Richard Tice comments re autism and ear defenders

[Overthemhills]

I’m so tired of the anti-disability rhetoric everywhere on various sites and from various politicians. This one - Tice calling the sight of children wearing ear defenders in school “insane” is about the most stupid and cruel barrel-scraping comments a politician has come out with for a very long time.
My child is disabled but undiagnosed and does not use ear defenders so I have little on the way of skin in the game, or this particular game, but just how low do some people want to go to make the lives of people struggling with disability worse - on top of the cost of living and NHS issues.
I’m starting to think I will need to avoid every news item and social media platform until the next general election at this rate.

What benefit can someone possibly have from wearing ear defenders that would make them appealing to someone who doesn’t need them?

Why would you “insist” you need them, if you didn’t have a noise sensitivity - just because they look cool?

Autism existed –
it was just hidden in institutions.
In places nobody visited, cared about, or talked about.
Thankfully, we've moved forward even though some of us would prefer "the good old days"

well yes, we adapt accommodations to the individual in order for them to access education as best they can.

I never understand this argument.

Yes, there were people with severe autism who were institutionalised.

There were also many, many others who functioned in society despite their autism. I know this from my own family.

Yes, they found some aspects of life hard. But ‘not coping’ wasn’t an option so they… coped. Not ideal perhaps, but as the parent of an autistic child and coming from a family with a lot of autism I truly believe we are treating it all wrong.

Many didn't function and were diagnosed with mental health problems. Myself included and I know many other females who were dismissed with mental health problems

And now we know a great deal more about autism and are better able to support those who have autism so that they can live less stressful lives and stand a better chance of achieving qualifications and independence. Why would you not want that? Why would the likes of Richard Tice not want that?

Actually I completely agree, these places should never have been allowed to exist in the first place, massive profiteering. I bet the staff are all on not much more than minimum wage as well.
Councils should have places such as this in house.

I think the wheelchair comparison is a good one though. Sometimes a child won't need ear defenders, sometimes they will. This is the same for many wheelchair users. Some days they'll be able to walk a bit, some days they won't. It's not 100% you need a wheelchair or 100% you don't.
What harm does it do if everyone who wanted ear defenders, autistic or not, could wear them? You can still hear the teacher (I think?) What would be the problem?

I dont understand why coping without an aid is superior to coping or even thriving with an simple aid?

I cope with all sorts of thing like being a bit cold, but i put a coat on as its nicer.

Very well put. My DS is an ambulatory wheelchair user. On good days, he gets by with crutches. On bad days, he needs the chair. This is too complex for Reformites to understand, sadly.

Of course.

I suppose the question is what is actually helping them thrive and what might be protecting them from certain environments or situations but not helping them long term.

Again, the coat analogy isn’t a good one.

It’s not about using an aid or not. It’s about the mentality and thought process the use of the aid is signalling.

The messaging we get about autism is so confusing:

She can’t cope with xyz.
He can’t do this because he is autistic.
Their brains are wired differently.
She needs xyz in order to cope.

But:

It’s a superpower 😵‍💫

The truth is we still know very, very little about it but we are treating it as if we do.

Can you still hear the teacher with ear defenders on? I thought not.

And neither you nor Richard Tice are experts on that. Even if you were, coming back to the issue of ear defenders - how do they negatively affect anyone long term? They block out sound for the sound sensitive, enabling them to focus, work and achieve their goals. Objections are nonsensical.

My DS was told by a clueless physiotherapist that if he only pushed through the pain, he would get strong enough that he didn't need a wheelchair.

Then he was diagnosed with a health condition that explained his symptoms - and explained why he would always need a wheelchair most of the time, and more so as he aged.

Let's leave this stuff to the professionals, and have the politicians - especially Reformites - keep their noses out.

You can still hear teachers with ear defenders on.

It actually cuts out a lot of background hum drum that is overstimulating and distracting, in order to allow you to hear important and necessary sources of information.

They don't cut out all hearing.

Autism is not a superpower. It's a disability.

Actually, you can. My DS attended uni lectures with them on. The right kind can filter out intrusive background noise whilst allowing the important sounds (like the lecturer's/teacher's voice) to be heard. See? Leave it to the experts.

The point is that the professionals don’t really know. There ARE no experts.

The umbrella term of autism or ASD doesn’t even begin to describe the vastly different abilities and experiences of people with it, so the knowledge and research is severely lacking.

I don’t have an answer, by the way, I just think current thinking needs to accept that this is still a very poorly understood condition.

Just came on to add that I loathe everything about Mr Tice and he looks like a melted shark

Of course there are paediatricians and psychologists that have a better understanding than you Jade.

Certainly a lot more knowledgeable than Tice and friends. Their only interest is undermining SEN support all the better to cut taxes.

It’s not about using an aid or not. It’s about the mentality and thought process the use of the aid is signalling.

WTAF?🤯🤯🤯

Children use aids to help them learn. Anyone who sees such children and thinks there's signalling going on needs to have a strong word with themselves.😮

If you're saying 'more research needed' - yes, agreed. And until then we muddle on with interventions that at least help some children.

If you're saying 'professionals don't know so we shouldn't even try to give children extra support', which is Richard Tice's position, then hell no.

You might be surprised to hear this but we don't know everything about anything.

You're saying there are no experts because there are so many presentations of symptoms within the triad of impairments and spikey developmental profiles is akin to saying there are no expert cardiologists because heart disease varies so widely.

Of course there are experts. Diversity within a condition doesn't mean it's unknowable. If you personally don't understand autism, that's fine, but just because you or Richard Tice haven't got a foggy clue it doesn't mean that we don't have people who have dedicated their lives to the research of human development that has given us the ICD-11 and DSM-5 and many more professionals who refine the interpretations of the diagnostic criteria, how presentations show among different social groups and cultures, and the many ways in which people who meet the diagnostic criteria require additional support.

Sure, there's no one singular definitive answer for how autism develops into autism, but that is the same for quite a few conditions, yet, they exist and we understand their presence enough to make a diagnosis.

Well.

Having worked with special needs children for over a decade, before having my own child with complex autism, I’d like to think I know somethings.

I definitely know that ear defenders used in schools aren’t wholly noise cancelling, and that forcing children to cope with the discomfort caused by their disability is not advisable.

You mentioned you had an autistic child. Let me guess - doesn’t need ear defenders?

Quite tempted to get myself some ear defenders to wear around town just so I can piss Richard Tice off if I bump into him.