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People have bashed me mercilessly for having this opinion, but I truly believe the incidence of autism hasn't increased, the incidence of diagnosis has increased, along with helicopter parenting, in which any little social glitch in a child's behavior is viewed as evidence of a horrible abnormality. I'm not saying autism isn't real. It certainly is, but I believe it is overdiagnosed.
I woekred with autistic kids. It is real and not just parents worrying. It’s the last thing they want to hear. It’s diagnosed when kids are two or three well before socialization is a concern. Most normally the biggest clue is a child who is still non-verbal at that age, but other telltale signs include inability to make eye contact, walking on toes, etc. kids are not diagnosed as autistic simply for being introverted.
There are a number of solid studies linking age (both parents) to autism so it's quite real.
However, I agree with others that the bigger driver would be the diagnosis of such being much more prevalent and the definitions broader.
Yes it was t diagnosed as much 40-50 years ago that is true. However for the past two decades or so diagnoses have pretty much caught up, yet the rates continue to increase.
I completely agree. I know of children whose parents say they have autism. They seemed like normal young rambunctious kids with a lot of energy to me. They took them to the doctor, they diagnosed autism, prescribed some drugs and now the kids are basically little weirdos sitting by themselves staring out he window. They are obviously drugged up. They drug them up so they don't have to deal with an active kid bouncing all over the place. It is pretty sad to see because they more or less miss out on their childhood. It is probably one of the reasons we have all these young people shooting places up all the time. They get a little older, get off the drugs and don't know how to cope with real life and people.
People have bashed me mercilessly for having this opinion, but I truly believe the incidence of autism hasn't increased, the incidence of diagnosis has increased, along with helicopter parenting, in which any little social glitch in a child's behavior is viewed as evidence of a horrible abnormality. I'm not saying autism isn't real. It certainly is, but I believe it is overdiagnosed.
I don't know that it's overdiagnosed. I think they just have a firmer understanding of what the spectrum looks like now. My neighbor's grandkid who has a "sensory processing" disorder is probably on the spectrum - it's just that it's a minor inconvenience rather than a severe disability.
I actually have two friends about my age from comfortable backgrounds that were diagnosed with autism as children and basically "outgrew" it. I don't think it's helicopter parents so much as a greater awareness and more people understanding that early intervention is crucial with autism - if a kid does have a symptom, better to be safe than sorry.
I completely agree. I know of children whose parents say they have autism. They seemed like normal young rambunctious kids with a lot of energy to me. They took them to the doctor, they diagnosed autism, prescribed some drugs and now the kids are basically little weirdos sitting by themselves staring out he window. They are obviously drugged up. They drug them up so they don't have to deal with an active kid bouncing all over the place. It is pretty sad to see because they more or less miss out on their childhood. It is probably one of the reasons we have all these young people shooting places up all the time. They get a little older, get off the drugs and don't know how to cope with real life and people.
I diagnose a case of sloppy-made-up-story-for-purposes-of-argument. Can be cured by a daily dose of honesty.
I woekred with autistic kids. It is real and not just parents worrying. It’s the last thing they want to hear. It’s diagnosed when kids are two or three well before socialization is a concern. Most normally the biggest clue is a child who is still non-verbal at that age, but other telltale signs include inability to make eye contact, walking on toes, etc. kids are not diagnosed as autistic simply for being introverted.
This. There are criteria and children must meet the minimum criterion or criteria for each of several different major categories in order to get a diagnosis. "She's rambunctious" or "he's shy" doesn't accomplish that. Not even "he's *severely* shy." This isn't just something that's randomly thrown out there.
These criteria have expanded as psychs have learned more about autism since Hans Asperger pioneered the idea, but it's real stuff, folks. Now you can say your child is autistic if you really want to (as such a parent I can say, no, we don't want to). But you can't get an actual diagnosis, which is what the thread is noting.
I agree. A bunch of stuff was thrown into that "kids are overDXd post," including, I'm guessing ADD/ADHD, which does in fact have a number of possible drug protocols.
Autism itself doesn't.
Now, these can be comorbid, though not in a majority of children/adults, and there are drugs that may be used off-label to treat some aspects of what's bothering autistic kids most (for instance, a given child may need antidepressants or another medication because for some reason the child experiences less over sensitivity to sound or light on them). BUT the VERY FIRST protocol for autism is basically never, ever drugs. It's ABA/TEACCH/SDC class.
I completely agree. I know of children whose parents say they have autism. They seemed like normal young rambunctious kids with a lot of energy to me. They took them to the doctor, they diagnosed autism, prescribed some drugs and now the kids are basically little weirdos sitting by themselves staring out he window. They are obviously drugged up. They drug them up so they don't have to deal with an active kid bouncing all over the place. It is pretty sad to see because they more or less miss out on their childhood. It is probably one of the reasons we have all these young people shooting places up all the time. They get a little older, get off the drugs and don't know how to cope with real life and people.
While your experience is your own, I know a fairly staggering number of autistic children and adults and have for more than 10 years now, and I know no child or adult who is autistic and drugged up to staring out a window. Parents of autistic people try to draw them out, not make them sit alone. Literally not one. Period.
I'm not angry because I realize you're lucky enough not to have had to deal with this, as evidenced by your lack of understanding of autism.
Also, while you may know "of"/occasionally see kids who just seem to be rambunctious, you don't know whether at home the child is harming herself, hysterical/inconsolable over a sensory trigger, can not concentrate in class for more than a few seconds and while not intellectually delayed is, as a result, falling far, far behind, or whether the parents only take the child out "on a good day."
Quick tip: Look under the parent's eyes. Are there shadows there? And sorrow and "they'll never understand, and by the way, what the hell happens when I die and this now-adult child is left to the mercy of underpaid caretakers"? Does the parent smile hen you talk about how your own child is going to homecoming (hers never will) or learning to drive (his never will) or getting married (she can't even take care of herself, much less a husband and possibly kids) - but she's happy for you anyway, she begrudges you nothing because by God any news is always good news to hear, when you're dealing daily with scary news? If so you're probably dealing with the parent of an autistic child who is dealing with someone who won the genetic lottery as far as children and NEVER has to actually understand. :thup: You're welcome. Now you know!
Another go-to tell: the parent normally seems to be happy, he adores his child, he knows his child well...and yes, is "hovering" (because the child may sniff another child, yell inappropriately, etc. and the father must be there to be the barrier), but when he encounters someone judgmental - someone like the author of the "it's overDXd post" - that's when the sunlight goes out of the parent's eyes, and the sorrow comes in. Because for, like, all of ten minutes the parent was able to pretend he was an average parent, and he was "allowed" to just love and (whoa!) be proud of his child - like other parents do. But then someone came along with judgments to knock it all down. Thanks, folks, for keeping it real! It's probably a tremendous help. Otherwise, who knows...if we didn't constantly encounter nasty judgment and the side-eye we might just get comfortable. Who knows, things might all fall apart then.
Note to autism families who have very young kids and you get that nasty sarcastic side-eye all the time: it'll get better. When your child is much older, his/her "differences" will be way, way, way more apparent than they were when s/he was a toddler or young school-age child. A four-year-old who yells out a random comment from a children's cartoon and waves her hands isn't such a big deal but wait until she's 31 and doing it in Walmart. Et voila! No more sarcastic side-eye. They'll finally believe you then. The sarcastic glare will turn into "oh my GOD. I feel so sorry for you. Ugh, so glad I'm not you!" So hold on, better days are coming!
I have a kid on the autism scale. To listen to some of you talk, I don't know the difference between normal behavior, and NOT normal behavior.
I wish I could've challenged you to let him spend the night at your house, or spend a week or so with him back in the day. Then come back and tell me his behavior was perfectly normal.
The rate isn't increasing. Modern diagnostic tools, through better research and understanding of neurobiology and developmental psychology, have contributed to an increase of ASD diagnoses. Autists were around "back then" just as they are today. It's just that "back then" they were called or diagnosed with something else and dealt with in many different manners.
I have two children with ASD, one comorbid with ADHD-combined type (and medicated, though not sitting at the window twiddling thumbs), whose father has ASD.
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