Have they though?

[subrob]

Am I the only old fukr who sees the correlation between the increase in diagnosis and the change from "autism" to "autism spectrum disorder"?
I mean, the kids who got diagnosed when I was in school, 70s and 80s, were off their rocker batshot problem kids. My mother was a special Ed teacher at one point, and they were PROBLEMS.
Now, kids are diagnosed autistic that don't seem to be anything but shy and anxious. One of my best friends has a kid who was diagnosed at age 5 or 6, STILL falls under the umbrella at 16, and ...well.....never seen a thing wrong. Never been in special classes, no behavioral issues, great grades, socialized. Nothing.

But I bet whatever meds they are prescribed are a billion dollar Industry!

 

[dramamine]

Agree 100%. Are parents more gullible now? Why is that?

 

[Three Berries]

Vaccines.

 

[Jellyfish]

More likely an allergy caused by processed foods.

 

[subrob]

Vaccines.

That hysteria was started by stay at home California barbie moms with nothing better to do.

 

[subrob]

More likely an allergy caused by processed foods.

Not the fact that autism went from 1 specific diagnoses to hundreds? And the rise in autism started the next year?

 

[armedoldhippy]

Not the fact that autism went from 1 specific diagnoses to hundreds? And the rise in autism started the next year?

way under-recognized. looking back, LOTS of the kids that had trouble paying attention in class etc were on the spectrum, but teachers etc didn't know what was going on with them, just labeled them "retarded". Aspergers ( a former high-functioning label ) kids these days respond very well if recognized early enough & appropriate teaching methods used. several on here will tell you about how cannabis has helped them as well. many were badly mis-diagnosed as ADD, ADHD, etc, and given amphetamines. it stupifies the active childs brain, turning them into virtual zombies. it does make it simpler for teachers if the "problem kids" are sitting quietly, drooling on themselves. we took our oldest off of the "meds" they wanted him to take, and after a serious fight at school (wife is a serious griz mommy about her kids), got better teaching. he graduated high school & went to college...

 

[Three Berries]

That hysteria was started by stay at home California barbie moms with nothing better to do.

I don't think so.

 

[Three Berries]

The level of education in this country is pathetic. It's all a race to the bottom cause we can't be hurtin the little darlins feelings you know.

Look no further than the stupid commercials they have today. Written by stupid for stupid.

And teachers are much more into teaching the joys and pleasure of Marxism.

 

[Ringodoggie]

I was at a party not long ago and my buddies wife is a teacher. Her and 3 or 4 of her fellow teachers were talking and I overheard one of them say,

"The most important thing in a child's education is having them on the proper medication. You can't teach a child who isn't properly medicated."

I stopped and asked if I really heard what I heard. Very proudly, they all agreed. When I asked how many of them were on psychotropic drugs, they just scowled at me.

I weep for the future.

 

[moose eater]

Not the fact that autism went from 1 specific diagnoses to hundreds? And the rise in autism started the next year?

Been 'varieties' of autistic disorders for a long time, too.

Some very high-functioning persons with variants of autism, to include Aspergers Syndrome.

How many ADHD/ADD youngsters were autistic but misdiagnosed? Fixation on a specific topic, thing, etc. and difficulty transitioning in their focus might look like ADD to many.

I likely warranted a Dx of Asperger's as a kid.. Never got one.

On the other hand, there's lots of money to be made in the 'soft-sciences', such as psychology. When I quit direct service work in MH, a licensed clinician in private practice was asking about $150/hour(+/-). Many these days are in the $450 range(+/-), and get a decent percentage of that via negotiated rates with insurance companies.

 

[moose eater]

I was at a party not long ago and my buddies wife is a teacher. Her and 3 or 4 of her fellow teachers were talking and I overheard one of them say,

"The most important thing in a child's education is having them on the proper medication. You can't teach a child who isn't properly medicated."

I stopped and asked if I really heard what I heard. Very proudly, they all agreed. When I asked how many of them were on psychotropic drugs, they just scowled at me.

I weep for the future.

I'd hoped as an adolescent in later middle school (1972) for a Rx for Dexedrine, methedrine, or simlar, as Dexies were often given for ADD/ADHD disorders back then (had a classmate with some really good speed via that means), and I figured it would skip the middle-man on the street.

Later I got a scrip anyway at age 15 or 16 (time-release 'blue and clears' 1974/1975?), through a Doc whose where-abouts and proclivities traveled through our rumor mill; he was located in Byron Center, Michigan. No serious questions asked re. "Needing some diet pills to lose weight," no calls to my mother, etc.

That provided a continuation of a lot of hitchhiking the highways and byways of America; me, my Dexedrine, and my roasted seasoned soy beans. (*I've since learned the non-fermented soy beans aren't good for me..)

 

[RobFromTX]

Been 'varieties' of autistic disorders for a long time, too.

Some very high-functioning persons with variants of autism, to include Aspergers Syndrome.

How many ADHD/ADD youngsters were autistic but misdiagnosed? Fixationn on a specific topic, thing, etc. might look like ADD to many amateurs.

On the other hand, there's lots of money to be made in the 'soft-sciences', such as psychology. When I quit direct service work in MH, a licensed clinician in private practice was asking about $150/hour(+/-). Many these days are in the $450 range(+/-), and get a decent percentage of that via negotiated rates with insurance companies.

And thats the nasty truth of it. A lot of those kids in the 80s and early 90s being diagnosed with ADD really had something on the spectrum. Then they were slapped on drugs like Ritalin for years on end that ran them into the ground. But id say a lot of them were also victims of narcissistic self involved parents wanting to create "the perfect child". Calm well behaved robots and, most importantly, quiet. Just about the opposite of what being a kid is all about. No sir theres never been a shortage of these parents that dont want to be personally inconvenienced with parenting. And medicating their children was a great off ramp in those days

 

[Three Berries]

Teachers too want calm easily managed children.

 

[pop_rocks]

some great posts on this thread brother
the oldest boy was diagnosed with adhd when he was in middle school
the school gets additional funding for having kids on their "special needs" roster; like we dont spend enough per student here in california as it is
but he was a history geek and loved his book
/mom and pops are both voracious readers
this kid could not punch his way out of a paper bag and had little interest in doing the "manly" stuff but boy could he cite facts from history andif you want an interesting conversation about aything thats happened in the last few hundred years we go to "T-bone"
i guess i should call him professor T-bone now but he will always be his mamas "special" child

 

[armedoldhippy]

I likely warranted a Dx of Asperger's as a kid.. Never got one.

the more i think (yeah, i need to quit) the more i now believe there is no "spectrum". really i think we are ALL on the "spectrum of humanity". hi out there. i'm a human and i'm fucked up...kind of like at AA meetings but a lot more crowded.

 

[dramamine]

Homogenized youth, homogenized population. Easily managed. Is that the goal? Can we be smart enough to see through it? Where will we be without all the wonderful outliers, those who don't quite fit in social situations, but who give us unique perspectives and solutions?

 

[armedoldhippy]

Homogenized youth, homogenized population. Easily managed. Is that the goal? Can we be smart enough to see through it? Where will we be without all the wonderful outliers, those who don't quite fit in social situations, but who give us unique perspectives and solutions?

that is a very real concern. Iceland has virtually eliminated Down's Syndrome due to very early genetic testing. much the same is occurring on a slower scale in other Nordic countries. knowing that you might transmit the faulty DNA causing it would then probably dissuade you from having more kids in the future. today, Down's. who will opinion turn against tomorrow? who is next deemed "not worth the trouble ?"

 

[moose eater]

Teachers and others can also sometimes miss serious issues going on, and assume it's a matter of intellectual deficiency.

My 1st grade teacher, Mrs Robard, old crinkly embittered bitch I recall her as being, told my parents she thought I was mentally retarded because I wouldn't/couldn't focus on class work like many of the others, wrote left-handed, not right-handed, but looked forward to playing with balsa wood airplanes at recess or emulating Roger Ramjet (early signs of propensity for <beneficial> recreational drug use; you had to know the cartoon to get that one).. .

She missed the fact (as she was unaware and didn't inquire in the mid-1960s) that home included serious violence, threats of death/murder off and on, blood on the walls stuff, and unpredictable circumstances in general, that most anyone of any age would see as greater priority or focus than basic math, English, etc.

'Maslowe's Hierarchy of Needs'. Gotta' have the basics down before we launch into self-actualization stuff or the 'fluffier aspects' of life..

Assumptions can lead to medication that's not warranted, or missed clues that might well outline harmful circumstances to one extent or another.

 

[buzzmobile]

Roger Ramjet just entered my vocabulary. Never heard of the cartoon. Google knows him.