Have You Noticed That Like Every Third Kid Has Autism?

Question

It seems to be a very popular diagnosis these days. Is it real or just the flavor of the year? A few years ago it was ADD. Maybe next year it will be Munchausens.

Answer 1

I'm not sure, but we are always making new medical breakthroughs as far as science and the human body goes. They know much more now than they did even 10 yrs ago, and in another 10 yrs, they'll know that much more.  

Answer 2

I have a child with ADHD, ODD and OCD. Its a very real diagnosis the same as autism. Its simply that there is NOT a standardized testing criteria for the children being labeled. Many disorders among children are misdiagnosed simply because the symptoms closely resemble so many disorders. And many doctors are very quick to find a label instead of testing further. Add parents who need to have a reason for what their child does. It makes for a LOT of children being labeled who do not have the disorders. That said on Y/A you will find a LOT of parents who have children who truly have these disorders. They congregate here like me for the support and answers they need. It isnt quite so easy to be the social butterfly of the PTA when your child has issues.

Answer 3

It is very sad, I personally believe its because of vaccinations and seriously poor diet and lack of nutrients.

Answer 4

Actually, it has become a popular diagnosis. I suspect this is because the people who are supposed to lead us have taken the easy road in choosing a broad diagnosis as opposed to having to work and figure out more precisely what is happening; and this if anything is truly wrong at all.

Do not be fooled into thinking that autism, or any of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) do not exist. Just ask any parent of a child who is truly autistic! However, the criteria for defining autism have been expanded in recent years, and this just happens to coincide with the increased number of cases being diagnosed; but this is a misnomer.

If you increase the size of the net you use to fish with, you will catch more fish, no? The same is true in autism (or any 'popular' diagnosis, such as the newly discovered problem of 'restless leg syndrome'). As with ASD, we increase the 'net' and now have more cases.

Some are quick to blame childhood vaccines, and specifically the mercury within them (thimerosal). What is sad here is that children's vaccines no longer contain any thimerosal; and even in 1999, when the FDA guidelines to vaccine manufacturers was released, those that did contain it had only trace amounts.

It isn't only thimerosal or vaccines; there are many "theories" as to the causes of ASD's. The problem is that many of the theories are posited by quacks and charlatans disguised as 'experts' who are looking to make a dollar by selling a book. Children have died from lack of a vaccine (hepatitis-b positive mom gave birth, hospital withheld vaccine, child died of hep-b), chelation therapy to remove mercury (autistic child died as a result of improper use of EDTA), and there are many more cases to quote.

The expanded criteria, with unlearned 'experts', and media misrepresentation, has created a hysteria that is hindering beneficial research into the ASD's and helping to truly find a cure or at least a means to prevent. Part of this is you and I, or at least, "us as the public in general". Because we have a right to be informed, this data is presented to us; but we either don't take it all in properly, or we accept the spoon-fed version given to us by the 'media'. Either way, we really aren't "informed" of the issue at all; we were only told what our opinion should be. Sadly, the same thing has happened with HIV research, and for the billions of dollars sunk into that research, we have no vaccine or effective treatment to date.

The drug companies aren’t helping either. They are the recipient, the benefactor, of this money for research. Irony is that they, as a company, will charge $1,000 a dose for a new drug that “cost millions to produce”; but they never tell us the “millions” was from a CDC or NIH grant. We paid for the development through taxes, and then pay for it again when we need it. Nevertheless, the drug companies are more than happy to have an expanded diagnosis; and will even “donate” to help set up foundations to “get the word out” about a “devastating” condition. As with autism, now we have hundreds of so-called ‘non-profit’ organizations that exist to inform us of what autism is and how to diagnose it; and doctors and parents are buying into these campaigns, letting their patients and children be diagnosed with a disorder they may not actually have. They believe what they read, and when this information isn’t quite accurate, it leads to detract from the real issues. This is the wool pulled over our eyes, so-to-speak.

What should we take away from this? First is that yes, autism is a real problem, and there are children and adults who are truly autistic. Never should we forget them and that they deserve to have access to research and curative or preventative treatments. It is however, the changes in the diagnosis criteria, the perceived increase of those diagnosed with the disorder, and the increased public knowledge of the ‘problem’ do raise the question, “who really benefits from this?”; and that is what should be considered. Not whether this it has become ‘popular’ to diagnosis autism; but why has it become popular.

This is just a little something for you to think about tonight.

Cheers!

PS: You may also be interested in reading "Beleaguered Rulers: The Public Obligation of the Professional" by William May; and then trying to figure why our 'rulers' have failed us so miserably.

PPS: As a learned adult and a medical provider, this failure is something I consider often.

PPPS: If polio were a problem today, with today's scientific approach to such problems, we would never find a cure or vaccine to prevent. Instead we would have the best iron lung that could ever be developed.

Answer 5

Autism is the ADD and ADHD of the 90's.  

Answer 6

No, I've noticed that 1 out of 150 children has autism.  Fortunately, there are medical advances that are helping doctors diagnose children at earlier ages than in the past.  Fifty years ago, a person with autism was more likely to be simply labeled "slow."  Thank goodness that's not done anymore!  

ADD/ADHD are also very real.  In fact, they can be detected via MRI imaging, so there's no denying that it exists.  http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/conte...

Answer 7

If you had ever spent any time with an autistic child you would not be wondering if it is real.