Is autism the illness du jour ?

[isyne4u]

I would take a brat any day of the week to what I have! If I could change how my child is and be able to fix his problems, I'd give up the ASD dx in a heartbeat. I don't need an illness dujour. I need a normal child who will be able to function in society, hold a job, date, join sports teams, and not be looked at funny because he covers his ears and hides in corners.

Please if you know how to fix my illness dujour let me know! I'm ready to listen. Until then.......i guess i don't really want the points for what I'm thinking.

 

[dejr_8]

No one is saying that Autism doesn't exist. What some of us are questioning is if the label being over-used.

In MA, these is such a push to get your child labeled as "special" so that you can access additional services from education system that parents will push and push until they get the "correct" diagnosis.

If you take a "problem" child to enough specialists you will eventually find one that will give you the diagnosis that you are after.

If you don't believe that, then just look at how some Doctors will prescribe antibiotics for any sniffle while others won't give you any until you test positive for strep.

 

[golfgal]

I should keep my mouth shut, but since I am here I am going to pop off anyway. Those of you with no personal experience with autism are certainly entitled to your opinion, but until it is an INFORMED opinion it is worth what I scraped off my shoes. I have a six-year-old child who can't currently funtion in a regular classroom, although she has an above average IQ. She is neurologically impaired. I could tell her ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot.’ She would feel the anger of those words and she might even understand most of what I was saying but she can't ACT on those words simply because I yelled at her. She can't CONTROL her wiring any more than someone with MS can control theirs. We work very hard with her and we have high behavioral expectations of her. She has a bright future BECAUSE of her diagnosis and the therapies she receives. I don't understand why anyone thinks people like Savage are credible. He is a *******. I'll happily take the points for that.

No one is denying it doesn't exist the problem is that 'everyone' seems to be getting diagnosed on the spectrum someplace. Autism HAS become 'the' diagnosis and the problem with that is that the kids that really are autistic are loosing out because there are more and more kids flooding the system with a 'diagnosis' and taking services away from those that really need it. It is a lot easier for a parent to blame their child's misbehavior or 'failure' to be the top student in the class on a 'diagnosis' then it is for some to admit that their kid isn't the best of the best.

I have never listened to this radio announcer, he does sound like a jerk, but he does have a point.

Something else, that I'm not sure most people understand, is the testing that is required to be diagnosed. At least with competent doctors, anyway.
You can't just say, "My child doesn't like to interact with others" and get a diagnosis, or at least you shouldn't be able to. in my experience, it's a long process, with tests that don't really make much sense to the person observing, but greatly mean something to the evaluator diagnosing the child.

You need testing for ADD/ADHD too but that doesn't stop parents from finding a dr that will give them that diagnosis. The problem is that there ARE incompetent dr's our there or probably more accurately PITA parents that won't accept no so they get the diagnosis just to get rid of them. There are PLENTY of kids out there with a 'diagnosis' that don't really have what they say they have.

 

[tw1nsmom]

I agree to an extent. There is no acceptance for children who simply don't 'get' social rules - and yet it's one of the most difficult concepts a child must master! If a child didn't 'get' math, they probably would just be said to have difficulty mastering math, or possibly a special educational need in a severe case. If a child doesn't always 'get' how to interact with their peers (which is a far more difficult cognitive concept than math), they're often hauled off and said to be "on the spectrum".

I suppose it has a lot to do with our society's predisposition with achieving socially. Those who do not achieve at math are still accepted, because they still achieve socially. Those who do not achieve socially are seen as 'disabled' because of the importance we place upon social interaction. I suspect many parents - however many would admit it - would be able to cope with their child's difficulties in math, but would feel badly about their difficulties in social interaction - blame themselves, wonder what they did wrong etc.

A social disability may, in fact, be one of the worst disabilities to have. Without proper intervention it will most definitely limit any achievement that a person will attain. Without the proper diagnosis and therapy you are diminishing the productivity of a person within society. Many people on the more mild end of the spectrum are very intelligent. However, those who haven't had proper intervention are often under or unemployed. It's not just a matter of a child making friends in school. It's about teaching people/children about the nonverbal communication that's essential for success in society.

Now, when it comes to proper diagnosis, I would hazard a guess that nobody on this thread is qualified, nor is the radio personality in question. Also, unless you have a child with autism, a person is clueless when you say that a parent would want a false diagnosis in order to bilk the system. NOBODY wants their child to have a neurological disability. NOBODY wants to have to fight for their child's rights to an education on an ongoing basis. NOBODY wants their child to be ostracized and unhappy.

Further, an autism diagnosis comes with far more negative repercussions than benefits. Some countries refuse citizenship of people with autism. We have friends who just came back from Australia. The husband is a very talented chemist who is sought by many companies throughout the world. He had a position there, but were told that there was no way they would ever get permanent citizenship because their son is autistic. Because their son is an American citizen They came back here. Even thought they were willing to pay for their son's education out of pocket in Australia they were told they wouldn't be able to stay for more than four years.Many insurance companies use a diagnosis of autism as an excuse to deny coverage. Many schools wait until lawyers are called in before they follow the laws protecting children with disabilities.

Parents of children with autism often spend an enormous amount (over and above that of a typically developing child) of out of pocket money to get even their basic needs met. The theory that may parents of autistic children are welfare, system abusing people is ludicrous. In my experience, it's the more affluent people who are able to get the help a child needs and therefore an autism diagnosis is more likely to occur in affluent communities.

 

[tar heel]

I can't imagine what is meant by 50% of cases being "fraud." Fraud generally refers to tricking someone to gain an advantage.

I'm generally a very easy going person, and it's hard to describe how angry idiotic comments like a couple on this thread make me.

dejr -- If you live in CH (Is there really a conservative living there?), you might check out TEAACH, which is internationally known for autism research and provides services across the state. Maybe you could volunteer at the early childhood program at Frank Porter Graham. This would be much more educational than reading the Savage column.

 

[DawnCt1]

No one is saying that Autism doesn't exist. What some of us are questioning is if the label being over-used.

In MA, these is such a push to get your child labeled as "special" so that you can access additional services from education system that parents will push and push until they get the "correct" diagnosis.

If you take a "problem" child to enough specialists you will eventually find one that will give you the diagnosis that you are after.

If you don't believe that, then just look at how some Doctors will prescribe antibiotics for any sniffle while others won't give you any until you test positive for strep.

I think that there are a lot of spectrum type disorders that weren't recognized as problems. One of my friends has a child with hyperlexia. He has been reading any word fluently since the age of three. What a great "problem" to have you may say; a child that can read any word, but the meaning and the communication within the words and with his environment and the people in it are severely lacking. Everything he sees is a letter. A swing set is the letter "W". He doesn't see the children playing on the play ground. He doesn't relate well to class mates. He has been receiving services since the age of 2 and apparently is doing well now. Unrecognized, it would have been disasterous.

 

[golfgal]

A social disability may, in fact, be one of the worst disabilities to have. Without proper intervention it will most definitely limit any achievement that a person will attain. Without the proper diagnosis and therapy you are diminishing the productivity of a person within society. Many people on the more mild end of the spectrum are very intelligent. However, those who haven't had proper intervention are often under or unemployed. It's not just a matter of a child making friends in school. It's about teaching people/children about the nonverbal communication that's essential for success in society.

Now, when it comes to proper diagnosis, I would hazard a guess that nobody on this thread is qualified, nor is the radio personality in question. Also, unless you have a child with autism, a person is clueless when you say that a parent would want a false diagnosis in order to bilk the system. NOBODY wants their child to have a neurological disability. NOBODY wants to have to fight for their child's rights to an education on an ongoing basis. NOBODY wants their child to be ostracized and unhappy.

Further, an autism diagnosis comes with far more negative repercussions than benefits. Some countries refuse citizenship of people with autism. We have friends who just came back from Australia. The husband is a very talented chemist who is sought by many companies throughout the world. He had a position there, but were told that there was no way they would ever get permanent citizenship because their son is autistic. Because their son is an American citizen They came back here. Even thought they were willing to pay for their son's education out of pocket in Australia they were told they wouldn't be able to stay for more than four years.Many insurance companies use a diagnosis of autism as an excuse to deny coverage. Many schools wait until lawyers are called in before they follow the laws protecting children with disabilities.

Parents of children with autism often spend an enormous amount (over and above that of a typically developing child) of out of pocket money to get even their basic needs met. The theory that may parents of autistic children are welfare, system abusing people is ludicrous. In my experience, it's the more affluent people who are able to get the help a child needs and therefore an autism diagnosis is more likely to occur in affluent communities.

Actually there are a LOT of people out there that would rather have a diagnosis then have to deal with their children's behavior--caused by a lack of parenting not any medical condition. It is really sad but keep in mind that these people really don't have a clue what it is like dealing with a child that really is autistic, ADD, etc. They just want something to blame instead of themselves. They are not the parents that are fighting for their kids to get whatever, they are the ones who accept what ever they get and then they can turn around and say that Johnny can't behave in class because of his ________ diagnosis. Spend some time in the schools, especially in some of the higher end area schools and you WILL see this happen.

 

[tw1nsmom]

No one is denying it doesn't exist the problem is that 'everyone' seems to be getting diagnosed on the spectrum someplace. Autism HAS become 'the' diagnosis and the problem with that is that the kids that really are autistic are loosing out because there are more and more kids flooding the system with a 'diagnosis' and taking services away from those that really need it. It is a lot easier for a parent to blame their child's misbehavior or 'failure' to be the top student in the class on a 'diagnosis' then it is for some to admit that their kid isn't the best of the best.

I have never listened to this radio announcer, he does sound like a jerk, but he does have a point.



You need testing for ADD/ADHD too but that doesn't stop parents from finding a dr that will give them that diagnosis. The problem is that there ARE incompetent dr's our there or probably more accurately PITA parents that won't accept no so they get the diagnosis just to get rid of them. There are PLENTY of kids out there with a 'diagnosis' that don't really have what they say they have.

But see, all the kids on every level of the spectrum need the help they receive. Maybe someday the name of the diagnosis will change, but he needs of the child won't. There are some that say that Aspergers isn't really on the spectrum, but a different disorder all together. I don't care what it's eventually called, as long as the children involved get the help they need.

Your argument about the needs of the children on the milder end of the spectrum taking away from the needs of the children on the more severe end is a flawed one. It wasn't too long ago that children on the more severe end would have been denied an education completely. They would have been institutionalized or simply ignored. That was wrong, and it would also be wrong to deny that children on the more mild end need help too.

 

[Todd&Copper]

No one is saying that Autism doesn't exist. What some of us are questioning is if the label being over-used.

In MA, these is such a push to get your child labeled as "special" so that you can access additional services from education system that parents will push and push until they get the "correct" diagnosis.

If you take a "problem" child to enough specialists you will eventually find one that will give you the diagnosis that you are after.

If you don't believe that, then just look at how some Doctors will prescribe antibiotics for any sniffle while others won't give you any until you test positive for strep.

I agree with this, and while I have not personally seen the "diagnosis dilemma" and finding the right Dr. to sign anything involving a child and autism, I have seen it with mental illness and cardiac patients. My FIL overeats a TON of fatty foods - everyday, he mixes butter with peanut butter and eats it on Ritz crackers or Brioche as a "snack", and most dinners are take-out Chinese or KFC - and gets no exercise, yet after his triple by-pass, the Dr. didn't tell him to eat healthy and get exercise; the Dr. gave him a Rx and told him don't worry about it. FIL didn't even have to forum shop for the "right" kind of Dr.

It is wonderful that the parents on this board have experienced competent doctors and gotten valid diagnoses, but I can't help but suspect that there are planty of less than honest doctors who are over-diagnosing autism, and that really only serves to harm the kids who could really benefit from diagnosis and treatment.

 

[RitaE]

No one is saying that Autism doesn't exist. What some of us are questioning is if the label being over-used.

In MA, these is such a push to get your child labeled as "special" so that you can access additional services from education system that parents will push and push until they get the "correct" diagnosis.

If you take a "problem" child to enough specialists you will eventually find one that will give you the diagnosis that you are after.

If you don't believe that, then just look at how some Doctors will prescribe antibiotics for any sniffle while others won't give you any until you test positive for strep.

Actually I think that when Michael Savage says that "99% of Autistic kids are just brats, he is coming pretty darn close to saying Autism doesn't exist.

I agree that Doctors are calling many things Autism at the moment that were not previously called Autism, and 10 years from now many of these behaviors may be called something else. I also agree that I run into many parents who insist that a particular child is "Autistic" or has "Asperbergers" but have never gone through a proper diagnosis. However, that does not mean that these children are just "quirky brats" without proper parents. It means that the science involved in diagnosing this particular condition is evolving.

My opinion of this is about the same as my opinion of ADD/ADHD and that is I don't know many parents who are all that anxious to sign their kids up for YEARS of unneeded medication and therapies and the school Special Education process for no reason at all. Anybody who thinks that is a cakewalk should really open their eyes and educate themselves.

Michael Savage is a waste of skin. That is about my opinion on the matter.

 

[Todd&Copper]

But see, all the kids on every level of the spectrum need the help they receive. Maybe someday the name of the diagnosis will change, but he needs of the child won't. There are some that say that Aspergers isn't really on the spectrum, but a different disorder all together. I don't care what it's eventually called, as long as the children involved get the help they need.

Your argument about the needs of the children on the milder end of the spectrum taking away from the needs of the children on the more severe end is a flawed one. It wasn't too long ago that children on the more severe end would have been denied an education completely. They would have been institutionalized or simply ignored. That was wrong, and it would also be wrong to deny that children on the more mild end need help too.

I am not sure that is what the poster is saying. I think the poster is implying that kids who are not really "on the spectrum" and do not really have autism are being misdiagnosed as being on the mild end.

 

[tw1nsmom]

Actually there are a LOT of people out there that would rather have a diagnosis then have to deal with their children's behavior--caused by a lack of parenting not any medical condition. It is really sad but keep in mind that these people really don't have a clue what it is like dealing with a child that really is autistic, ADD, etc. They just want something to blame instead of themselves. They are not the parents that are fighting for their kids to get whatever, they are the ones who accept what ever they get and then they can turn around and say that Johnny can't behave in class because of his ________ diagnosis. Spend some time in the schools, especially in some of the higher end area schools and you WILL see this happen.

That was a little presumptuous. My children go to one of the most affluent schools in our area, I volunteer extensively in their school, I have a masters in Elementary Education, and I'm trained as a special education parent advocate. I do know whereof I speak.

 

[XTinabell]

This should be interesting...



I don't listen to him because he's arrogant and abrasive but I'm really bothered by the attempt to silence people who say something someone else finds offensive.

So much for free speech...

I completely agree. And on the subject, I do agree with what he said to SOME degree. There is no doubt many children are indeed autistic. A friend of mine had a son who was autistic and he was in his own world. HOWEVER, he got into a habit of pulling out his piece in public and playing with himself. His parents said nothing, because "it was his autism". Well the boy's aide told him to put it away and never bring it out in public again, and guess what he didn't.

I think sometimes parents are so concerned about their child's disorder that they stop raising them. They still need discipline and to be told what is a right behavior and what is unacceptable.

A close friend of mine has a form of autism, he has aspergers. However he has it under control (it's a conscious effort) because of the way he was raised. If he demonstrated poor behavior as a child he was disciplined and taught it was unacceptable (when he was a kid they didn't know aspergers was a "thing"). As a result you would never know he had aspergers and he is incredibly well mannered. Just a thought.

 

[freckles and boo]

No one is denying it doesn't exist the problem is that 'everyone' seems to be getting diagnosed on the spectrum someplace. Autism HAS become 'the' diagnosis and the problem with that is that the kids that really are autistic are loosing out because there are more and more kids flooding the system with a 'diagnosis' and taking services away from those that really need it. It is a lot easier for a parent to blame their child's misbehavior or 'failure' to be the top student in the class on a 'diagnosis' then it is for some to admit that their kid isn't the best of the best.

.

I had to laugh at your last sentence simply because it is so far removed from my experience with autism. In our district, a child receives services based on an extensive evaluation provided by our special education cooperative. (My child also has a medical diagnosis which we received after many visits to the pediatric neurologist.) The director of student services would not even entertain a conversation about academic achievement that is unrelated to a legitimate problem. I have also heard her say many times that their goal is not to make all these kids A students.

 

[tw1nsmom]

I completely agree. And on the subject, I do agree with what he said to SOME degree. There is no doubt many children are indeed autistic. A friend of mine had a son who was autistic and he was in his own world. HOWEVER, he got into a habit of pulling out his piece in public and playing with himself. His parents said nothing, because "it was his autism". Well the boy's aide told him to put it away and never bring it out in public again, and guess what he didn't.

I think sometimes parents are so concerned about their child's disorder that they stop raising them. They still need discipline and to be told what is a right behavior and what is unacceptable.

A close friend of mine has a form of autism, he has aspergers. However he has it under control (it's a conscious effort) because of the way he was raised. If he demonstrated poor behavior as a child he was disciplined and taught it was unacceptable (when he was a kid they didn't know aspergers was a "thing"). As a result you would never know he had aspergers and he is incredibly well mannered. Just a thought.

This I somewhat agree with. My Ds is not on the autistic spectrum, but has been diagnosed with Nonverbal Learning Disability which has many similarities with Aspergers (I don't care if it's called Purple People Eaters Disease as long s he gets the help he needs). I say that my son's disability is an explanation for some of his behaviors, not an excuse. If anything I'm more strict with my DS because he needs more guidance in learning rules than a typically developing child.

Sometimes it's such a shock for parents whose children are diagnosed that they just shut down and stop parenting. There are probably also a number of parent whose parenting skills would be lacking even if their child was neurotypical. I'm a big proponent of getting kids the help they need not to offer an excuse, but to make sure they succeed in society. That means MORE parenting and guidance. Not excuses. To that end we need to train our pediatricians and family doctors better when it comes to developmental disabilities so that they can offer the guidance and information parents need when their children are diagnosed.

 

[golfgal]

But see, all the kids on every level of the spectrum need the help they receive. Maybe someday the name of the diagnosis will change, but he needs of the child won't. There are some that say that Aspergers isn't really on the spectrum, but a different disorder all together. I don't care what it's eventually called, as long as the children involved get the help they need.

Your argument about the needs of the children on the milder end of the spectrum taking away from the needs of the children on the more severe end is a flawed one. It wasn't too long ago that children on the more severe end would have been denied an education completely. They would have been institutionalized or simply ignored. That was wrong, and it would also be wrong to deny that children on the more mild end need help too.

I am not sure that is what the poster is saying. I think the poster is implying that kids who are not really "on the spectrum" and do not really have autism are being misdiagnosed as being on the mild end.

Exactly--there are kids that are 'diagnosed' that DON'T have whatever it is, autism, ADD, etc. Those are the kids messing things up for those that really do.

That was a little presumptuous. My children go to one of the most affluent schools in our area, I volunteer extensively in their school, I have a masters in Elementary Education, and I'm trained as a special education parent advocate. I do know whereof I speak.

And you don't see this happen in your schools? The ones NOT coming to you for your services are the ones I am talking about.

I had to laugh at your last sentence simply because it is so far removed from my experience with autism. In our district, a child receives services based on an extensive evaluation provided by our special education cooperative. (My child also has a medical diagnosis which we received after many visits to the pediatric neurologist.) The director of student services would not even entertain a conversation about academic achievement that is unrelated to a legitimate problem. I have also heard her say many times that their goal is not to make all these kids A students.

Then you have a good coordinator. Again, it is the ones that are not pushing for extra services, the ones that wouldn't bring up conversations like this with your coordinator that are the problem. They are the ones that have the child running wild at the restaurant where the mom says 'he can't help it, he has ________ disorder".

 

[freckles and boo]

Sometimes it's such a shock for parents whose children are diagnosed that they just shut down and stop parenting. There are probably also a number of parent whose parenting skills would be lacking even if their child was neurotypical. I'm a big proponent of getting kids the help they need not to offer an excuse, but to make sure they succeed in society. That means MORE parenting and guidance. Not excuses. To that end we need to train our pediatricians and family doctors better when it comes to developmental disabilities so that they can offer the guidance and information parents need when their children are diagnosed.

I totally agree. As I said before, I have high standards (or both my daughters). However, parenting one is much harder than parenting the other. And there are times when I just have to let her be "autistic". I have to let her be echolalic. I have to let her play with flashlights in the closet and pour sand on her head in the sandbox or roll around on the ground with her toys. These things are soothing to her, and when done in the appropriate environment don't hurt her or anyone else. We work hard to make sure she knows how to behave at the mall or the movies or school or in restaurants. At home we let her be who she is.

 

[tar heel]

I don't know why I'm on this thread -- I don't usually hang out with people who don't know what they're talking about.

For the record, my family's experience with our autism diagnosis is different from a lot of people's. As someone said, there is a stigma. Because we knew DS could funtion adequately (if not up to his ability), we never sought or accepted special services in public school or college. He never had an IEP. (Quite frankly, I'm no longer sure that was the right decision, but we thought it was at the time.) If he got a zero on an assignment, he got a zero. If he did something wrong at school or at home, he got punished. Freshman year at college was rough, but he got through. Sounds good -- right? Well, now he is a bright, educated kid with no job. He has no social self-awareness and bombs the interviews. He has no idea what he does wrong either, and this is in spite of months of counseling/training. He can learn quantum physics and make a perfect score on the SAT, but he isn't able to learn to have the one-to-one conversation required in an interview. I'm still optimistic, but I'm worried. In general, adults with Asperger's are unemployed or underemployed. A lot of these people are brilliant, the kind of people who could change the world.

Know what the worst thing is? Because DS and many other kids with Asperger's are so close to "normal," even people who should know better (relatives, for example) are sometimes as ignorant as people on this thread.

 

[luvmy3]

No one is denying it doesn't exist the problem is that 'everyone' seems to be getting diagnosed on the spectrum someplace. Autism HAS become 'the' diagnosis and the problem with that is that the kids that really are autistic are loosing out because there are more and more kids flooding the system with a 'diagnosis' and taking services away from those that really need it. It is a lot easier for a parent to blame their child's misbehavior or 'failure' to be the top student in the class on a 'diagnosis' then it is for some to admit that their kid isn't the best of the best.

Its not only the parents. Sometimes teachers themselves are quick to start looking for something if one of their students don't fit "the normal mold" of the others.
When my ds was in K, his teacher would call me on a weekly basis and tell me all the things my ds was doing in class. She asked the school psychologist to come and observe him, without consulting me first. Of course then it was recomended that he see a therapist. I agreed because I was so worried that there was something wrong with him. After seeing the therapist she wanted the psychiatrist to meet him. I walked into her office and I can't tell you how many posters and leaflets there were about ADD/ADHD and all the medications for it that were in there. After seeing her, she wanted him to come back for testing, I said no, because to me she was just looking for a reason to diagnose and medicate him. We did see the therapist a few more times and she agreed that he was fine, but had some issues that he would grow out of.
Guess what all his little quirky behavior passed and he's a normal almost 8 year old.

I certainly do not agree with what Savage said, he was really out of line calling 99% of these kids brats, but I do understand his point. I may not have first hand knowledge with autism or other disorders, but I do with doctors (and teachers) trying to find a "disorder" just to explain certain behavior.

My heart goes out to families that are dealing with autism. We went on a trip and befriended a family who had an autistic child. I was at my wits end just over the weekend, I couldn't imagine having to deal with it forever.

 

[TheZue]

The idea that somehow autism is a money maker baffles me. It is underfunded almost everywhere and most parents who deal with this suffer financial hardship. People lose their houses over this and somebody is claiming they are in it for the benefits? We currently pay $100/hour of speech therapy that is funded, but that's about to drop off in three months when my son turns six.

Now one of Savage's arguments was AGAINST early screening. Not early diagnosis, screening. Personally that would have been a huge blessing for us. Our son was diagnosed at the age of five, one year before his funding cuts. And why? Because he was our first child, none of our friends have kids, and the difficulty I had toilet training him kept him out of preschool until he was 4.5 so nobody that knew about it saw him. We knew he was high energy and he did some things that my gut reaction was "that's creepy" and had an amazing memory when it came to movies, but I had no idea that's what autism looked like, and actually didn't believe anything was wrong with him at first. Of course watching him at a playground with his class sit and drop rocks closely in front of his face while humming instead of joining with the group I was shown the stark difference between him and the other normally developing kids. I was shocked how clear their speech was, how good their grammar was, how easy it was to just SIT with them, how well they could hold a crayon. Ironically his differences kept him at home away from other kids I could have compared him to. Screening would have been a God send for him.

So the result of that is he ending up with very little therapy because nobody caught it early. I look at the tapes of him at two when I'm trying to get him to look at me for around 10 minutes while he just stared at a napkin in a restaurant (oddly enough at Disneyland) and it was obvious if you knew what it was. What would be so wrong with the doctors asking a couple questions at a checkup? My son wouldn't have added to the stats, he would have gotten more help and probably had a brighter future.

When his funding is cut next year we have absolutely no way to pay for what we were getting. We are the parents who "take what they can get" because I can't see how financially killing our selves is fair to the rest of our family. I'm sure my other son deserves to go to college and not support his bankrupt elderly parents. I would have to work 10 hours to pay for 1 hour of speech therapy. I'm not sure that one hour is worth my absence for 10 (before tax so it's probably more like 14), so I will be working with him instead.Fortunately our School District has been wonderful with him. And his big goal for grade one, saying hi back to somebody when they say hi to him instead of turning away and quoting a movie. Your damn right I'm taking what I can get.

As for the diagnosis. It's NOT easy to get. It took a referral from his preschool teacher, 20 hours of classroom observation, a doctor's referral, 2 hours of pediatritian's apointments, 3 hours of speech assessment, and 7 hours with a pediatric psych. Any one of the people looking at him could have stopped it if nothing was there. It's not like kids who are fine are going to be diagnosed after that.

I have yet to meet anyone who would WANT this. Hell autism is becoming the replacement word for mentally retarded in a lot of circles. To have your kid called retarded and have parents complain that he shouldn't be in a class with theirs (despite the fact he brought an aid in that helps out the whole class and he's probably smarter than a large portion of the kids in there) adds salt to the wounds. I'm sure people are just scrambling to have that stigma attached to their kid.