Which disorder appears more difficult to manage?

Question

Which disorder appears more difficult to manage?

Answer 1

Autism... too large of a group... too difficult to define/ describe.  Medications, etiology, triggers (for maladaptive behavior), lack of speech, etc make them sometimes seem like aliens in their own bodies!   Then you have other kids who want 100% of your attention and it's difficult to keep up with that, too.

Answer 2

I personally feel that any disorder or condition can be managed if you match the person up with the appropriate mentors, and vice versa- some of the 'easier' disorders might be less manged because the person hasnt found the right fit with a teacher/doctor/therapist or even parent in some cases.

My son is undiagnosed with many autistic-like behaviors. He has a phenomenal one on one aide at school for the last 3 yrs and his progress has been remarkable because he just totally 'clicks' with her. His speech therapist this year however- is the total opposite and she can't manage him at all. She throws her hands up in frustration at the end of every session and thinks he is the hardest pupil ever. His aide comes back and he is right back to cooperative and sweet.

I think no matter what the disorder is, if you have the right match- the sky is the limit.

Answer 3

In my view, the Seriously Emotionally Disturbed children are the most difficult kids to manage behaviorally. While autism appears on the surface to be difficult, they do respond rather favorably to ABA techniques and modifications to their environment.

SED students present a big challenge because almost always, the disturbance is coming from home conditions and it is hard to predict the mental health of the students on any given day. One day you can say something and there is no particular response and the next day you can say the same thing and the child will level the classroom.

There are all kinds of supports and controls that you can put in the classroom to manage the behavior, but the minute the kid goes to specials, lunch or recess, you can have big problems because of the lack of structure or the teacher's responses to misbehavior.

I once had a huge student who was perfect in my classroom, but at least once a week, on the way to specials, (music, art, PE etc) someone would call him "Fat Boy," and the kid would just flatten whoever called him the name. Then he would come running back to my room and sob uncontrollably because he couldn't control his temper.

Autism is a walk in the park compared to this!

Answer 4

Autism- it has got lots harder since the movie Rain Man opened up a Pandora box of pure good intentioned ignorance.  Before Designer Autism autistic from all over the world did autism on our own and most of us came out very well. We have figured out a different kind of human thought process that has never been in a book before.

Autism bridges the gap between MR/DD and Einstein and all of this has a blueprint we all followed (absently) ,namely Alan Turing  (1912-1954) he was g*y Autistic and father of the computer.  Alan's life  spells old autism and is documented in the book The Enigma by Andrew Hodges (1983) . Modern Post Rain Man Autism jumps threw hoops to keep us old high functioning autistic people hidden as we unintentionally bust their bubble. It would be rather obvious after Rain Man the autism empire was born only since they on purpose forgot half the known facts (crypto sensitive autism) of the condition thus making autism a big mess it never was.

While we figured out autism and building blocks to man's mind modern autism is only worried that one of us in our hidden anthropology will break threw and having to admit to one of us will show they have made a mountain out of a molehill.

Answer 5

I agree that Autism appears to be the most difficult but can be managed with early intervention programs ... and the truly autistic - nonverbal and constantly invovled in self stim activities - are the most facinating to me.

I work in a facility that has several types of disorders spreading from the rarest to the most common. Today, I've been researching a lot about PKU (Phenylketonuria) which is a genetic disorder that causes the baby to be unable to process the enzyme protein phenylalanine. This protein is found in beef, poultry, fish, milk, yogurt, eggs, cheese, artificial sweeteners, soy products, nuts and seeds. If the baby has this disorder and goes untreated it can cause seizures, severe intellectual behaviors, self injurious behaviors, loud screaming, repetative rocking, and developmental delays.

To add, the good thing about PKU is that doctors test for this disorder using the blood from a baby's foot. But for the rest of their lives, they need to adhire to their specific diet.

Answer 6

It depends on what you mean by "manage". I think Autisim Spectrum can be challenging due to it's sudden growth catching school systems off guard, but we are researching and continuing to make strides towards helping these students better each day. Sometimes the most difficult disorders to manage can be the low incidence disorders that few people in a school or district have ever worked with or even have knowledge of. Additionally, any behavior disorder in which a student is not medicated if needed and a parent is not helping at home with the behavior plans can be difficult. For the record, I do not believe that every student needs to be medicated nor do I feel parents generally ignore the schools efforts. When you have a student with severe emotional issues, though, they can be very difficult to manage!