Posted on 01/04/2010 7:32:01 AM PST by blackandgoldfan
As many of you know, I'm the mom of two autistic kids. While I've been blessed that they are high-functioning, it has been and continues to be something we struggle with. It can be exhausting.
The last statistics I had read about the prevelance of autism spectrum disorders placed the number at 1 in every 100 kids. That's staggering. Could you imagine the outcry from the gay community if this was AIDS we were talking about? But yet the Washington DC voices remain silent.
(Excerpt) Read more at therightstuffbng.blogspot.com ...
2 autistic kids? Must have a significant genetic component.
Usually on a Monday morning.
Are we being too free with labeling these kids??
Statistically...one would think of this massive occurrence in the past forty years...but if you look across at various examples in the 1800s...I think it’s just that people labeled the kids in those days as just “slow” and didn’t make a big deal about it. If you ever look over the personality traits of Kit Carson...you’d think long and hard that he showed autistic traits.
I believe you may have hit a major point, it isn’t that it wasn’t prevalent, it just wasn’t tracked as a unique condition.
Bless you and your efforts with these children. Keep your efforts positive and find as much special training/help that you can afford to get for them.
There are several theories about why autism seems to be rising in the population.
One doctor doing research in this field found higher rates of autism in neighborhoods with high usage of autos and suspects it might have something to do with elements emitted into the air via exhaust emissions.
Might be that the rise is coincident with the use of catlytic converters?
Or environmental.
A lot more kids are being diagnosed with autism now. Does anyone know whether it is better diagnosis, much looser diagnostic standards or more children really have autism than before? Probably one way to check is to compare numbers at constant symptom levels (numbers then who just stare into space vs number now and then continue down the symptom list). If the severe case counts are the same but the minor cases are now much more common there probably aren't more cases but instead more diagnoses of autism. Then you need to split the real cases properly diagnosed vs the number of newly misdiagnosed cases for purposes of payment for treatment or disability payments.
I have one “normal” child. We had genetic testing done, and the results all came back with no red flags. It’s not clearly known what causes it, but I’d guess that it’s a combination of factors. When they think they have a cause and effect link, it seems to get blown out of the water.
All I know is that my two autistics have taught me a lot about how to be a better person. They’re great!
We live in a very rural area. Interesting theory, though.
Is it possible there are more autistic children now because of women generally having children at an older age?
One hypothesis is that part of the increase in autism is the result of geniuses marrying other geniuses.
Let’s say someone lived in the 1800’s and were smarter than 99.99 percent of the population. Out of a randomly selected group of 10,000 people, they were the brightest. Now, in all likelihood, their social circle wouldn’t be 10,000 people. They would know the 1,000 people in their town or neighborhood. Odds are they would not marry someone as smart as themselves.
Now, a person that smart would leave their community and go on to graduate school or some high-tech field. They would meet someone as smart as themselves. The two people with great brainpower might share a lot of the same gene mutations. The offspring might start getting two pairs of recessive genes that are harmless alone but harmful together.
It’s just a theory. There is an increased amount of autism in Silicon Valley and the Route 128 corridor in Boston. It may be because high-income people are more likely to get a diagnosis. Or perhaps the “geniuses marrying geniuses” hypothesis has some validity.
Interesting list. Sometimes I wonder about my youngest nephew....
hh
We have never received disability payments for our kids. We feel that there are other disabled kids who need it more than our kids. There are those out there who will use the diagnosis to milk the system, and those people make me ill. That’s totally unacceptable in my book. Our kids have made great strides through love, therapy, and patience. That goes a lot further than any amount of money. The rewards are much greater also.
While my husband and I are fairly educated (some college), we are by no means “geniuses.” At least not the hubby. lol ;-)
LOL, probably.
The "autism"/education-mafia lobby is trying to diagnose as many kids as possible with "autism". Autism is getting to be the same kind of joke that "racism" became from overuse. If a kid doesn't listen when you tell him to shut up and sit down, he must be "autistic". It's the new excuse for lazy parents who are unwilling to properly discipline their kids. I guess ADD and HDAD (or whatever) got old and wore out.
Well, you are a freeper, so you must be quite bright. :)
The “geniuses marrying geniuses” theory would, at best, only account for part of the increase in autism.
I tried to find a way to contact the author, but couldn’t. I can help, particularly in PA. My son is high-functioning autistic and we have faught and won the wars.
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