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“Did you have any kid in your class that was a bit socially awkward? Nowadays they would be classified as having Aspbergers.”

I was quiet and strange growing up. In fact, a lot of what I read about autism and Aspbergers reminds me of *me* growing up :-). I broke out of my shell around age 13 having not taken a single pill to alter my persona. Knowing my mom, she would have told any doctors suggesting medication to go to hell anyway :-).

I know a few couples that have autistic children. Of those, I feel that only one is truly special needs though I am not a medical professional. One of the other kids seemed really bright despite being very anxious but is now zombified after being on some kind of medication.

There’s a lot of cash behind these diagnoses ... it’s a shame that kids are paying for them with their minds. While I won’t doubt that doctors understand some of the medical science behind these disorders, I can’t see how the human race cranks out so many people suffering from mental disorders. My guess is that various psychiatrists and other, in my opinion, half-wit “doctors” are throwing these pills around like candy after reading a journal or two and getting marketing spiel from drug companies.

It’s easier and cheaper to use meds than any other type of therapy. I read some book by a Dr who said that he could “cure” most of the psychiatric illnesses today without using meds, but it involved time consuming and expensive types of therapy. And that it was easier and cheaper for all concerned (drs and family members, and insurance companies)to just use medication to mitigate some of the symptoms.
It’s like ADHD. I had a teacher try to tell me my son had ADHD. It was really funny because at the time he was seeing a pretty locally renowned child psychologist at the time (due to issues totally unrelated to school) and the psychologist said point blank that Logan was not ADHD. Logan’s problem in school was that he was a 7 year old boy who did not want to sit quietly and read a book after he finished his math homework ahead of everyone else. But his teacher saw me as a divorced mom, who at the time was lower-income, and she thought that she could bully me into drugging my son to make him sit down and shut up. I gave her his Dr’s card and asked her to call him and discuss it. And that she needed to let me see her doctorate degree before she started throwing out diagnosises

I worked with a special ed kid who was “normal” when his meds ran out but was a zombie when his parents got the bottles filled. Night and day difference. His brain was being fried. What a shame and a wasted life.

Back in the day, I’d help out in the spec ed room. The one and only spec ed room for K-12. There were maybe a dozen kids. Today, there’s that many or more for each grade. No way is that from medical advancement. Most is follow the money. Parents can get a check and they get special attention aka MEEEEE!. Schools have eliminated recess, art and other creative outlets so kids get hyper having to sit all day. Teachers don’t want to deal with hyper kids, so instead of sending them outside to run off their energy, they slap a disability label on them and kick them out of their classroom. The school district then collects their check. If the school knows a kid is going to do badly on the state test, the kid is placed in spec ed so he doesn’t have to take the test and doesn’t lower the school’s ranking (and the school gets a check).

Back to the parents craving attention through their special needs children. I read an article this morning with a mother complaining her special little snowflake didn’t get to eat the birthday cake another mother brought to class. Snowflake had to eat grapes because his mama told the teacher he had food allergies. Snort. Now, mama gets to holler at the teacher. If Snowflake had eaten the cake and become ill, mama would have hollered at the teacher. Bottom line, mama gets to holler no matter what.

That said, no one, and I do mean no one I ever knew growing up in peanut land ever had peanut allergies. Twenty years ago when little one was in preschool, they grew peanut plants in Styrofoam cups and no one died. Fine, everyone is likely allergic to something but something has caused an explosion for actual peanut allergies or make believe peanut allergies. Just like gluten allergies. No way are there so many with gluten allergies just in the last 5 or 6 years. IMO, 99% of them are parents wanting the attention of oooooh, extra special snowflake has the latest hip and trending allergy and handicap!!!