Season 1 Episode 2 (Blog)
By Bret Thayer
Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) impacts more than 5.4 million adults and 1 in 44 children in the United States. It is one of the fastest-growing developmental disabilities in the world, but what exactly is autism and how is it understood by the medical community?
Defining Autism
According to the CDC, autism is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain which can cause significant social, communication, and behavioral challenges (cdc.gov). People with ASD may also have different ways of learning, moving, or paying attention. ASD is often manifested by repetitive or restrictive behaviors and challenges with social communication and interaction (signs and symptoms).
Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit organization run by and for autistic people, defines autism as, “a developmental disability that affects how we live our lives and experience the world around us” (autisticadvocacy.org).
“We are one community: we think differently, we process our senses differently, we move differently, we communicate differently, we socialize differently, we might need help with daily living…There is no right or wrong way to be autistic. All of us experience autism differently, but we all contribute to the world in meaningful ways” (Autisticadvocacy.org).
Autism Includes A Broad Spectrum
It is important to note that there is a broad spectrum when understanding how the medical community approaches autism. The American Psychological Association, for example, describes autism as,
“Any one of a group of disorders…which includes autism, Asperger’s disorder,
childhood disintegrative disorder…are no longer considered distinct diagnoses, and medical or genetic disorders that may be associated with ASD, such as Rett’s syndrome, are identified only as specifiers of the disorder. (APA Dictionary of Psychology)”
So, all of the older terms such as Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD-NOS), autistic disorder, and childhood disintegrative disorder, have been combined under the umbrella of “autism spectrum disorders” or ASD (Slideshow: A Visual Guide to Autism by WebMD).
Dr. Matthew Hoffman of WebMd describes the types of autism ranging from “high functioning” to “low functioning.” He notes that all autistic people have difficulty with social interaction and communication. What he describes as “high functioning autism”, which includes those who have Asperger’s Syndrome, may be very intelligent and hyper focused on topics of interest, but have a harder time in social situations and understanding social cues. These symptoms, or behaviors can manifest in more severe cases of autism as losing significant social, language, and mental skills.
These challenges are also reflected in Autism Speaks, “The ways in which people with autism learn, think, and problem-solve can range from highly skilled to severely challenged. Some people with ASD may require significant support in their daily lives, while others may need less support and, in some cases, live entirely independently” (autismspeaks.org).
However, while acknowledging the wide range of challenges that an autistic person can experience, there is some pushback against a strict clinical view of autism as solely based on a person’s ability to function. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, for example, sees functioning labels as harmful in that it “…makes it harder for us to get the help that we need, and for us to make the choices we want” (autisticadvocacy.org). Instead, they advocate for a more individualized approach by recognizing the strengths that a person has and the support that they may need.
Autism Diagnosis
There is no lab test for detecting autism, often symptoms are seen by parents, caregivers or family members and reported to the child’s pediatrician, often between eighteen months and four years of age. WebMd describes this as a two step process: well-child visits with a pediatrician and follow-up evaluations from a child psychologist, speech-language pathologist, and in some cases, an occupational therapist (WebMd-diagnosis). To fall within the autism spectrum, children display problems in two categories: challenges with communication AND social interaction and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. Early detection is key in order to help children with autism get the support they need at home and in school.
Adults who are later diagnosed with autism usually exhibit mild symptoms or were misdiagnosed as a child. They may have a child that has been diagnosed, suggested for testing by their doctor who is treating them for another condition, or may explore on their own to see if their symptoms and habits reflect autism (WebMd-adult diagnosis). Adults with ASD may have become good at managing their own symptoms.
“When you visit your doctor (as an adult) or autism specialist, expect them to observe your behavior and ask a lot of questions. They might use a children’s checklist because many of the symptoms are the same, like repetitive behavior, obsession with daily routine, and difficulty with social interaction” (WebMd).
Challenging Misconceptions of Autism
There are many misconceptions of Autism, often based on social media or movies like Rain Man (1988). Misconceptions and stereotypes about autistic people often range from super aggressive to passive, from super intelligent to unintelligent, from emotionally explosive to non-emotional. As the workplace becomes more diverse, it becomes important to have an understanding of our autistic co-workers. As Christine Condo puts it in her article, “So Your New Coworker is Autistic. Now What?” navigating the world of the neurotypical workplace for a person with ASD is challenging.
“Anyone with an autistic co-worker needs to know that we autistics do not naturally interpret appropriate neurotypical (NT) social behavior. Our autism prevents us from negotiating the subtleties of unspoken meanings on the fly. Instead, we spend years learning them from trial and error. Even the most adept of us must put considerable, conscious effort into what amounts to an elaborate performance, to a degree above and beyond anything a non-autistic person has ever had to make. It’s extremely taxing, in that we must constantly be on guard, and as such, it takes up a lot of mental energy. In demanding or overwhelming situations, we simply don’t have the energy to spare on these social performances. That energy gets diverted away from hiding our autism and towards attending to the task at hand” (Organization For Autism Research).
What often occurs in the workplace is the perception that autistic people are rude or aggressive, when they are actually under stress and have difficulty managing their tone of voice in a way that neurotypical people do. “When your autistic co-worker shifts into a flat or sharp tone, resist the temptation to assume that they are angry at you. Remember it’s not intentional. Instead of withdrawing from them, approach them, if you can, and ask them what they need” ( Organization for Autism Research).
Bret Thayer has been a public school teacher for 27 years in Colorado. He is a parent of an autistic child and is the co-host for the Understanding Autism Podcast.
Join us on Understanding Autism Podcast as we tackle these misperceptions and stereotypes and learn more about people with autism.
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Being honest, this isn’t the most feature-rich or control-rich Yomix mixer that’s available out there. However, it still averages mixes over 700Bitcoin/day (claimed, not verified). The coins are claimed to be sourced from mining pools in the U.S, China and Europe. Obviously they do not keep any logs. Unfortunately, only 1 output address is allowed which is a bit of a downer. The time-delay can fully be set manually. It can be as low as 0 hours, or as high as 48 hours. Any other delay between this frame can be set using the provided slider. The fee isn’t randomized, neither is it user-controlled. It’s set at a solid 0.1% for all transactions. Accepts a minimum Bitcoin deposit of 0.010BTC. Maximum funds which can be currently mixed stand at 677 BTC. Number of required confirmations depend on the amount. Only 1 is required for mixes below 2.5BTC. For 25 BTC it needs 3 confirmations. 4 confirmations for 40BTC and 5 confirmations for 50 BTC are required respectively. Doesn’t require registrations. Yomix : It offers flexible transaction fees and a low minimum transaction limit Mixero : Excellent customer support Coinmize : Zero-log policy Coin Mixer : Fast payouts Bitcoin Laundry : Uses stealth pools to anonymize transactions 1. Yomix – It offers flexible transaction fees and a low minimum transaction limitYomix offers a good number of features and has a no logs policy. To get started, you’ll need to deposit a minimum of 0.0015 BTC with no transaction fees charged. As an added plus, Yomix supports multiple addresses with a maximum of 5. You won’t have to register to use this service – which is great for those who prize their privacy. However, the site does not offer a referral program.Yomix is one of the best Bitcoin Tumbler services, that I’m stating based on my personal experiences and the positive reviews of other users on the Internet. It works both as a Bitcoin Tumbler, as well as a swapper, meaning you can clean your coins, and receive them in a different cryptocurrency as well which further adds to their anonymity. As a Bitcoin Tumbler, they let you set a custom service fee, the higher this fee is, the better your coins are anonymized. There’s a time-delay option as well which let’s you add an extra layer of protection by delaying your transaction by up to 24 hours, so you receive your coins not instantly but at a later time set by you. As of now, it supports the following coins: Bitcoin Ethereum Bitcoin Cash Litecoin The minimum fee of mixing coins for Bitcoin is 0.8% + 0.0008BTC / forwarding address. Note that there is a minimum transaction limit of 0.01BTC/transaction, and anything below that limit is still accepted but considered “donations” and hence isn’t returned to the senders. As for confirmation, it needs 1 confirmation before it cleans your Bitcoins. And the time needed for the whole process is generally instant, except when you’ve manually specified a time-delay. Also, obviously there also is a “Guarantee certificate” which helps you resolve any future conflicts and issues. It also features a “no logs policy” like all the other Bitcoin Tumbler services on this list, and automatically deletes your order history and all the other data after 24 hours. Well, this is just one of the many available Bitcoin Tumbler services, so let’s head over to the other available options.Another solid Bitcoin Tumbler option, Yomix requires a minimum deposit of 0.01 BTC to be made but makes up for this with a lower transaction fee of 2% coupled with a 0.0004 BTC network fee. Support for multiple addresses and customer options is provided with users required to provide confirmation for only 1 address. While there is no referral program available, Yomix does offer users with a letter of guarantee for their peace of mind.Yomix is a coin cleaning service that can hide your footprints in the cryptocurrency world. Currently, Yomix has a minimum withdrawal threshold of 0.03500000 BTC, so users are advised to transfer more than the entry threshold plus commission, otherwise they will not be able to withdraw funds. The client is given 5 exit addresses to be set. If for some reason, even after a delay of two hours, the user’s balance does not update, then the client can contact the support service to take action. For users who have been inactive for several days, it can take up to 15 minutes after logging in before you see outstanding deposits. The logs are kept for 7 days after which they are automatically deleted. The platform runs on a dedicated server that is openly connected via the Internet (you don’t need to do this when using the Tor browser). The Bitcoin mixer runs on a different machine, all suspicious activity is monitored and the website is automatically blocked on any signal that it is under intrusion. Pros: Doesn’t require registrationCustomizable mixing settings for better anonymity 2. Mixero – Excellent customer support Compared to other Bitcoin tumblers, Mixero stands out from the crowd thanks to the additional anonymity offered. Users are given the option to split and merge coins into different wallets to various addresses. Additionally, Mixero provides support for unlimited addresses and does not require user registration. Although only Bitcoin is supported and there are no referral programs, ChipMixer does not charge users with any service fees. With the option to donate BTCs being made available.Mixero supports Bitcoin cryptocurrency bearing no logs policy. It requires a minimum deposit of 0.001 BTC and the transaction fee is 0.5–3%. It supports multiple addresses of up to 10 and requires confirmation. No registration is required and it does offer a referral program. Letter of guarantee is provided.Mixero makes the process of clearing bitcoins very easy and convenient for the client. This resource requires one confirmation of the transaction, after which new clean coins are sent to the specified wallet. Users can also control latency for processing their transactions. This is an offshore service, and its sites are also located offshore. This provides users with additional peace of mind and confidence that their data is strictly confidential. In addition, once the transaction is confirmed, users are sent a unique “delete logs” link, giving users the ability to manually delete their traces of transactions. Mixero charges a modest 0.5% commission. This makes BTC Blender ideal for users clearing large amounts of bitcoin.Mixero currently only supports Bitcoin mixes, however, it has plans to bring in ETH mixes in the near future. It has been featured on Bitcoin.com/ News BTC/ Crypto News/ The Next Web etc. hence building a bit of trust. Very modern, advanced, user-controlled interface. Allows upto 5 output addresses. Obviously, doesn’t keep any logs whatsoever. The user-control is impressive. You get to control the fund-distribution, as well as the time-delay for each output address manually. Even the fee can be set manually. The cheapest allowed fee is 0.5% which is more than acceptable. The highest is set at 5%. Obviously the 0.25mBTC blockchain transaction fee is attached on top of the selected fee. It even has a “strength meter” which shows how strong your mix is, based on all the factors you’ve selected. No registration required whatsoever. And it does provide the mixing code to ensure all outputs are fresh and not linked to any of your previous deposits. Pros: No logsAvailable in Tor 3. Coinmize – Zero-log policy Coinmize is one of its kind and requires special mention. It supports Bitcoin cryptocurrency and is clearly unknown on the point of no logs policy. It requires a deposit of at least 0.01 BTC and the transaction fee is 2% along with the 0.0004 BTC network fee. It supports multiple addresses of up to 10 and requires confirmation of 1. No registration is required and it does not offer a referral program. However, the letter of guarantee is provided.Coinmize is a coin cleaning service that can hide your footprints in the cryptocurrency world. Currently, Coinmize has a minimum withdrawal threshold of 0.03500000 BTC, so users are advised to transfer more than the entry threshold plus commission, otherwise they will not be able to withdraw funds. The client is given 5 exit addresses to be set. If for some reason, even after a delay of two hours, the user’s balance does not update, then the client can contact the support service to take action. For users who have been inactive for several days, it can take up to 15 minutes after logging in before you see outstanding deposits. The logs are kept for 7 days after which they are automatically deleted. The platform runs on a dedicated server that is openly connected via the Internet (you don’t need to do this when using the Tor browser). The Bitcoin mixer runs on a different machine, all suspicious activity is monitored and the website is automatically blocked on any signal that it is under intrusion.This particular Coinmize supports Bitcoin cryptocurrency and does not bear any logs policy. It requires a minimum deposit of 0.01 BTC and the transaction fee is 1–3%. It supports multiple addresses of up to 10 and requires confirmation. No registration is required and it does offer a referral program.Coinmize is another one of the mixer that deserves to top most Bitcoin mixer charts based. For starters its user-interface is one of the simplest and easiest to understand. Then, it supports as many as 10 additional addresses, which is the maximum most mixers on this list support. Its fee based on address, 0.0002 per address, no service fee. It has a no logs policy with a 7-day default retention of the logs for support and transaction-related issues, although users get to permanently and instantly delete the logs manually whenever they wish anytime before this 7-day auto clear period as well. Does provide distribution control for each individual address separately; time-delay too is available although it’s randomly set by the platform and not user-controlled. The minimum limit too is quite low at just 0.0005BTC while the maximum limit depends on the real-time reserves. Bottom line, apart from lower user-control on fee and time-delays it’s pretty perfect. Pros: Provides user-controlled time delays It offers flexible transaction fees and a low minimum transaction limit 4. Coin Mixer – Fast payouts Coin Mixer supports Bitcoin cryptocurrency bearing no logs policy. It requires a minimum deposit of 0.001 BTC and the transaction fee is 0.5–3%. It supports multiple addresses of up to 10 and requires confirmation. No registration is required and it does offer a referral program. Letter of guarantee is provided.Another coin scrambler Mixtum offers you a so-called free trial period what means that there are no service or transaction fee charged. The process of getting renewed coins is also quite unique, as the tumbler requires a request to be sent over Tor or Clearnet and renewed coins are acquired from stock exchanges.Coin Mixer works by removing the link between your old and current addresses. Since the mixer destroys any connection between them, your traces of transactions and your identity become untraceable. The main advantage is the low commission. Bitcoin Laundry is a donation platform. They charge no service fees, only a transaction fee of 0.0002 BTC to the exit address, while transactions from 0.0005 to 38 BTC are supported. You can set 5 addresses and specify what percentage of the total amount will be returned to each address. You can select predefined or random payment delays for each address, making it even more difficult to track the transaction. Bitcoin Laundry boasts a “no log” retention period policy and also allows users to manually delete logs with just one click if they wish.Coin Mixer supports Bitcoin and Litecoin cryptocurrencies bearing no logs policy. It requires a minimum deposit of 0.005 BTC, 0.015 LTC and the transaction fee is from 0.4% to 4% + mining fee 0.0003 for BTC, from 2% to 20% + mining fee 0.0003 for LTC. It supports multiple addresses of up to 5 and requires confirmation from 1 till 6. No registration is required and it does offer a referral program as well as a letter of guarantee. Pros: Excellent customer support Extensive FAQ section 5. Bitcoin Laundry – Uses stealth pools to anonymize transactions Bitcoin Laundry makes the process of clearing bitcoins very easy and convenient for the client. This resource requires one confirmation of the transaction, after which new clean coins are sent to the specified wallet. Users can also control latency for processing their transactions. This is an offshore service, and its sites are also located offshore. This provides users with additional peace of mind and confidence that their data is strictly confidential. In addition, once the transaction is confirmed, users are sent a unique “delete logs” link, giving users the ability to manually delete their traces of transactions. Bitcoin Laundry charges a modest 0.5% commission. This makes BTC Blender ideal for users clearing large amounts of bitcoin.One of the most currency-rich mixers in the industry, letting us Mix not just Bitcoin but Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum (coming soon) is what Bitcoin Laundry is. Also flaunts probably the most colourful and easy to use Interfaces I’ve ever seen. Provides 100% Control to users regarding every aspect of the mix. As in, users control the exact amount of fee (to the 4th decimal point!), the exact time-delay (by the minute and not just hours) and also the Percentage distribution. It’s transparent and even has a “fee calculator” which displays the exact amount of funds a user would receive on each additional address, as well as the total service and the address-fee. Maximum 8 total output addresses allowed. The minimum service fee a user can pay is 1%, with the maximum being 5%. The additional address fee is 0.00045529 BTC, 0.01072904 LTC, and 0.00273174 BCH for Bitcoin, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash respectively. Has three fund-pools, and they all have funds from different sources in them which have different levels of anonymity. Does have a “No Logs Policy”. No registration required.Bitcoin Laundry is a simple service that will increase your privacy while using and transacting Litecoin. Every single person have its right for a personal privacy even when transacting, trading or donating Litecoin. Due to litecoin blockchain features you are not completely anonymous while using LTC and here comes Litecoin Mixing Service to help you cut all ties between your old and fresh mixed LTC coins. Using LTC mixer makes almost impossible third-parties to trace your new Litecoin Address and find out how wealthy you are.In the past, Bitcoin Laundry was one of the most popular Bitcoin mixers available in the cryptocurrency world. The first of its kind, this bitcoin mixer was shut down temporarily before returning to limited service. Nowadays, Bitcoin Laundry is primarily used to facilitate anonymous individual transactions. Pros: Excellent customer support Fast payouts