This is preaching to the choir probably.
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11 Myths About Autism
You’ve probably heard lots of thoughts and ideas about autism, but we want to make sure you know what is true and what is false. Our Family Services and Science department put together 11 myths about autism to help put an end to any misconceptions. All of these are great for students to share with their classmates. If you’re in college, get involved with Autism Speaks U, a program that supports college students in their awareness, advocacy and fundraising efforts.
1. Myth: People with autism …
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The refrigerator mom myth is the one that is hardest to dispel, and the one I’ve seen cited by many veteran special education professional, more than any other myth.
I think the truth they give for 10 is very misleading though. It should say that the diagnosis of autism has increased not autism. There are a lot of people now recognized has having autism that would never have been diagnosed in the past.
+Eoghann Irving I’ll concede that there is some improvement in the tools involved in recognizing and diagnosing Autism. Autism, in any of its manifestations, is still diagnosed poorly and very late, both due to lack of training on the MD side, and poor training on the PhD side. There is still no general collaboration between the disciplines that, together, should form (formal and informal) diagnostic teams and, if properly communicating, would ensure early diagnosis and treatment. For example, many kids get referred by the pediatrician for speech and occupational therapy services before the age of three, but seldom get referred to a psychologist or developmental pediatrician for further evaluation. Today, we are still seeing many children diagnosed with an Autistic disorder in the early teens, who were diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. As for the prevalence issue, I’ve searched my memory banks many times and queried many people over the years about their experience and I find that, like me, they do not remember ever going to school with kids who are obviously on the Spectrum as there are now.
Would you even have recognized them if they were there?
I almost certainly have Aspergers yet was never diagnosed with anything during my entire time in school.
I have a nineteen-year-old grandson who I believe is an Asperger. I found the book “Look Me In The Eye; My life with Asperger’s” by John Elder Robison to be very enlightening, as well as a very entertaining book.
My best friend’s apparent ASD did eventually get described in a “blind men and the elephant” kind of way, with an amazing number of NLD, other LD, and sensory integration disorder labels in the early ‘90s. I would also suspect, from my experience and much of what I’ve heard from other adults, that many were/are just considered to be kind of dorky and have problems with “treatment-resistant” anxiety, depression, and the like. That was most certainly the way mine was interpreted, and it’s not even totally wrong once you throw in years of experience with bullying and unaddressed learning difficulties.
+Eoghann Irving I think I would have recognized that there was something different. I know I would not have known that there is a name for it. My husband is an Aspie as well. He was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, and rediagnosed with Asperger’s as an adult, after our daughter was diagnosed with Autism. Since he was a late talker, I think he probably would have been diagnosed HFA in childhood, had he seen a better doctor. I am not surprised by the fact you weren’t diagnosed. Not all Aspies need services or accommodations, and function quite well in spite of their differences. Those are on the highest end of that spectrum.
To get back to the kids I saw as a child and later as a teen, I can’t even think of any who met the behavior criteria for ADHD. That too has seen an explosion and, for many, merely removing some of the additives in foods (red food dyes in particular) makes all the difference.
There is a lot more to this than diagnostic criteria and methodology. It may all come down to genetic predisposition and triggers of one kind or another, but the question remains finding what precipitated all this.
+Rose Ann Siracusa That is an excellent book. Another great book is Parallel Play by Tim Palmer (foreword by John Elder Robison)
Considering the name ADD wasn’t even coined until the 1980 (and ADHD in 87) it’s hardly surprising it diagnosis is more common now than it used to be.
I knew kids at school who might well be diagnosed as ADHD if they were at school today.
Presenting autism as though it is some sort of epidemic is highly misleading.
+Eoghann Irving 1 in 100 in some places, and 1 in 69 in others is more than worrisome and maybe a tad less than an epidemic. Either way, it’s 1 in a 100 or 1 in 69 too many. Then, let’s not forget that 30% of those diagnosed with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome also have Epilepsy. The mortality rate in those with a dual diagnosis of Autism and Epilepsy is considerably higher than those with Epilepsy alone.
+Eoghann Irving I used ADHD because he was diagnosed in the 70s and that’s what they called it back then.
Old habits…
Again I disagree that it’s 1 in 100 too many. Neither I nor my son need cured. You badly misusing statistics when you present things like that.
Epilepsy sufferers have a higher mortality rate than those without. so the fact it is also the case for those who are also autistic is of questionable relevance.
Your 30% figure is also at the highest end of the ranges claimed for epilepsy. It’s usually stated as 10%-30%. 10% is still high, but radically different to 30%
Bottom line… it’s bad science and bad math.
+Eoghann Irving I guess it all depends on how disabled you are. If you’re lucky enough not to be disabled in any way and need no help, then your point of view will differ from those whose level of function is affected.
As for the comorbidity with Epilepsy, I was off by 9%. It’s 39%. You can read about the study here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110415083155.htm I don’t think it’s bad science.
No they didn’t ADHD is a term that first appeared in 1987. In the 60s and 70s they referred to MBD (Minimal Brain Dysnfunction)
+Eoghann Irving OK. For the sake of precision and correctness, I will amend what I wrote to that diagnosis that used to describe what is now called ADD hyperactive type.