If 1 in 68 kids really has autism, then I’m a monkey’s uncle. I think this is a product of at least 2 factors: first, the ever-broadening of the definition of “autism” to include behaviors within the normal range of variation, and second, an increase in misdiagnoses, possibly brought on by pressure from schools or parents.
There could also be a legitimate increase due to environmental factors or something like that, but without controlling for the two things I mentioned, nobody can know if that is the case or not.
“If 1 in 68 kids really has autism, then I’m a monkey’s uncle.”
Same here. If a child doesn’t sit still for hours on end like a brain dead zombie these pinheads claim their child has a problem and needs to be drugged.
“and second, an increase in misdiagnoses, possibly brought on by pressure from schools or parents”
Third, if you child is diagnosed with autism, you get social security benefits for that child.
I don’t remember “autism” being an issue when I was in elementary school in the 60s. I remember there were “weird kids” (actually, I was one of them). And maybe I would have been considered “on the spectrum” today. I don’t know. My 4th grade teacher told my parents to be resigned to the fact that I was going to have a lopsided education, since I would not do things I was not interested in or saw the need for. I thought I was just a stubborn argumentative little s***.
I also don’t recall ADD or ADHD being an issue either. Yes, there were kids considered “hyper.” But I think that has more to do with the behavior that was expected of kids, and the consequences of not meeting those expectations.
But it seems to me there is something altogether different today.
In our case, we saw clear developmental delays. Those are very measurable and comparable to the rest of the kids in the overall population. There was no question about it. And you can tell that he perceives things differently, besides the developmental delays.
I’d believe one in two Congress members are autistic.
I agree with you. This is a huge money maker. They are making little autism kids. It is a scam. Autism is hardly even real IMHO. I have four kids and not one of them is autistics. Just talk to the kids and make them talk and they will be fine. Some many parents are too busy to get involved with their kids. Is it any wonder why they don’t talk to them?
I believe what you say is correct. Schools, drug companies, and parents can benefit from autism, ADHD, etc., so they may be quick to diagnose. Could be some environmental factors also. My daughter believes vaccinations are to blame for some of it.
So instead of snakes, snails and puppy dog tails we now have ADD and autism.
And, apparently, thousands upon thousands of dead kids who never got the chance to eat the peanut butter sandwiches we were served every Friday at school.
It is the new ADD. Wonder how screwed up these kids are going to be compared to the Ritalin babies? 20 some odd years ago when I tried to be a scoutmaster and my son a scout it seemed like 80% of the kids we had were on the crap. Broken homes, screwed up parents many would have been better off without and all that. What they really needed was direction, discipline and love.
One day my son and I confessed to each other that we were staying in scouts for each other and so we quit and spent our time together. I had better things to do than babysit somebody else’s screwed up kids. Better things to do like spend decent time with my own son fishing and restoring cars and stuff.