Normally, I would not reply to this thread because it absolutely makes my blood BOIL because I am sick and tired of the OPEN SEASON on autism. I am not directing this at the OP, but just in general, especially after the American Airlines incident. I did not hear the IGNORANT comments made by Michael Savage, but I do know that many autism groups and concerned parents have sent in letters of complaint. I live in the State of Illinois and I don't know where some of the posters live that have indicated that parents WANT their child to be diagnosed, but I haven't met ONE not ONE parent who would want that diagnosis. Why would you want a diagnosis? so that the insurance company can deny coverage for speech, occupational therapy, developmental therapy (NOT covered in the state of Illinois), physical therapy as my insurance company likes to do? Or, would you want a diagnosis so that you can fight with school systems just to get your child services or 30 extra minutes of speech per week? Or better yet, get a diagnosis so that you can try to get Early Intervention services through your state which end at age 3. Some parents can't even get into an early intervention program because the wait list is so long. I know, it must be money! The cost for out of pocket therapy is anywhere from $10,000 to over $100,000 per year usually straight out of the parents pockets and NOT COVERED BY INSURANCE.
On the flip side, I know MANY parents who don't want a diagnosis because that means that their child will be labeled with autism. Yes, the diagnosis rate was 1 in 10,000 children back in 1994 and the rates have skyrockted to 1 in 166. Why the rise in autism? One reason is that the austim spectrum includes more criteria and varying degrees. The debate about the cause will go on, but something is going on! Is it mercury in vaccines, is it genetic with an environmental trigger? Is it something in the environment - maybe?
I have a child with autism. He was diagnosed by a pediatric neurosurgeon (some people have a team with neurosurgeons and a hold host of speech therapist, psychologists, etc.) based upon a number of factors. Children with autism usually have significant language delays (unless it's aspergers; also note that 40% of children with autism are non verbal), difficulty relating to people/peers, sensory disorders, repetative behaviors (hand flapping, lining up objects in a straight line over and over and over, etc.), echolalia (repeating the same phrase over and over and over), scripting (talking, but not in a conversational way, just quoting lines from a commerical or movie). I have done Autism walks, gone to countless conferences and I have YET to meet one child with a diagnosis that didn't fit the criteria. And let me also add that autism doesn't affect two children the same. If I waited for the medical profession to devise a "test", my son would not be diagnosed and would not have made the progress that he has through early intervention and TONS of theraphy and he still has a LONG way to go. If I see a child hand flapping or toe walking I automatically think autism and I am NOT a medical professional.
If you point to the medical profession, I will answer that pediatricans have failed many parents (I feel as if I had the only pediatrican who actually told me that she thought my son had autism), told them that they were crazy when parents told them that they felt that their children were losing skills, told them that boys not speaking by age 2 was no big deal, they would come in later. When autism groups have come up with a list of warning signs, the American Academy of Pediatrics is quick to criticize, but they offered O in the way of solutions, resources, etc.
Uninformed and ignorant people like Michael Savage don't know what they are talking about and just run their mouth in order to make money. He couldn't and wouldn't survive
one week of my day to day life dealing with this condition.
If people want to learn more about autism, stop listening to idiots like Michael Savage and visit some autism web sites. Here are a few, just to get started.
Austism Speaks (They have a host of videos of children with autism for all of the naysayers)
http://www.autismspeaks.org/
Floortime
http://www.floortime.org/
RDI
http://www.rdiconnect.com/
TACA
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm
If you have a child that is neurotypical, then considered yourself very lucky.
If you haven't walked in the shoes of a parent that just wants to hear their child say "Mommy" or "Daddy" or dream that one day their child gets an invitation to a birthday party, or a child knocks on their door wanting their kid to play with them or have had to endure some judgemental angry stare from strangers when their child has a meltdown, or still isn't potty trained then don't assume anything. If you haven't driven your child to therapy after therapy, fought HARD for services in school, sat down at yet another IEP meeting to get your child therapy then don't be too quick to think any parent WANTS that for their child.
Clearly, the autism community as a whole needs to have more information out there in order to clear up all of the misconceptions about what autism is, treatment, etc.
My rant is done.
oh moly! it is so frustrating! The worst is, I was the same way as a kid, and all my lecturing is never going to change him. He just can't help the fact that the poster above the teachers head may need his attention to count the number of different colors used to paint the painting. Or the fact that there are so many threads to count in the jacket hanging on the chair in front of him. He WANTS to listen to the teacher, but there are just other things grabbing for his attention. I am now adult ADD and I understand this kid so well. I just don't want him to suffer the way I have.
