Posted on 08/11/2005 1:48:37 PM PDT by Dont Mention the War
Thanks. I think in one of my boys, vaccines were part of the problem, but not the whole problem. My biggest complaint with vaccines (aside from the mercury, of course) is that they inject so many different things at once into undeveloped systems. How could there NOT be problems when that is done to an infant at 2 months old? I prefer they start later, and give less vaccines at once.
I agree that trying to pretend there is no increase is like burying your head in the sand! When my 19 yr old was first diagnosed, there were 2 other children in our community with a similar diagnosis. Now the number is more like 50, and our community has not grown in size. Ignoring the problem doesn't make it go away, nor does it help those affected by it.
Finally, while some parents still have to fight for help for their autistic children, far more services are now available. This has encouraged doctors to label borderline or ambiguous cases as autism - they know this is often the best way to get the child some help. It also makes autism an attractive diagnosis for parents. "I hear stories of parents who are anxious to get a particular diagnosis if that is what is required to obtain the services their child needs," says Sydney Pettygrove, a paediatrician at the Arizona Health Sciences Center in Tucson.This follows a pattern familiar in education ideology, particularly when compared to some past battles over ESL and ADHD and the general growth of special ed funding. It also has political implications for education reform and particularly for the nationalized testing program.
I have a Masters in Special Education and spent a number opf years in social work. I can testify from firsthand experience that doctors will ask a social worker what diagnosis is required in order to get a child into a therapy program. This is a funding issue, not a scientific or medical problem.
"It also makes autism an attractive diagnosis for parents. "
What an interesting statement - i can honestly say, after receiving that diagnosis for three different children, that my hubby and i found NOTHING atrractive about the diagnosis. the only things that helped were:
1) finding out that as parents, we were not alone
2) the ability to receive some services to help our children be more successful in their schooling and their lives
3) our ability to learn how better to help our boys live in this world, rather that the ones they prefer
Although I can see now why you say this will confuse the "average person".
Assuming you have an autistic child or relative, your personal experience does not constitute the research necessary to learn whether the incidence is growing or stable. I can assure you that in the early 70s when I was in graduate school, the diagnosis was common enough that every small town had several children in treatment.
At that time my professors were going against the textbooks to claim that the problem included people with a wide spectrum of severities.
"Assuming you have an autistic child or relative, your personal experience does not constitute the research necessary to learn whether the incidence is growing or stable. I can assure you that in the early 70s when I was in graduate school, the diagnosis was common enough that every small town had several children in treatment."
Actually, I have 3 autistic children (pretty sure i shared that in a previous post?). My experience that you dismiss so easily comes partly from dealing with the doctors and school district in my small town for the last 19 years, and from parenting autistic children for those same 19 years. I can also assure you that autism is not viewed, diagnosed or treated the same way it was in the '70s.
One thing I find interesting is the genetics in some families that seem to at least predispose a child to autism. When my older boy was first diagnosed at UCLA years ago, the doctors were studying families that had more than one child that was autistic. In our case, the common factor that my three boys share is me - my older son is from my first marriage, and my twins are with my husband. yet all three are on the spectrum, and have varying degrees of the disorder. And the twins are NOT identical. There are several people on my side of the family who probably would have been diagnosed with Asperger's but it was not as widely known during that time period.
I am not dismissing your experience, but your experience is not sufficient to determine if there is an increase in the occurrance of autism. The article is very clear about the problems encountered in trying to obtain statistics.
I think there has been a sharp increase in the number of diagnoses of Aspergers/"high-functioning" autism. Perhaps too many diagnoses. That's a pretty subjective call.
I want to see hard numbers on my son's end of the spectrum, the "hard" cases of autism, the ones with severe language impairment ("Within weeks his language had dried up and he would no longer make eye contact"), not just kids with slightly "dorky" (as you say) behavior.
I suspect there has been a steady increase in the incidence of severe autism--but that's just a hunch. Nobody is studying just one part of the spectrum. And I'm tired of people dismissing the problem as if there is no problem.
How old is your son? I hope you have a lot of support - I know that has been important to us when dealing with our boys.
It seems autism has become a sub-industry, churning state and national funds not to mention the research and grant monies involved. Since the schools are involved to a degree in referrals and special education money there has to be an element of self propagation now (and hence over diagnosis.)
"a child is behind his contemporaries, it MUST be due to a
desease over which neither he nor his parents have any control. They're all "victims," instantly removing any hint
of responsibility. "
Especially if they happen to be boys who need to be held back because they just happen to be too smart for their own good.
Einstein would have been labelled autistic if he were a young boy today.
I have no doubt there are real autistic kids and examining family trees would help in proper diagnosis. Your kids should be getting the funding that is going towards others that are errantly diagnosed for myriad reasons most having to do with some getting their fingers into the public pence.
"This is a funding issue, not a scientific or medical problem."
Worth repeating!
Schools don't get a lot of money for autistic children, or for any disabilities for that matter. Only 40% of federally mandated special ed money is actually received by schools - the rest comes out of their general fund. Most schools see an encroachment on their general fund from special ed.
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