When you have an autistic child, there are a lot of things that people say. Some are positive, like you can find in this post, others are negative, like those you can find in this post. Other times, people will say things that just make you shake your head. It’s often best to just ignore people unless you’re feeling particularly patient and decide to try and explain.
Well, I don’t know about you, but when people are saying something to me that I’ve heard a hundred times that week, I’m not always the most patient person. So I decided to tackle some of the things that people say that are genuine and deserve a genuine (and patient) response.
I’m writing this in the comfort of my own bedroom while eating some chocolates, and patient as can be. Now when you aren’t so patient, you can refer people to my website where I can explain for you!
Today we’re chatting about the all too common statement, “everyone is autistic these days”. Other examples include: “I never knew anyone with autism in my day!” and “the autism epidemic is out of hand, now every kid has autism”. So, here are my thoughts on the topic.
5 Simple Reasons it Seems Like Everyone is Autistic Nowadays
It Wasn’t Called Autism Before
Autistic children and adults were often not labeled autistic until recently. The term autism was often tied to schizophrenia in research, so many, many people went undiagnosed. Even more people, however, were misdiagnosed.
Often autistic people would be diagnosed as “challenged” “language impaired” or “mentally retarded” (this is no longer a medical diagnosis and is extremely offensive, but I’m including it to be historically accurate).
With modern diagnostic criteria, many people who received those diagnoses would fall within the autism spectrum if diagnosed today. In fact, the diagnostic criteria is still changing to attempt to become more accurate.
For example, many children who were originally diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome are finding that their diagnosis doesn’t even exist anymore, now it’s all under the ASD umbrella. A lot more kids are diagnosed autistic now that we know what autism actually is.
They Were Labeled Bad Kids
If you aren’t very familiar with autism, this would be a good place for me to take a step out and explain that it is a wide spectrum, and people can be on either side or in the middle. Medically speaking, one side is “high-functioning autism” (I hate the term, and I have a whole post on why I hate functioning labels here).
Autistic kids and adults years ago, and sadly still many today, were never formally diagnosed, they were just labeled the “bad kids”. You didn’t know anyone autistic in your day, but did you know someone who struggled to make eye contract? Did you know someone who other kids called “weird” for always quoting a movie or tv show? Yeah, I thought so.
Many of A-Man’s behaviors would be considered “bad” and if people didn’t know that he was autistic, they would easily label him the “bad kid” of the group. In fact, before we got a diagnosis this is exactly what happened. He didn’t always have the words to say please or more, so he would whine. He didn’t know how to tell a child to get out of his space, so he would push them.
We now know why he does what he does, and we’re more able to help him (his world changed when the nursery teachers decided to learn the signs he was using for “more please”) but years ago, people had no idea that autism was a possibility.
They Were Hidden Away
On the other side of the spectrum, we have “low-functioning autism” (again, hate it). Primarily this consists of autistic people who are non-verbal and may require long-term care. Now, however, with the improvement of several devices, PECS, and other modern techniques, we are finding that many non-verbal autistic people very much have a voice to share, we simply must help them to share it.
Years ago, however, they were not respected and cared for. Friends, I’m going to be honest and say that this part is hard to type. Many autistic people were taken to institutions and homes, and subjected to unimaginable cruelty.
You didn’t see these children at school because they were never given the chance to go to school. You didn’t see them playing because they weren’t given the chance to play. There is a dark, dark history of how disabled people were treated in America.
Now, these autistic individuals are in schools. They’re going to college. They’re writing blogs and books and sharing their voice online. They’re visible.
We Are Raising Awareness
It’s important to realize that autism is simply more known about these days. Some of the education has been great! With the internet, we now have the opportunity to do research and find voices from autistic adults and other disability advocates who are reaching out to educate.
Some of it has been bad, see my post on Autism Speaks here. We also still have so far to go. We had to fight for A-Man to get a therapy evaluation because our pediatrician believed all of his behaviors were caused by bad parenting.
We still have people telling us that “everyone is autistic now” at the grocery store. We have some people believing that being autistic just means that you’re “quirky” or “weird” because that’s what they’ve seen portrayed on their favorite tv shows, and other people believe that the only people who are “really autistic” are non-verbal and flapping their arms all the time because that’s what they’ve seen it portrayed as.
Either way, I would be willing to bet that 90% of people know about autism in some way, so they have the ability to learn more and potentially get diagnoses for themselves and their children. It’s really hard to fight for a diagnosis when you don’t know the diagnosis exists.
Kids Are Getting Misdiagnosed Today
We have obviously come a long way from the history of disability in America, but we have a long way to go. Currently in my state, sensory processing disorder isn’t considered a true diagnosis. Now, this may not seem like a big deal as long as you know what’s going on and how to help, but here’s the issue. All of the protections for disabled individuals are only available to people with officially diagnosed disabilities.
In the school system here, not only are they not required to provide support for children with SPD, they aren’t allowed to. I know of many, many children who have received an autism diagnosis knowing full-well that they aren’t autistic simply so that they can get an IEP at school.
Depending on the child’s individual struggles, they decide if they’re closest to the diagnostic criteria for ASD or ADHD, and they diagnose whatever they can to get the child some help. These numbers inflate the ASD rate purely because of the lack of recognition of other diagnoses as true disabilities.
So here is an outline of just a few reasons that the current ASD rate is so high, and why the true number of autistic people is likely still very similar to what it was years ago. You can use this when people try to tell you that everyone is autistic these days!
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I would not have been diagnosed if I lived in an earlier era.
FlutistPride recently posted…Why Do You Act The Way You Do? (Original Song Lyrics by Me)
So true!
Autism tends to go unnoticed in extroverted females, especially those of the sanguine variety. No autistic character I have read about is sanguine. I really need to create a sanguine autistic character.
FlutistPride recently posted…The Doctor (Alternatively: Through Tears and Bleary Eyes)
That is so, so true! I’d love to read that. :)
These Psycho-babble conditions can’t be measured by science.
They are mostly harmless,
However, when ‘Autism’ is used as an excuse to give kids drugs, Then there is a problem.
May your actions be founded on the pillars of science and timeless wisdom.
May your child not be burdened with imaginary excuses for bad behavior and low expectations for self improvement.
Einstein, the retarded kid that didn’t talk until he was almost 3. and even then hardly at all. I’m so glad he didn’t have one of you doting over him with convoluted excuses and medications. When he was naughty, he got a smack. A non verbal, mostly symbolic punishment, that makes sense to an autistic mind.
Exactly. I was born at the tail end of GenX (1980). When i was in early grade school the answer / excuse was not Autism but bad behavior and lack of discipline. That’s when the teacher’s started putting all the trouble makers on ritalin. Unbenownst to them it has the same effect of cocaine and speed on the kids taking it exactly, exactly the opposite effect of what is desired with hyperactive children.
It literally turns overactive kids into crazy maniacs and they weren’t the last. Sinc the 1980’s the explanation “bad behavior” was changed to “adhd” and now the latest fad is “Autism” and “Aspergers” as the latest excuses.
I’m sure there will be many more.
Excellent info to help the world understand autism and thus our kids better! Thanks so much for sharing.
Sylvia recently posted…Special Needs and/or Homeschooling Blog Link Up #3
Thank you, Sylvia! I have heard people ask about it over and over again, so I figured it warranted a post. :)
I think that as genetic testing becomes more common and the cost comes down, more kids will get a more accurate diagnosis than lumping them all together under the “autism” umbrella. My son qualified for an autism dx before we received his exome testing results. Now we know what rare disorder he has and why he is the way he is.
That’s a good point! A-Man got his autism dx last May, but since we’ve started the process for genetic testing for my younger son (Baby M) we’ve realized that A-Man may potentially have Fragile X Syndrome. There’s so much that we don’t know!
For your information, not everyone is autistic these days. So don’t make a false assumption. And don’t assume that all autistic people are necessarily bad.
I’m sorry that’s what you got from my post. What you’re sharing is the entire point. I’m talking to people who say “everyone is autistic these days” and telling them why they feel that way but it isn’t true.
Methinks someone needs to RTFP rather than just its title.
My question is why is it so comman autisim these days young children and mostly boys they still don’t know the cause I think it’s the mmr
No study has ever shown a link between mmr and autism. The doctor who wrote the paper suggesting the link has since been struck off the medical register for fraud and will never be allowed to practice as a doctor again. Please read up about this. Making this false link between autism and mmr is not helpful to people with autism or their families.
Well it’s got to be something and this nonsense about how we now call mental retardation autism as in this piece needs to stop. Something is causing it and if it’s not vaccines then what the hell is it.
Nothing known is causing autism. Children are born autistic. Autism developes in the very early stages of birth. This is something you may not believe, but you cannot catch autism, autism is NOT caused by vaccines, get your facts straight. Autism is like sexual orientation, these people are BORN with it. I apologize for seeming rude if I did, but autism isn’t gained.
We have an 8 yo daughter who attends a school for autism in the uk. We speak to many of the parents, I always ask if they had a difficult birth, in fact when I talk to anyone who has a child with autism I ask the question. This amounts to around 300 so far and every single time, the answer is yes.
Both our children had a difficult birth, my son is going through a diagnosis and he is expecting it to be Aspergers. I was a blue baby, and my wife keeps telling me she thinks I have Aspergers. Can it just be coincidence.
I had a completely normal birth with short labour and I’m autistic.
My son is autistic and had 0 vaccinations
I’m so glad I found your website about autistic children and adults. I’m 72 and I didn’t understand why there are apparently so many austistic children now. After reading your post I remember kids my age were probably on the spectrum but just misunderstood and labeled bad; I knew plenty of bad kids and just avoided them. When I was older in my twenties, I worked on a state hospital ward and found many kids who were the hidden ones. Not being a professional, I thought I had found the very dark side of a crazy world.
You have found the path which was meant specifically for you. I feel your words deeply, you have presented the past and present aspects of our misunderstanding our loved one’s actions as those of evil. We know that this evil is bad, Actually who can say evil exists or how it looks/acts land lives?
It lives within the ignorance to respect all of God’s creatures. To hide iside of any’ conscious belief of what is inadequte?. Inadequacies! A word spoken by many who dare not to see tneir own.
I commend you on the inability to stop writing. I see your tenacity and extend to you a huge thank you for showing us your life so we may learn.
You are truly a unique woman, A teacher!
Kaylene…big smile on my face! I’m 56 and have been living with Autistics my whole life. It has been a difficult journey. I was born into a family of AS. My mother married a Autistic man and had 2 children with him. (both Autistic) then had me out of an affair. She stayed married to him and I helped raise another child she had with him. (Autistic also). No diagnosis or help back in the sixties so my mother had a mental breakdown from the stress and I took on a parenting role. There was limited communication with my unbiological father and siblings, but all were high functioning and able to obtain GED’s and jobs. Now fate gets interesting. I never knew it was Autism, I just thought my family was weird. I end up marrying a high functioning Autistic man and had a child with him, who is also high functioning. I began learning about Autism in 1995, when I read some literature from the UK on Aspergers. What a journey it has been! To date I have had 35 high functioning individuals in my life, (mine and my husbands family) that I have observed on a daily basis. It’s astounding and stressful. I’m thankful everyday that I have kept my sanity. So much information I could share, but the most interesting is. Out of all 35 Aspies (in my everyday life) only one of them is independent. 34 are either married or living with a family member that provides ongoing assistance. The one that is independent is my son (now 21 and in college), although he does struggle sometimes. I agree, we all have the gene necessary for Autism and it manifests from a countless different ways. Looking back on my life, I see why I unknowingly married an Aspie. I have learn to speak Autism…. so to speak! Every sentence you wrote was another validation. Thank you.
I highly doubt any of your claims. I don’t honestly think you have any clue what a true autistic person is. An authentic autistic person can barely communicate if at all. All the people on here typing message claiming they are autistic who go out and talk to people everyday ARE NOT AUTISTIC. Sorry they are not. Just because someone has poor social skills and is awkward interacting with other people is not autism. Sorry.
I have a problem with part of what wrote and that is that you find every descriptive phrase about autism “offensive.” For generations we have struggled to define conditions of this sort in ways that were unoffensive, and believe it or not “mentally retarded” was one of those phrases that replaced far unkinder terms such as “feeble-minded,” or “idiot.” It simply – and literally – means that one’s mental development is delayed (“retarded” means delayed, not stupid.) The more PC phrase “developmentally delayed” means exactly the same thing as mentally retarded. As far as “high/low functioning” being offensive, that again is simply meant to be a descriptive phrase, not a judgement or a slur. (If you can perform certain tasks on your own without supervision you are functioning higher than someone who cannot.) I would like to respectfully submit that you would be more persuasive if you chose not to take offense at words that are simply meant to describe a condition and its effects. You can keep changing the terms in an ongoing attempt to find the most euphemistic way of describing it, but in the end it is futile because someone will always be offended by the mere suggestion that there is anything abnormal about people with mental impairment. The truth is that autism IS abnormal just like being born with a missing limb is abnormal. That isn’t a judgement, just a fact.
Hi,
I don’t know much about autism- I don’t have it, don’t know anyone who has it, or have a child who has it. But I came across your post and found it interesting, because as an “outsider”, I’ve also wondered the same thing. So thank you for taking the time to explain some of these things!
I did have one question though, and I am honestly just curious and not trying to be a troll or anything. I understand completely that we now have a better understanding of autism and so in the past, as you mentioned, people who were autistic may simply have been misdiagnosed or labeled a “bad kid” simply because we didn’t know. Much in the same way that, before modern medicine, people were harmed by “bad spirits” rather than having pneumonia.
However, it also seems to me that the spectrum and the symptoms for autism are so broad (hence, the “spectrum” label) that almost anyone *could* fall under it. In which case, do you think there are no people who are simply just bad? Who are simply just ornery? I haven’t really researched it so I apologize about that, but could you explain a little between the difference between being autistic and simply having a bad/difficult personality? While I do believe that there are people who are autistic, I also believe that there are some people who are simply just kind of odd/difficult to deal with.
I’m honestly just curious because, much the same way that no parent would want to believe their child is “not very smart”, I would think that some parents would not want to believe that have a troublemaker and might misdiagnose them as autistic themselves, to be used as a kind of excuse for their bad behavior rather than bad parenting. Maybe I’m too cynical, but I don’t believe every child is talented/gifted/smart, but I do believe every child should be loved regardless. I am not a parent, but I wonder if it is really hard for parents to admit that their child is not a gifted individual?
There really are people who are just quirky or children who act up. However, autism is a unique, diagnosable condition with specific characteristics. I don’t think it is possible for parents to simply label their child as on the autism spectrum. The diagnosis process usually takes some kind of referral, then medical tests, observations, testing of communication and social interaction, etc. Professional, like experienced teachers and therapists can clearly see the difference between a kid just acting up and a kid on the spectrum.
Can you imagine a 3 year old who still doesn’t seem to recognize his her own name when people say it? Or a 3 year old who can’t ever figure out what you are looking at or that when you point to something it is because you want them to look at it? A child who grabs your hand to make your hand do something because they cannot communicate it verbally? And all the hearing and medical tests show there’s no hearing or other problem that could be causing this. And the child doesn’t look people in the eyes, instead watching their mouths when they talk or looking aside. These are symptoms of a specific condition, autism, not just of an odd or “bad” child.
Maybe there is a parent somewhere who claims their kid has autism, but normally the reverse is true–they have a hard time accepting the diagnosis and or uninformed people keep on blaming the parents or thinking there is no such thing as autism, despite a clear professional diagnosis.
The movie about Temple Grandin is a very interesting look at the world of someone with autism.
Actually, functioning language originally described how much language an autistic person could use in speech, and therefore how well they could ‘function’ in social situations. Why do you think Raymond Babbit in Rain Man was described as ‘high functioning’ when, by modern standards, he was anything but. Please don’t insult the intelligence of people who’ve had these insulting terms inflicted on them.
Excellent article. Thank you! I will bookmark this and link to it every time I meet someone who needs to hear this (it happens quite often). That is crazy about SPD not being considered a disability. Also, thanks for your kindness in responding to comments that were likely posted by someone on the spectrum themself.SS
So Far I’ve read two of your articles. I’d love to connect with you. Please can you share your fb page and or private group. My son just got diagnosed. I have to leave now to care take my mom. So I don’t have anymore time to keep scrolling or writing my name catalina Hinostroza
cathinostroza76@gmail.com
Good article, but I have just one little bone to pick. The term ‘non-verbal’ is semantically inaccurate due toe many autistic people who use types of AAC that require knowledge of language and even linguistics. It would be better if you replaced the term ‘non-verbal’ with ‘non-speaking’ to more accurately reflect the reality of autistic people who do not find speech to a useful communication method.
Thank you for your note! I have been slowly switching the language over to non-speaking for this exact reason. I just hadn’t made it back to edit this post yet. <3 Thank you for the reminder! <3
You’re very welcome. Apologies about my rubbish spelling; I’m dyslexic and was tired at the time.
You find every description regarding autism and its spectrum ‘offensive’. It is necessary sometimes to make a distinction. For example I live with a high functioning autistic stepson. When you mention autism a lot of people assume that he cannot do anything but he is quite capable (when it suits him of course). Are you trying to say that by eliminating all ‘labels’ that society will then think that this is all normal behaviour? I am tired of reading this sort of thing. They need support and it is necessary to define the problem in order to provide support. They are not ‘special’. I find THAT very ridiculous and offensive. They are able to be quite devious and use this kind of attitude to get their way. Maybe we should call them part of the narcissistic personality disorder spectrum? there are a lot of similarities.
So true what you say! I am more afraid of peoples’ ‘attention-seeking’ ‘snowflake’ nonsense than of them thinking I just struggle with eye contact, noise, interpersonal interactions, organisation, focus, sensory overload etc.
I was diagnosed with ASD, ADHD and SPD nearly two years ago after a LIFETIME of people trying to pin my problems on ‘attitude,’ ‘weirdness,’ mental illness etc. I still have been too afraid to tell anyone outside of my immediate family. Am missing out on a lot of accommodations but this is what ableism does to you.
I feel like everyone is going to say ” OH, so it’s AUTISM now, is it? Yet another excuse for your general incompetence.” No, it’s the correct diagnosis. Nice to have confirmation of what I always suspected but was afraid to speak up about. Previous diagnoses are no longer relevant and I have improved out of sight after focusing on the actual problem, rather than a bunch of ‘fixes.’
Thanks for such a wonderful, sensitive and informative blog.
I have read lots of articles about autism and asperger’s, which is now considered to be high functioning autism. I have a couple of family members that would likely be classified as such, as they are ravenous researchers of their chosen subjects. They also have trouble determining when it is their turn to speak, etc. However, having read many of the screening tests I have become increasingly aggravated with this “spectrum” idea. I work in the medical field and have a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Over the last few years I’ve seen more and more folks given this label. Has no one realized many of the questions on the screening tests (for adults) are measuring introversion? Why is this suddenly a medical issue? I also think the spectrum is a lazy way for doctors to lump all of the “different” children in one category. I find this maddening! In the past autism was considered only when a child had almost no verbal communication skills and peculiar mannerisms like hand flapping, etc. I find it ridiculous that those previously known as “nerds” are getting put into the same group just for being different. I think we’ve gone way too far. Any speech delayed child is now getting thrown into the category. It is frankly very sloppy practice and we have to consider the long term effects on these kids being labeled. That’s just my two cents.
I so agree with you, my brother was slow to talk and slow to read (see my other comment below) fortunately, our mother was a trained nurse and liased with the school to get a speak therapist in, selective mutism was diagnosed, along with a reluctance to learn to read, as he couldn’t see the point of it! He was an extremely fussy eater too, spitting out food he didn’t like from a baby onwards; much to my mothers embarressment as a nurse! Today he might be diagnosed with all sorts of things, he did catch up and went onto have a great career, I think lots of children may be like this, as we all develop at different rates, in different ways and are often motivated in to do things differently, I think this was understood more in the past.
If you are easily offended by words, You might be a retard! I am a 56 year old Man with hfASD (The neurological dysfunction formerly known as Asperger’s) {A little Prince joke for you} and am both emotionally and socially retarded. There is no shame in it. I may have different needs but am not “Special Needs” and refuse to let my genetic problem define me. People of this era need to grow thicker skin. Before Midlife Autistic Breakdown disabled me and before people with hfASD were barred from serving in the military I served our country in the USMC. I swore an oath “To uphold and defend the CONSTITUTION of the United States of America from threats both foreign and domestic” When you try to exclude words you are in essence a domestic terrorist as you are violating my first amendment right to FREE SPEECH! Was I picked on for my differences as a child? Sure, however I did not let mere words bother me, I took Martial Arts classes and learned to defend myself and the bullying stopped.I defend your right to free speech but disagree with you.
If you easily offend with words, you might be a walking hate crime! STFU, fool.
Personally appreciate your information. Being the guardian/grandmother of an autistic grandson, I read a lot on autism. I do agree with a lot of what you say. I believe that I wasn’t stupid before the diagnosis of autism spectrum and my grandson. However, I do believe I was totally ignorant. I do believe everyone is totally different. But we have to allow for the differences, in order for anybody to achieve success. I do have one thought that of course I cannot prove. I didn’t notice anything too different about my grandson in the first couple years. However he lived a very chaotic, traumatic, life with his mother, being homeless and in a lot of shelters. He was under-nourished when I took guardianship. And he was skin and bones. When I took him to catch up on his shots, they gave him four or five different shots. It was such a nightmare, that I didn’t even know was gonna happen, I can’t remember if it was 4 or 5. All I know is that I don’t believe his frail little body could take all those immunizations at one time. His meltdowns and other behaviors became way way worse. These are just my thoughts based on my experiences. Thank you for all that you do.
Personally appreciate your information. Being the guardian/grandmother of an autistic grandson, I read a lot on autism. I do agree with a lot of what you say. I believe that I wasn’t stupid before the diagnosis of autism spectrum in my grandson. However, I do believe I was totally ignorant. I do believe everyone is totally different. But we have to allow for the differences, in order for anybody to achieve success. I do have one thought that of course I cannot prove. I didn’t notice anything too different about my grandson in the first couple years. However he lived a very chaotic, traumatic, life with his mother, being homeless and in a lot of shelters. He was under-nourished when I took guardianship. And he was skin and bones. When I took him to catch up on his shots, they gave him four or five different shots. It was such a nightmare, that I didn’t even know was gonna happen, I can’t remember if it was 4 or 5. All I know is that I don’t believe his frail little body could take all those immunizations at one time. His meltdowns and other behaviors became way way worse. These are just my thoughts based on my experiences. Thank you for all that you do.
Google “Offit PA, Quarles J, Gerber MA, et al. Addressing parents’ concerns: do multiple vaccines overwhelm or weaken the infant’s immune system?” and STFU.
This is BEYOND grotesque. Autism doesn’t exist and your life is a LIE.
This is BEYOND grotesque. You are a walking hate crime and your empathy is a lie.
Hello all. To add a little to this discussion without trying to offend. I am an organic farmer with four children in Australia. Why is autism in kids seemingly so much higher in those who are overweight, drink and consume alcohol, soft drinks and basically the modern processed diet. The customer base I supply have less intense cases of autism, eat fruit vegetables and low sugar, wheat diets.
I’m sure there is a link. Try a non inflammatory diet, ditch soda and alcohol, 1 hour of real exercise per day. Please consider this idea, it may help some parents.
You must expand. Lots of fruits and vegetables are inflammatory. Grain is fundamentally inflammatory. I find a diet based in quality, properly-raised animals foods is the least taxing on the body and contains nutrients necessary for the brain that aren’t found in plants. Fish oil helps. Junk food and too much grain inhibits mineral and nutrient absorbtion.
The information is out there. Look to the scientific peer-reviewed studies. And results speak for themselves, as people have learned from being animal-based.
Take care.
Bollocks to you both.
I am so tired of autism being pushed down peoples throats, not everyone with symptoms of autism are autistic. Nothing against children with autism I just wish drs were not so quick to diagnose it. My sons school called me one day saying my son is autistic because he wouldn’t talk in school. Well for a second I thought are they right? I started to do research and guess what my son didn’t fit the spectrum from what I can see at home he is a very normal child just shy. So I sent video to the school of him at home lo and behold they said I was right he’s not autistic, his dr said of course he’s not autistic either she says he doesn’t not have autism I seen how he acts. So I took him to a psychologist as she suggested because she says he is just extremely shy and they said he is not autistic he has social anxiety and selective mutism, no traits of autism and he will outgrow it , so please please do not let your child be forced into autism without doing your research first because if it is something else then your child may not get the right help
My younger brother was slow to speak much at school, way back in the sixties, he could speak, he just didnt care to, so a speach therapist was brought into the school to work with him; selective mutism was diagnosed, but he gradually got to speak more with the therapists help and work given him to go at home. He was late to learn to read as well; he told me, his older sister, that he couldn’t see the point of it! I convinced him it would give him more choices in life, rather than a dead end job. He is still the strong silent type, but now retired from a career in electronic engineering, he turned out to be brilliant at physics, maths and anything technical – he was not slow, just reluctant, but how would he be seen today?
Yeah. Lots of people still don’t understand.
Martin Luther (the German reformationist) believed that autism was simply posession by malevolent spirits. Unfortunately, some people still believe that.
Keep stating the truth!
IMHO, the autistic spectrum is circular and each autistic individual can lie on different parts of it to varying degrees. This means that someone can be more towards the edge of the spectrum, but still have struggles in the same areas as someone much nearer to the middle.
This is totally errant.. a non doctors blog helping to diagnose and treat without the cautionary warning.. this is my experience and decisions is dangerous to men and women to raise and help their children.. I NEVER hear of a second opinion in any of these posts, blogs, or website.. everyone wants to find an easy way out of their kids problems or worse their weak skills to be a good parent this crippling their kids for life with lifelong labels which is not fair to the choiceless children…