Autism and ADHD are a (deep) habit of the attention.

A habit of moving the attention in a way that is possibly unhealthy, unuseful and probably discordant to what's common and normal.

One solution is to change that habit with drugs or therapy.

Another solution is to gain a greater understanding of your attention. Thus gaining a new freedom to move your attention in whatever way, rather than suffering the governance of habit.

The meditation people (Buddhists etc) study attention. They have some impressive methods and such. It's worth looking.

▲

grzracz an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Calling autism and ADHD "habits of attention" severely understates what's going on. These are neurodevelopmental conditions with substantial genetic and neurobiological components, not patterns someone can think their way out of. That framing has done real damage to people who delayed treatment because they believed they just needed more discipline or insight. Meditation can be a useful complement for some people, but it's not an alternative to addressing the underlying neurochemistry. By saying so you are hurting real people with real problems.

▲

analog8374 an hour ago | parent [-]

I don't think it understates it. I think that reality is basically made of habit. Habit is a bigger deal than you think.

	▲	bigbuppo 14 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Habit is just cognitive behavioral therapy.

▲

lazyasciiart 30 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Ok now explain why some toddlers have such extreme “habits of attention” that they can’t interact with other people safely, and how meditation will help them.

	▲	analog8374 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The benefits would be the same. As for the actual method of meditation, for a toddler? Well that's tricky. I imagine that you'd have to turn it into a toy or a game. Interesting question.

▲

IncreasePosts an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

What do meditation people do with their great powers of attention? Besides for naval gazing of course.

	▲	asveikau an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I think it can help you relax. A lot of meditation involves focus on breathing, can keep your heart rate down, etc., and I think that may be good for general health. But I don't think it should be confounded with medical advice or treated as causal to neurodiversity or called mandatory. Probably why that person is getting downvoted.
	▲	DANmode an hour ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		What do all the jungle civilizations and any possible intelligent extraterrestrial life do? Stay away from us to their own benefit, of course.
	▲	analog8374 an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		They study it, thus gaining a better understanding of it. They become more familiar with it, thus replacing habit with intelligence. This leads to increased power and freedom, among other things.