[Dont Mention the War]

I'm not taking a side here. I'm only posting this because the subject has come up on FR many times in the past, so I thought others might find it of interest.

[konaice]

Gawd i hate articles that have to take you on a touchy feelie sob story ride before getting to the point. Why are all the drama authors writing for so called science organizations.

/rant

[Choose Ye This Day]

Nothing to see here. There is no epidemic. Your child doesn't really have a problem. Move along...

[RebelBanker]

Read later

[technochick99]

This confirms what I've thought. Changing the way we measure things changes our results.

[pabianice]

This seems to be a clear case of Victimology 101. If a child is behind his contemporaries, it MUST be due to a desease over which neither he nor his parents have any control. They're all "victims," instantly removing any hint of responsibility.

That said, the ability to correctly diagnose does improve over time. I keenly remember a "stupid kid" in school who was simply put in the 7th grade retarded division. As an adult he self-diagnosed dyslexia and went about solving it. He has since done very well.

[OldFriend]

We have a friend whose little boy is truly autistic. He was fine until about 2 yrs. old and then all progress stopped and he began to regress.

From reading all I can, it is clear that many children are labelled autistic that are not autistic at all.

The 'powers that be' seem to use that term as a catch all for many developmental problems.

Just my considered opinion from watching this dreaded situation up close and personal.

[cas7boys]

I have 3 children on the spectrum - in my home it does feel like an epidemic.

Some of the comments I read seem to suggest that there is nothing really wrong with these kids - I would invite you to spend time with a child diagnosed with autism and then report back - you might have a different perspective.

Thank you for posting this - I am always willing to read information about autism. My older autistic is 19 next month, and there has been a lot of change in information since he was first diagnosed. My twins are 8 this month, and as always there is still much speculation about what the cause or causes of autism might be. I am thankful that is has been determined that it is not because of "refrigerator moms - might explain why my other 4 children AREN'T on the spectrum.

[TomB]

Some more information from another article:

A far more obvious explanation for the increase in autism rates in California was the one that mainstream autism experts expounded: diagnostic changes, new laws that expanded federal payments to care for autistics, and greater parental awareness of these resources. In 1990, Congress made autism one of the disabilities that qualified for federal funding. Thereafter, states were obliged to report all cases of autism. In a Minnesota study, to take one example, admissions of autistic children to developmental programs jumped starting in the 1991 school year and continued to do so for a decade. Often these increases occurred within the same grade. For example, 13 autism cases were reported per 10,000 Minnesota 6-year-olds in the 1995-96 school year—that is, among children born roughly in 1989. Five years later, the prevalence rate for this cohort was reported at 33 per 10,000. These were the same kids. Between the ages of 6 and 11, they'd suddenly "become" nearly three times as autistic—or rather, doctors, parents, and school counselors were enrolling them in programs more aggressively.

[js1138]

I have a Masters in Special Education and spent a number opf years in social work. I can testify from firsthand experience that doctors will ask a social worker what diagnosis is required in order to get a child into a therapy program. This is a funding issue, not a scientific or medical problem.

[Domestic Church]

It seems autism has become a sub-industry, churning state and national funds not to mention the research and grant monies involved. Since the schools are involved to a degree in referrals and special education money there has to be an element of self propagation now (and hence over diagnosis.)

[The Westerner]

Thank you for posting this excellent article. I agree with this author's data: that the label of autism is diagnosed more often now than in the past. The best book I've ever come across on the subject was Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures. She is a high functioning autistic who learned to articulate what is happening in her mind. She said that she takes anti-depressants regularly and has no sex drive, thus no desire to engage in social relations with a man. But she works in the cattle industry and is quite successful because she can see the world through the perspective of animals.

[Palladin]

Bookmarking for a later read...

[conservative cat]

I do know that whether or not my son had been diagnosed as autistic 30 years ago, he still would have been in special ed. There is no way he could have been in a mainstream class- even then.

I think there is something to the gut connection. My son improved in behavior on a gluten free diet (and had small improvements when he received secretin during a study.)

[AppyPappy]

Apart from the fact that about three-quarters of those affected are male

This would seem to bust the "vaccine" bubble since males don't make up 3/4 of the kids vaccinated.

[diamond6]

bump 4 later