62 Comments Add a Comment
linkicon reporticon emailicon
jclark7613 says:
Some children learn slower than other. When my son was in first grade I was told he was to hyper and he needed drugs to calm him down and learn. I refused...my son is now 13 and has skipped 2 grades. He now in the 9th with 3.9 gpa ....what if I would have listened to the teacher. Stop using autism as a excuse and seat down and read and write with your children. Teach them beyond what they learn in school.
reply
yermamma replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Did your son not ever look you in the eye? Was he non verbal? was he self injurious? Did he have stimming issues to the point that he couldn't function? If not then you're a lucky father. Those of us with an autistic child aren't in that boat.
sandy19731 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Your ignorance is appalling. Were you actually told that by a physician? Or, was it by a teacher referring you to a physician?

By the way ADHD and Autism have nothing in common.
kenhamlett replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
BRAVO! You stood by your child and helped him with a temporary problem. Just as good you refused to throw your child away and make him a victim of a system which is there to label everyone in their path without knowing what they are dealing with or how to cure it.
Children need parents like you who take charge and help the child through the rough spots. Apparently there are too few of you around these days.
While your child (and every other kid) are bound to have problems in the future, I have faith you will overcome the hurdles together.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Fatesrider says:
Way back when, death from cancer skyrocketed. So did the diagnosis of PTSD, TBI and virtually every other diagnosis. Why? Before they called it what it was, they had to recognize it and come up with a definitive methodology for its diagnosis. Once you know what to label something, you start seeing a lot more of them because the criteria for diagnosis is better understood and more widely recognized.

This doesn't mean that there are more children being born with or acquiring autism along the way. It just means, with more refined diagnostic tools, the medical community is more apt to spot it.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
yermamma says:
It's easy to see by the posts who has an autistic child and who doesn't. For those of you that are lucky enough to not have this problem, you have no idea what you're talking about. You can give your opinions all day but until you find yourself faced with raising an autistic child of your own and find out that insurance doesn't cover any of it, your opinions are worthless.
reply
bubbadubba replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Says you.
SusanStoHelit replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
That does not change the facts - when they label 1 out of 110 children as autistic - they aren't talking about autism. They are talking about autism spectrum disorder - a very broad label that includes children who merely have a bit of trouble with social interaction, includes children who are shy and are misdiagnosed, includes a great many children who will not be found to be autistic in a few years (this is what is happening to many of the children currently considered as being part of this 'epidemic') - misdiagnosed children.

Autism is real - but the epidemic is not. It's a creation of better detection, inflated statistics from financial incentives to diagnose autism spectrum disorder, and an overly broad definition of 'autism'.

If you really care about understanding autism, the causes, etc. - you should care a great deal about separating the REAL cases from the false ones.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
nowhiningallowed says:
Is "science" also looking into the parents of these kids in terms of abnormalities that include genetics, physiology, psychology, diet, emotional stability, etc.? Don't just look at the condition of the kids, look at their parents and also their parents.
reply
DaVicar8 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Amen!
sandy19731 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Do you know anything about science or for that matter do you have any reading comprehension skills at all?

It is likely that there is an environmental - genetic connection. As there is in most diseases.
SusanStoHelit replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
They have. No links found yet. Of course, autism has been around forever, and is found everywhere, so environmental conditions don't fit all that well.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
bubbadubba says:
Labels for kids are great to start organizations to collect money and give huge salaries to people for nothing.
Autism on the rise? So are people employed to talk about it.
People are different, not everybody is a genius or acts the same.
To label anyone because of who they are is disgusting.
If they have a disease cure it.
If you add all the percentages of these associations for whatever, 600% of children have some type of disability and that is impossible.
reply
knysz replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
In this economy why would anyone think that huge salaries are involved in research for a condition that costs so much money for parents to treat so that their children may have the best life possible??? Get a clue or go home.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
privatebiscuit says:
If you look at the history of autism it was originally thought to be the result of poor rearing by cold parents who permanently damaged their child. These parents were often college graduates and came from higher SES backgrounds. Today, we know that those factors are good predictors of having children later in life and coincidentally older fathers have been found to be more involved with their children as they are not as focused on obtaining status or acquiring wealth (compared to younger fathers). This rules out previous ideas regarding the cause of autism and points to an explanation for the increasing prevalence. A study in Israel in 2006 (I believe that's the correct year) found that the rate of children born with autism was significantly greater among fathers who were 35 or older at the time of conception. With greater education people recognize the advantages of waiting to start families which may increase the risk of autism. Other explanations for the increase in prevalence are better diagnosing methods and expansion of diagnostic criteria for autism.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
ozviaaz says:
I am outraged by the judgmental comments I've read so far. As the grandmother of an autistic child my fondest hope for all that have indicated it's nothing more than a parenting issue that you come to understand, in full measure and on a personal level, everything that a parent of such a child suffers.
reply
DaVicar8 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
That justs proves my point...you are PROUD that your Grandchild hs a label.
yermamma replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
DaVicar why are you on this thread? You obviously have no idea what you're spouting off about. If you really think that people are proud to label their son or daughter autistic then you're a bigger idiot that I thought.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
global_eye says:
Nuclear radiation, on the finer or "etheric" planes of matter, may very well be contributing to rise in Autism rates.

Our Geiger Counter instruments are inadequate and cannot detect this higher level of dangerous radiation, and nuclear scientists and governments just want to keep adding more and more of these plants.

Cancer, Alzheimers, allergies....our planet as a whole is suffering greatly from this terrible and innefficient mode of energy production. It's way too expensive, among other things anyways.
reply
linkicon reporticon emailicon
tngreen says:
This does beg the question: If vaccinations cause autism, why is it impacting boys disproportionately? Not to say that this proves vaccines are not the cause, but the research should seek to identify ways, if any, in which vaccines are impacted by hormonal differences.
reply
sandy19731 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Vaccinations do not cause autism. Period. There is not even a correlation between children vaccinated and children who later are diagnosed with autism. There was a huge study in Denmark that disproved this once and for all (socialized medicine makes for great studies). Google it if you like.
sandy19731 replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
Here's the link to the New England Journal of Medicine article disproving any relationship between autism and vaccination history.

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/347/19/1477
yermamma replies:
linkicon reporticon emailicon
I would like to Google that test. I don't think they "cause" autism but when I was young, we had 10 vaccinations. Now it's up around 36. The pharmaceutical industry rakes in billions and oddly enough they seem to be the ones doing the testing and disproving any link. Seems a bit biased.
linkicon reporticon emailicon
DawnBroderick40 says:
While people like nowhiningallowed are trying so desperately to find blame other than the known (obvious) genetic causes for an incurable condition, many qualified, attentive parents are on the forefront raising their children with autism despite the lackadaisical people looking for easy explanations.

DaVicar8, it's easy to sit behind a keyboard in your all-knowing position of power. Until you have spent over 20 years raising a child with Autism, put a sock in it. You have no clue. Oh, now I'm sure you'll bring up a cousin or a niece and the lifelong struggles of a family member in your anonymous position. Give me a break. Armchair Ph.Ds *rolling my eyes*
reply
3/4