Posted on 07/21/2008 11:23:49 AM PDT by camerakid400
Autism is definately not a behavior problem... ADD and ADHD I’d be willing to back him on a lot of that being brats (not all, but a lot diagnosed with it, you bet).
Autism is not remotely a child being a brat, anyone who has actually been around autistic children for any length of time knows this.
I think we've gotten better at diagnosing mental illness. Kids who would have been diagnosed as generally mentally retarted a generation ago are now given more specific diagnoses, which facilitates treatment.
I doubt there are any more actual cases of autism, we're just getting better at catching them.
My best friend has an autistic child. The kid’s in a totally different universe/dimension. Does not relate to anything or anyone in an even remotely normal way. Sees and hears things we don’t. And reacts to those things in completely unpredictable ways. Much be watched ALL the time.
For those who don't want to take the trouble to read Dr. Sowell's book on the subject, they can read the gist of it in his recent column. This is not to deny that autism exists and even requires extraordinary measures in a few cases, it is just to reject the easy notion of early labeling and pumping drugs into children.
One of my daughters was diagnosed as hearing deficient at age 1. We were told she needed tubes in her ears and aggressive therapy to avoid possible total loss of hearing and even mental retardation. Fortunately, we were dirt poor at the time and couldn't afford it, so we got a second opinion. She grew out of the problem and is the lovely girl who works with autistic children.
Another daughter was a slow talker and was diagnosed with possible autism. While we could have afforded the treatment by then, we decided to wait and see. It turned out she didn't talk much because her older siblings did the talking for her. Within one year, we couldn't get her to stop talking. Today, she speaks four languages and is as brilliant as she is beautiful.
That's what fathers traditionally taught kids before the radical feminists took over the culture of child rearing.
If he’s a manifest idiot then what’s the problem?
I know a lot about this. Unfortunately.
Crusades Versus Caution: Part II
by Thomas Sowell
Excerpt:
There is already considerable evidence of false diagnoses of preschool children as autistic, and the treatments inflicted on them can be abusive, with incalculable negative effects on their development.
What about the positive effects of “early intervention”?
According to Professor Camarata, those children “with true autism” are “very difficult to treat and may never say ‘mommy’ or learn to take care of themselves without Herculean efforts by their parents and teachers.”
The limitations of what can be achieved with even early intervention mean that there can be real heartbreak, whether a toddler or preschooler is either falsely or correctly diagnosed as being autistic.
Much has been made of statistics showing a sharp increase in diagnoses of autism in recent years.
What has gotten much less attention is the changing definition of autism, which raises the question whether there has been an actual change in the real world or simply a change in the way words are used when collecting statistics.
People today are often spoken of as being “on the autistic spectrum,” rather than as having autism.
Like Imus picking on those college basketball players, this is just another case of a wannabee big man bullying weaker people for his own aggrandizement.
The idea that a radio entertainer can address an issue as complicated as autism is nonsense. Savage thought he was clever by insulting the parents of autistic children, and now that he's being called on it, he's snivelling and whining like the bully he is.
I can’t believe just how many so called conservatives jump on the train to over-medicate the children of this country. Never thought I would see the day, by alas it is here. I feel like all battles are lost if even here you have folks jumping on the trains to a medicated society. Anyway, perhaps Savage used a bit of hyperbole but he is right, the new boondoggle money maker is destroying the children by over diagnosing autism. Real suffering children are getting crowded out by hyperactive non-disciplined children - forever ruining them with medicated therapy rather than diet and discipline.
The bottom line is that what Savage said is insensitive, harsh and lacking in any compassion. But he’s essentially correct. All autistic kids need extra attention, but most of it is the attention of time and disclipline which a loving parent or caring teacher could deliver. A minimal amount of medication can also be helpful, but not in the frequencies and quantities pushed by the “funky kid” industry.
“Correct. He’s a good man of business.”
Weiner’s fanatical followers will be shocked when -— as his ratings drop and he needs a second act to fund his retirement plan -— Weiner suddenly writes a book about how conservatism is wrong and he’s seen the light, and is now a liberal.
He’s a con man, extraoridinaire.
Wonder how much he skims off the suckers giving money for his various legal publicity stunts.
The spectrum definitions can certainly be debated, but the children that are diagnosed as autistic are overwhelmingly not problems with parenting. There is much you can do for them with pharmaceuticals either. One of the most consistent therapies to improve autistic symptoms are probiotics to improve the functioning of the gut. Savage actually should know about this given his background.
According to the article, the whole show will just be people calling in and yelling at him about it lol.
I can’t even imagine how unpleasant it must be to be inside the mind of Michael Savage. Just a few minutes listening to him makes me want to slit my wrists. If there’s a darker view of life out there, I haven’t come across it.
To me this is just another case of Michael Savage saying something controversial so he stays in the news. Since so few people actually listen to Savage, this tyrade was exposed by Media Matters, Hillary’s media lap dog.
In some ways, I do think Autism diagnosis has been over applied but I don’t agree with Savage or Thomas Sowell either on the subject of Autism.
The increase in diagnosed autism is not an indication the condition does not exist in those additional children. Autism involves significant differences in brain function. There are a multitude of reasons why a condition is seen to increase, from actual increase in numbers to better treatment, diagnosis and reporting of existing cases. For Savage to say an autistic child needs to be told to shut up is like telling a polio victim to stop malingering and start walking. I’m interested in learning if any new cases are misdiagnosed, but a political issue?
I think we've gotten better at making up new mental illnesses to suit modern cultural trends. Much of the "autism-spectrum" illnesses are nothing more than a new way of describing kids in med-speak who used to be just weird, odd, ill-mannered, or unsociable. Things that didn't need to be "treated" just dealt with.
I was in a bookstore recently and I looked a book that was intended to be a kids guide to understanding autistic kids. What I found out was that apparently I'm autistic because I only like to talk about a limited number of things, I can be highly focused on tasks, I don't like people touching me without permission, and I don't like good experiences with friends to end. Outside of the smallish percentage of people who literally are non-functional, much of the "autism-spectrum" disorder is failure to be the All-American Kid.
That may be true of most autistic kids. But there are some that are brats. Since others are using anecdotal stories about real autistic kids, I will offer one about a brat.
A friend's teenage son was diagnosed as autistic, with Aspergers. I do not believe he is truly autistic. He uses the diagnosis to get away with unbelievably rude behavior, especially towards his mother. He is manipulative, using the diagnosis whenever it will let him excuse bad behavior.
Normal teenage boys have plenty of rude, anti-social tendencies. Imagine how they would behave if all those behaviors were attibuted to Aspergers and excused.
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