Autism "Epidemic"

@chisa96 Said

Autism is a lot more distinguished than add and such though, and a lot more dehibilitating. You're not really going to know in a year and a half year old, but if your kid is not developing the way that they should, you really want to be aware of that and getting people involved to keep track of this. You want to start working with them as soon as possible, even if they're too young for you to be certain that autism is the reason they are struggling with something.

I don't know that they push drugs quickly for it though. Our own kid had troubles with beginning to communicate, and nobody ever once pushed drugs on him. They considered autism, but all that they did was work with him and watch his development closely. I've never heard of autism equaling the need to drug your child; the focus is more on working on them with whatever they're stuggling with, because nobody wants to delay that until they're old enough to be sure. It would be too detrimental to the kid for something that has no negative effect if wrong.

I do agree with you as far add and such, but autism is very different.

@Reviso Said

I'd think a n Autistic person would have trouble getting along with a group of fellows doing an appropriate learning exercise especially if the class leader ignores the hindrance factor for solving exercises. Computer programmed courses could help.

@chisa96 Said

Autism is a lot more distinguished than add and such though, and a lot more dehibilitating. You're not really going to know in a year and a half year old, but if your kid is not developing the way that they should, you really want to be aware of that and getting people involved to keep track of this. You want to start working with them as soon as possible, even if they're too young for you to be certain that autism is the reason they are struggling with something.

I don't know that they push drugs quickly for it though. Our own kid had troubles with beginning to communicate, and nobody ever once pushed drugs on him. They considered autism, but all that they did was work with him and watch his development closely. I've never heard of autism equaling the need to drug your child; the focus is more on working on them with whatever they're stuggling with, because nobody wants to delay that until they're old enough to be sure. It would be too detrimental to the kid for something that has no negative effect if wrong.

I do agree with you as far add and such, but autism is very different.

@Reviso Said

I'd think a n Autistic person would have trouble getting along with a group of fellows doing an appropriate learning exercise especially if the class leader ignores the hindrance factor for solving exercises. Computer programmed courses could help.

@Eaglebauer Said

Autism is actually not flippantly diagnosed in my experience, at least not yet and certainly not as much as things like ADD and ADHD. I agree that the latter two are overdiagnosed today, but with autism there is a very specific set of criteria that have to be met before a diagnosis is made and (I'm pretty sure) it's supposed to be made by an actual psychiatrist rather than a GP (who can and has in my family diagnosed ADHD and prescribed medication for it-- against my wishes but it was out of my hands).

My younger son has been diagnosed with autism. Initially it was Aspergers, which was diagnosed by a neurologist, and then we followed up with a psychiatrist who corrected the diagnosis to just autism. Aspergers is actually more than likely going to be omited from the DSM V (I think next year is when it comes out) and those who are now referred to as Aspergians will just be relegated to the autism spectrum.

But autism itself carries a rather rigorous set of conditions that have to be met before a diagnosis can be made, and I have observed those conditions very intimately with my own child. It isn't just a case of "Johnny doesn't play well with others" or has difficulty communicating. They are very distinct and very noticeable differences in the child's pattern of behavior when interacting with others and there are other clues that may be prevailent like nonverbal tics and focus on specific topics of interest.

In our case, my son is in kindergarten and he's reading and doing math at a third grade level, and seems to have a near prodigious talent for thigns like geometry, but he doesn't understand human interaction very well and has a very big delay in his ability to communicate. He can talk, and he can carry on a conversation, but there is a delay. It's hard to put into words, but it's extremely apparent.

I understand the OP doesn't mean to chastise all parents who have children diagnosed with disorders, and in the case of ADHD my eldest son was diagnosed and medicated against my wishes (because my ex wife has primary custody) so I do agree there is an unhealthy tendency to turn immediately to medicine for answers when it may not always be the right way to turn. On the other hand, having a child with autism is not easy and it's emotionally draining much of the time. Don't get me wrong, my son is one of the best things about my life and I honestly wouldn't change him if I could, but others with the same situation as me may not be as understanding simply because it really is a trying thing on a family. I know I ceratainly didn't want this, and there are times when yes, I do wish I could simply say that he's just having some bumps in the road growing up that will be resolved with some discipline and a little work...of course I do...but the reality is these aren't just bumps. They are very real psychological (and in some cases neurophysiological) differences that will never be "healed" for lack of a better word.

@Kristy69 Said

They wanted to put my cousin on some kind of serotonin medication. I'm not sure exactly why, but I do recall my aunt being scared and almost forced by this doctor into believing Braden had autism. I feel like it can be used as a cop-out sometimes. JMO..

@chisa96 Said

Hmm. Your aunt should have the doctor go over everything with her better I think-- what exactly he feels is wrong, what exactly demonstrated that to him, why he feels this treatment will be best, what the medication does and how that would help, etc.

Or find a doctor that can help her to fully understand what's going on without making her feel forced into something.

I have a feeling that we are missing pieces to this picture because autism can't really be used as a cop-out because, as others have said, it cannot be frivolously diagnosed.

@Kristy69 Said

She did end up getting a second opinion. The doctor she was talking to the first time (the impression the rest of my family and I got) was just very pushy and had the "I'm a doctor, I'm right, don't question me." attitude.
So obviously she didn't stay with him.

Idk about "frivolously diagnosed" but one on hand, since we are just really finding out about autism it's maybe more of a 'reporting phenomena.'
There are sooo many theories of what causes it (I've heard being born too early or late contributes (https://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy/135711/pregnancy_length_now_tied_to), vaccinations, too much of a certain sugar in the diet of newborns/infants, etc.)

It's kinda like when cancer was really coming into the light.
Don't stand next to the microwave, talking on your cell phone causes tumors, don't eat red M&Ms.
I feel like there's not enough that we know about it and yet autism diagnoses are on a skyrocketing increase.
"1 in 88 children in the U.S. has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — a nearly 25% increase from 2006, when the rate was 1 in 110, and a stunning 78% increase since 2000–02, when the CDC first began tracking the disorder and estimated the rate at 1 in 150 children."

https://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy/135711/pregnancy_length_now_tied_to

It just seems fishy to me. All of a sudden 1 in 88 kids are autistic (or have autistic tendancies)?

@chisa96 Said

Well, yeah. The causes can be silly and paranoid because we don't know for sure.

The rates going up is probably more due to awareness than paranoia though. Parents watch their kid's development more closely than they did before, call in for opinions if something is worrisome. I wonder how many cases were overlooked in years past.

@Kristy69 Said

It just seems fishy to me. All of a sudden 1 in 88 kids are autistic (or have autistic tendancies)?