Do you think Autism is being over diagnosed?

Question

Question Details: Do you think the actual diagnostic criteria is being used all the time, or are kids who "may be at risk" being diagnosed as well. I ask because I met a boy, age 3 who's Mom said he was diagnosed with autism at 2. This boy was referencing her from across a playground, playing with another child, came when she called him, and answered questions appropriately. I saw nothing that resembled autism. I have a child with autism, and have met many, so it's not like I have no experience, though I know I'm not a diagnosticician. I know early intervention is important, but 1 year of intervention makes autism disappear? I question the correctness of the diagnosis. Wondering if anyone else has seen examples like this.

Along those same lines, if you have a child diagnosed with autism...At what age? Do you feel it was accurate? How old is your child now and how are they doing? What therapy have you used. Do you think your child will be cured or be unidentifiable in the future

Answer 1

They are now saying that normal looking children can have autistic tendencies.  I am the guardian of a 25 year old woman who when in grade school they thought was autistic and then found out she was mildly impaired mental handicap (MIMH) and then some still think she has autistic tendencies because when she is upset she will start shaking her hands and staring at them.

I think it is stretching it a bit to get more funding to people with problems they can't categorize any other way.

They do this with ADD and ADHD as well.

Answer 2

This is an interesting question. I have two daughters diagnosed with Asperger's, and I am inclined to think that the younger would not have been diagnosed with anything in the past. I respect the doctor we saw, but I'm not certain she meets all the criteria. So I wonder about over-diagnosis, too.

I often think about my older brother as a child. At age 2, he had little or no language, along with a host of behaviors that now sound "autistic" to me. He would probably have been diagnosed.

Yet family history has it that a few months after his second birthday, he started talking, and it was like a switch had been flipped. Language developed fast, and the other behaviors just went away, because he could communicate and didn't need them. It was just his developmental course. He is a successful man with no autistic characteristics.

Now, if it were today, I suspect he would have ended up in an ABA program, and then, when the language started up, people would say, "Oh, how wonderful ABA is, we must continue this intervention indefinitely." Similarly, when my daughter did better in kindergarten than preschool, people said, "Well, ABA works," even though she was getting less of it. I know that early intervention is the most effective thing and perhaps people have that in mind when they diagnose young. But on the flipside, I wonder whether some of the well-meaning effort in autism-based therapies may actually make it harder for my daughter to learn more typical behavior.

Sorry to go on so long! This is a topic near to my heart. As to my children, #1 daughter was diagnosed PDD at 2-1/2, AS at 4, NVLD somewhere in there. At 13, she often appears quite typical and is fully mainstreamed, but has many underlying challenges. I hope that she will be independent someday, but realistically I don't think we'll ever stop keeping an eye on her. #2 daughter was diagnosed at around age 5 after years of being "at risk." Now she is 9. We can really see her being an independent adult like many in the software company my husband works at -- smart, rigid, perfectionistic, funny. Not "cured," just herself.

The kids have benefited from supportive mainstream environments, social teaching and engagement, positive behavioral supports, and time. I was not a fan of ABA with them, although I know it works for others. Wish I'd known more about RDI when they were smaller, as it resonates with their needs to me.

Answer 3

It might be. There is a 'spectrum' and kids are individuals so not everybody is going to have the same characteristics for any disease including autism.

But even with potential environmental factors, I think that other people are exploiting today's environmental fear just so they can sell their 'safe products' and get anxious prospective and 'new' parents buying these items.  

I do believe some environmental items might have a possible connection, but I'm not against vaccinations. I am glad my parents vaccinated me and my brother.

I think that contaminated air, water and chemical pesticides (the stuff which more people unknowingly ingest more frequently) might be more lethal to everybody. And so it could be what's adversely impacting child development.  

Maybe if we as a nation successfully addressed these, the rate of autism diagnosis would somehow go down?

Answer 4

It's important to remember that autism is a spectrum disorder.  I co-founded a support group and have met hundreds of children with autism   I have never met a child with the autism diagnosis that I feel was incorrectly diagnosed.  I have, however, met dozens of children that I feel have been misdiagnosed as non-autistic.  

On first impression, a child may appear neuro-typical, but after interacting/observing the child in various settings, the diagnosis is clear.  My son is on the higher-functioning end of the spectrum with an official diagnosis of PDD-NOS/Asperger.  He was diagnosed at age 5 and did not begin receiving treatment until age 6.  At age 6, he began receiving intensive Applied Behavioral Analysis by highly-skilled Behaviorists.  At the time he was five and six, he was throwing chairs across the classroom and even stabbed a teacher with a pencil.  In other environments, most people had no idea he had autism.  

Today after 3 1/2 years of ABA, he is nearly indistinguishable from his peers.  He is at or above grade level in all subjects and in a regular ed classroom.  He does not meet the DSM criteria in a strictly clinical setting (aka in the Psych's office) but if he is observed in other settings, the presence of autism is still there.  He now has very minimal behaviors.  His aggressive behaviors are almost non-existent at school.  But they rear their ugly head in non-structured settings such as the after school program.

My son is definietly on the path of an independent life.  He is obsessed with scorpions and wants to be an entomologist or serpetologist when he grows up.

I feel very strongly that the outcomes of children with autism are directly linked to deteremining the right cocktail of therapies:  ABA, TEACCH, pragmatics speech therapy, Theory of Mind training, Natural Environment Teaching (NET), incidential teaching, occupational therapy, sensory integration therapy, hippotherapy (horseback riding therapy), water therapy, art therapy, music therapy, the mulitide of biomedical interventions and much, much more.  I frimly believe parents should not rely solely on school districts to educate them on various options.  Parents should take their child's education in their own hands, perform their own research and advocate for different therapies.  It is hard work and can be very expensive, but there is no question the payoff is phenomenal.

I have seen children "lose" the diagnosis after 2 or 3 years of ABA and other therapies, but not after 1 year.  It's important to remember that just because you didn't see any evidence of autism, doesn't mean the child does not have autism.

Answer 5

This is a very complex question-the research on incidence rates of autism is not as conclusive as the general media view would have you believe.  I do believe the numbers seem higher partly because of the umbrella of the "spectrum" covers more kids and when the CDC reports the 1:150 number, that includes ALL spectrum diagnoses, not just Autistic Disorder (per the DSM-IV).  However, it certainly seems like more kids are being diagnosed, so the answers are unclear.

Personally, I have a 14 year old with Aspergers Syndrome.  He was diagnosed at 6-has been mainly a regular ed. student with some special education services all his school career.  He will be entering 9th grade this fall and I expect he will go to college of some type and be fully independent.  I believe autism will always be a part of who he is, even though he "passes" fairly well most of the time.  We have provided him with some outside counseling over the years and is under the care of a brilliant neurologist who regulates his medications and guides us with him.  He recently participated in a social/behavioral assessment research project in their clinic, so we are eagerly awaiting those results.  He is an endearing and engaging young man, despite the significance of his learning issues.

In addition, I am a speech pathologist by training and now a special education administrator for programs for students with autism.  There is a lot out there, and it can be overwhelming at times.  Early intervention and intensity of services demonstrate the best outcomes, regardless of methodology chosen.

I hope you find all this information helpful....all the best to you.

Answer 6

No, I think that finally after too many years, it is being diagnosed correctly.  Until not too long ago, the diagnosis of autism was very narrow and specific, which excluded many children with similar, but not identical, characteristics from being labeled "autistic."  But now, since the A.S.D. umbrella is there, many more children are being diagnosed with disabilites in the autistic spectrum disorder category.

Answer 7

I often wonder this as well. In Quebec, Canada, only a pediatric Psychiatrist can diagnose a child with autism. This makes the waiting list incredibly long, but I felt very confident this specialist knew what she was talking about. I have met several families online that are from the US and received their diagnosis from OTs and speech therapists. I question the validity of these diagnosis. I am also noticing a huge trend of self-diagnosing?

My son was diagnosed at the age of 3 by a pediatric psychiatrist. I knew before I got there that my son had autism. It took 9 moths to get the diagnosis so by there wasn't a doubt in my mind. My son is now four. He has made great improvements but most people wouldn't realize it as he is pretty severe. We are doing RDI therapy and an ND therapy called De Jong Method from Holland. My son has worked with an OT and speech therapists in the past, but we stopped  working with them and are concentrating more on brain plasticity and core deficits. He is beginning to use language with purpose and will reference me on occasion. This is a skill we are currently working on. I do believe my son will make huge progress. Will he be remediated.....that is my hope. Will he be cured.....I don't think it is possible. I think he and his family will need to work hard always to support his weaknesses and build on his strengths. I believe that early intervention is important, but that people learn all their lives so continual intervention is far more critical. Don't give up at the age of 3. Anyone can learn at any age.

best to you and your family

Answer 8

Most likely, and it is for the simple fact that scientists are still totally lost on most things that concern the brain.  Drugs that are used on people with "brain disorders" are trial and error, they do not really know why some drug work and others do not.