Posted on 11/14/2007 6:33:27 AM PST by jazusamo
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
The recently launched crusade to have every child tested for autism before the age of two has as its reason an opportunity for "early intervention" to treat the condition.
Dr. Scott Myers, a pediatrician, has been quoted by Reuters news service as saying that autistic children who get earlier treatment "do better in the long run."
That may be true if the children are genuinely autistic. But the dangers of false diagnoses of toddlers and preschoolers have been pointed out by Professor Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University, who has tested and treated children with autism for more than 20 years and has encountered many cases of inaccurate diagnoses.
A prudent trade-off, as distinguished from a crusade, would weigh the dangers of false diagnoses against the benefits of "early intervention."
There is already considerable evidence of false diagnoses of preschool children as autistic, and the treatments inflicted on them can be abusive, with incalculable negative effects on their development.
What about the positive effects of "early intervention"?
According to Professor Camarata, those children "with true autism" are "very difficult to treat and may never say 'mommy' or learn to take care of themselves without Herculean efforts by their parents and teachers."
The limitations of what can be achieved with even early intervention mean that there can be real heartbreak, whether a toddler or preschooler is either falsely or correctly diagnosed as being autistic.
Much has been made of statistics showing a sharp increase in diagnoses of autism in recent years.
What has gotten much less attention is the changing definition of autism, which raises the question whether there has been an actual change in the real world or simply a change in the way words are used when collecting statistics.
People today are often spoken of as being "on the autistic spectrum," rather than as having autism.
While there are some conditions which are much like autism, there are other conditions, such as having a very high IQ or simply being late in talking, which often include characteristics listed on checklists for autism. These are open invitations to false diagnoses.
We would see the dangers immediately if people who wear glasses were included on "the blindness spectrum" or people with harmless moles were included on "the cancer spectrum."
Blindness, cancer and autism are all too serious -- indeed, catastrophic -- to use loose definitions that fudge the difference between accurate and inaccurate diagnoses.
Loose definitions of autism produce bigger and more newsworthy statistics, which in turn can attract more children into existing programs and attract more money from the government, foundations and other sources to support those programs.
Many parents have told me that they have been urged to let their children be labeled autistic, or on the autistic spectrum, in order to get money for speech therapy or other conditions from grants that are available to deal with autism.
Professor Camarata points out that the "less precise 'autism spectrum'" label "has had the unintended consequence of diluting resources, research and services to those children and families who most need the support" -- that is, families whose children suffer from genuine autism.
Loose definitions also promote the illusion of "cures" for autism, since most late-talking children who were never autistic in the first place "will be miraculously 'cured' because most late talkers who are otherwise unimpaired learn to talk with little or no treatment," according to Professor Camarata.
Parents whose children are late in talking or have other troubling problems would do well to seek diagnoses from the most highly qualified professionals they can find -- but not rely on the facile checklists being promoted in the current crusade for universal diagnosis of infants and toddlers for autism, without facing the question whether or not there are enough people qualified to make such diagnoses.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute and author of Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy.
That's as may be, but the real issue here is that government should stick to issues where it has jurisdiction. Any other "good ideas" they may have simply serve to take away one more choice we, their employers, used to have.
I'm having one of my rate moments of [slight] disagreement with Dr. Sowell. Arguing the issue on its supposed merits legitimizes the discussion, as if it would be OK to do what they're doing if only the results were better. I'm assuming the proponents are willing to make this mandatory if that's what it takes to get every child tested, otherwise he wouldn't be complaining.
Even if it's a "good idea" that might justify privately funded free screening and outreach efforts to educate parents, but never mandatory screening.
Her secret: she spent one-on-one time with the kids that their parents didn't have and got them to open up to her. I'm not blaming the parents-- I don't even know them. But like everyone else around here, it seems to take both parents working just to pay the damn taxes.
Kudos to your daughter. She sounds like a wonderful person!
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I finally figured that out too. lol
Without denigrating - indeed while applauding - what your daughter has done, it sounds to me like Professor Sowell would assert that the hard core case of autism will not yield to the level of "treatment" your daughter was able to provide - or indeed reliably yield to any treatment whatsoever.I hope that is not the reality, but I would bet that the professor knows whereof he speaks. He almost always does, IMHO.
I am in the prescription drug marketing business. Despite all the great advances in the last decade or so, modern medicine has a long way to go. I remember in the 90’s the trend was diagnosing ADD and contantly prescribing Riddlin for it.
My current 12 year old was flagged ADD by the school but the Dr. diagnosed him hyperactive but acutely attentive to most material and ADD in one of only five areas (math). The kid can spot a bird sitting on a sattelite 50 miles up. He uses the Internet and plays interactive games typing bigger words and much faster then I can and I have been using a computer for 25 years. Did he need Riddlin? Nope. His real problem was Exzema and writing all the math problems caused him physical pain. Doing his math on the computer solved this problem, not a drug to keep him ‘chilled out’.
My daughter did not start talking until she was about 3.5. She started talking by counting and reading the store signs and traffic signs. Most of the rest of her communication was jibberish. My wife and I were concerned so we got her into an early pre-school program through the ISD.
To get into this program, our daughter had to be “evaluated” by the ISD. They took our daughter into a room with 3 teachers and tried to get her to communicate. Our daughter turned her back on the teachers, played with the toys, and did not say anything. After about 25 minutes, one of the teachers came out and told us that our daughter was autistic and needed to be in special education.
I knew immediately that this “evaluation” was a farce. Only went along in the first place because my wife desperately wanted our daughter to talk.
I then read 2 of Thomas Sowell’s books on late talking children. I learned about how the education establishment tries to get as many kids in special education as possible to maximize the funds they get from Washington. Thomas Sowell’s son didn’t talk until he was almost 5 and he grew up to be an engineer.
Two years after this “evaluation”, our daughter was tested for the gifted program in the first grade and passed with flying colors. Our daughter is almost ten now and is an ‘A’ honor roll student. She also has a big mouth. Sometimes I think that getting her to talk was a mistake because I can’t find the off switch for her mouth now.
These “evaluations” by the educrats are a big scam.
IMO it’s criminal that drugs are prescribed as often as they are by doctors for supposed hyperactivity in children. Children are supposed to be active, they should should playing outdoors and burning up the energy instead of sitting in front of a computer or TV.
I’m glad for you both that things worked out as they have and that she has a big mouth. lol
should should = should be
I agree. I know of a child whose doctor wanted to prescribe Ritalin, but the child turned out to have allergies to common foods like milk, peanuts and corn. Once they were cycled out, the child calmed right down.
Agreed. The pharmacuetical market is shifting their advertising strategy from ‘Phycisian marketing’ (bribes to overprescribe) to ‘Direct to Consumer marketing’ (give consumer info, then consult with the Dr.). Your dead on, kids that are overactive need physical activity. It releases stress relieving chemicals into the brain. Same for adults actually with 40 million Americans now suffering from anxiety. I treated my own problem with eating less carbs and physical activity.
Interesting. That is what my 12 year old was also diagnosed with, slight lactose intolerance. I have a site that connects people together for this but you’ll see it online at some point I am sure. No shameless plugs here on this forum :)
>> which raises the question whether there has been an actual change in the real world or simply a change in the way words are used when collecting statistics.
It’s probably a combination of both. I wouldn’t be surprised if the stress of being the modern-day super woman has an effect on fetal development and is showing in the statistics. There’s also the bureaucratic machine that attends to the needs of autistic children which could influence the determining criteria on which the statistics are based. Regardless of the trends, for those families who struggle with the disability, it’s often very stressful and heartbreaking.
Notably absent is the aspect of diagnoses that lead to abortion.
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