and neurology.;
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People With Autism Tend To Die Younger
March 18, 2016 — People with autism pass away younger on average than those without the condition, according to recent research.
The Swedish study found that adults with autism and a learning disability are 40 times more likely to die early due to a neurological condition than those in the general population.
Adults with autism, but without an additional learning disability, were nine times more likely to die from suicide than those without autism.
The Swedish study, carried out by the Karolinska Institute, was based on the health records of 27,122 autistic adults diagnosed between 1987 and 2009, compared with more than 2 million people in the general population.
The researchers found that people with autism died 16 years earlier at an average age of 54. Adults with the condition and learning disabilities died more than 30 years earlier than people without autism at an average age of 39.5 years. Adults with autism and without a learning disability died on average 12 years earlier, at 58.
The condition affects how people communicate and relate to others, and it influences how they make sense of the world around them. Symptoms can range from mild to very severe.
More than 3.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder, research suggests. It affects 1 in 68 children, the CDC estimates.
Why Should I Tell My Child They Have Autism
If you dont tell your child they have autism, theres a good chance someone else will let it slip, or your child will eventually figure it out themselves, says Kelly Price, a registered psychologist who assesses children for autism in Victoria, B.C. This is particularly true if your child is participating in programs and receiving services for people with autism because the A-word is bound to come up, he adds.;You dont want someone else to spill the beans before youve had the opportunity to describe it yourself, he says, adding that its unfair for parents to withhold information about their child from them when they reach a certain age, and their child may feel betrayed if they do so.
Dundon adds that kids may feel ashamed if they find out theyre autistic from someone other than their parents because it may seem like their parents were trying to hide it. She says its important for kids to know that theyre autistic because it helps them understand who they are, particularly in relation to their peers.;Kids do sense that theyre different, and not helping them see why isnt okay, she says. It causes distress because they cant fit in, they dont know why things are difficult for them, they feel like theres something wrong with them. When they do find out, its like, Oh, that explains it. But Ive had all of these years of thinking that I was somehow less than my peers and that there was something wrong.
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When Siblings Or Others Take Over For You
In some cases, grown siblings or other friends or relatives are willing and able to become caregivers for their siblings with autism.;This is, of course, a major commitment, and can also be an expensive commitment: few people on the autism spectrum are fully employed, and many have medical or mental health needs that can be costly.
If everyone agrees, in principle, to the idea of a particular individual taking over care when parents are gone, it’s important to think through the logistics ahead of time rather than making assumptions without communicating them. A few things to consider together include:
In addition to having ongoing and open conversations about the future, it’s also important for parents to keep careful records about their autistic child’s service providers, funding, evaluations, and medical needs. If a sibling needs to take over in a hurry, all the information they need should be at their fingertips.