Posted on 03/29/2014 6:42:23 AM PDT by Star Traveler
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by:
Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts;
Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities;
Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (typically recognized in the first two years of life); and,
Symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning.
The term “spectrum” refers to the wide range of symptoms, skills, and levels of impairment or disability that children with ASD can have. Some children are mildly impaired by their symptoms, while others are severely disabled. The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) no longer includes Asperger’s syndrome; the characteristics of Asperger’s syndrome are included within the broader category of ASD.
Information on ASD can also be found on the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development website and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
I’m interested in your comment that Asperger’s is “Botha blessing and a curse.” In what ways is it a blessing?
I ask because I’ve come to realize that my dear friend must have a mild form of Asperger’s, which has negatively affected her personal and professional lives and has left her quite unhappy as a result, despite her bright mind and many talents. She is clueless socially and terribly disorganized. I’d like to hear about the blessings.
You, and Dr Perlmutter, are 1000% right.
I work with kids of kinds and believe me, there’s a huge difference between an autistic child and one who’s just awkward.
Yes, out growing of traits is possible.
They are just “different”.
We all have weaknesses and strength. But the clustering of traits is obvious.
I completely agree with everything else you have said. I rent apartments to many computer engineers and IT people. I recognize Aspergers in many of them. It was so obvious. I recognized it even before my grand son was DX'ed with severe autism.
See post #30
The second thing that jumped out at me is the huge statistical difference between white kids (much higher rates) and black kids (much lower rates).
The combination of these two -- coupled with my own experience in dealing with friends who have young children -- tells me that there's a lot of monkeying around with the numbers and (in some cases) even outright fraud going on. In a state like New Jersey you have a situation where a lot of parties -- parents, medical professionals, the pharmaceutical industry, and school districts, for example -- have a vested interest in diagnosing as many kids with "disorders" as humanly possible. In New Jersey, a kid who is diagnosed with this kind of "disorder" is provided special instructional arrangements in school (maybe even including one-on-one tutoring). And the local school district qualifies for all kinds of additional state aid to deal with all these "disordered" kids.
This is why I suspect the explosion in ASD is largely a suburban phenomenon. For many parents who have ambitions for their kids that border on pathological, ASD is a perfect "disorder" because it's the type of disorder that can get little Freddie plenty of extra medical and educational attention ... but will never be diagnosed as a disorder dangerous enough to have him institutionalized.
Here is a well know example of a gifted Asperger’s sufferer.
Temple Grandin
(she invented the cattle squeeze chute)
I don’t know. I certainly don’t consider myself highly intelligent but I had severe sensory issues, although no one knew what sensory issues were 58 years ago. Some of them remain. At times I think my husband acts as though he has Aspergers. I highly suspect my son was a high functioning Aspergers kid but outgrew it or learned to cope. His wife has a severe case ADHD and severe Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, EDS is suspected of increasing the chances of having a child with autism.Their son is has severe autism.
Temple Grandin is great. Also a girl named Carley, I can’t recall her last name. The 1st book I read after my grand son was DX’ed was written by Carley and her father. I used to follow her on FB but she was to liberal for me to tolarate so I no longer follow her page.
I believe the show "Big Bang Theory" was based in no small part to people with exactly those traits undiagnosed.
On the other hand, he was brilliant. I know that someday I will read about how he has invented something wonderful! A very neat kid!
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ...
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.html
Agreed. A goal in science is to classify everything in order for it to be modeled. Clusters of data points must indicate something. And those clusters farther away from what is decided to be the normal, need to be “fixed”, when in fact the act of “fixing” may do more harm then natural progression through life stages. Simply because one child may behave a little differently, e.g., is more quiet, does not mean there is a problem. So now it seems that the ASD “spectrum” can be expanded to cover far too many behavioral “oddities”. This is not to say that some behaviors shouldn’t be monitored, but let’s not be so quick to pull kids into the ASD class.
This reminds me of the autistic kid who who can make a shot from anywhere on a basketball court but they can’t let him play because if an opposing player asks him for the ball, he gives it to them.
I just looked it up and think this is the person you’re talking about ...
Carly’s Voice - Changing the World of Autism
http://carlysvoice.com/home/aboutcarly/
My name is Carly Fleischmann and as long as I can remember I’ve been diagnosed with autism.
I am not able to talk out of my mouth, however I have found another way to communicate by spelling on my computer. (and yes that is me typing on the computer by myself)
I used to think I was the only kid with autism who communicates by spelling but last year I met a group of kids that communicate the same way. In fact some are even faster at typing then I am.
Last year a story about my life was shown on ABC news, CNN and CTV here in Canada.
After my story was played I kept on getting lots of emails from moms, dads, kids and people from different countries asking me all sorts of questions about autism. I think people get a lot of their information from so-called experts but I think what happens is that experts can’t give an explanation to certain questions. How can you explain something you have not lived or if you don’t know what it’s like to have it? If a horse is sick, you don’t ask a fish what’s wrong with the horse. You go right to the horse’s mouth.
Almost all Asperger’s sufferers have some level of OCD.
Out at UCLA there is a Dr. Jeffery Schwartz who specializes in OCD. He wrote a very good book called:
“The Mind & The Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force”
ISBN 0-06-039355-6
That book explains how some of the traits can be “outgrown”. He uses physical disability to illustrate the way the mind can be re-wired.
It is an excellent read. You can probably find it in a decent local library.
Has anyone run into this?
In talking about our boy and if it comes up in the conversation some way, we may say that he’s autistic. Then the other person says something like ... “Oh, that’s cool! I’m ‘artistic’ too.”
... LOL ...
I took 2 courses in “Language for the Deaf” in college from a woman whose parents were deaf. She had some interesting stories...I assume you do as well. :)
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