[Sacajaweau]

Are we being too free with labeling these kids??

[dog breath]

I have a autistic son, who is now eighteen, I have been thinking hard about why there are so many diagnosed these days and part of it might be labeling. I think that the traits of autism have been in the human population for some time and only the most severe cases were taken notice of. What was dismissed as single minded, a little slow, odd, or eccentric children are now sometimes recognized as being in the autistic spectrum. Many of the more severe cases may of simply died as children in years past or in some cases of found a unique niche. I suspect that a mildly autistic person might make a fabulous animal tracker with their attention to visual detail, or might of been happy tending remote livestock with little human contact. I believe that there is a genetic link because it does tend to run in families. I recognize slight autistic traits in both myself and my wife that while minor by themselves might indicate some recessive tendency that came out in our son. It might also be induced by environmental factors in the same way that say the susceptibility to is triggered by different types of stress. If it is environmental, then it is either acting in utero or upon the parents genetic material.

[ArrogantBustard]

I shudder to think of what I might be “diagnosed” with, were I a child today.