Autism Increase Mystery Solved

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

A recent article that anecdotally supports the position of the OP: Dad Finds Out He Has Autism After His Daughter's Diagnosis

What I find very interesting here is that it was OBVIOUS that the dad was autistic once a clinical description was provided, but up until that point, he was just an endearingly quirky person. I think another factor might be that now that we define it as more of a spectrum, including things like Asperger's, a lot of people on the spectrum aren't brain damaged in a way that makes them stupider, and some on the spectrum appear to be very extremely intelligent. Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory is a good fictional example, where he's clearly a genius, so there is clearly "nothing wrong" with his brain, he's just "quirky" in the way all geniuses seem to be.

To cite another fictional example, the Ray Romano character on Parenthood finds out he is an aspie after reading a book about the disorder left at his camera shop by his young Aspergian friend Max. He has an epiphany and suddenly realizes why he has had such a difficult time maintaining relationships (his wife and children having abandoned him).

Also, something I forgot to note in my reply to Helen...I just read a story about a child who had previously been nonverbal and tested with a low IQ; the child has been brought out of their shell and it turns out they have an IQ well above average. I will try to find the link, but I think the obvious key is learning to engage these children on a different level and in unconventional manners..


This leads to an interesting side topic...the "dysfunctionality" that plagues many individuals on either end of the intelligence bell curve. Many assume that the gifted have advantages over those of normal intelligence, but in many cases they have special needs...I think a lot of people hear "special needs" and only associate it with people of below average intelligence. We've had to deal with this attitude from other parents and even some school officials when we talk about our son, who is gifted and, although untested, likely quite high on the intelligence scale. People will often react with sarcastic comments such as "ohhh it must be sooo hard for him.." Um, yeah, it is hard, because he's already singled out by many of his peers, yet not quite at the emotional maturity level to associate with older kids on the same intellectual level. Not to mention that school simply doesn't hold his interest because he soaks it up and is ready to move on to more advanced levels of study, yet they have strongly advised us against skipping grades. Sorry, went a bit off topic.

 

[Poki]

No. It just makes it no longer the norm.

But a disorder is baselined by what's normal. So who is to say that if the majority were considered autistic or aspergers the shift of how we live changes and those without it actually struggle with the new way. Thus causing people who are currently "normal" increased stress, anxiety, and risk.

If majority were all ADHD and we adjusted society to operate in support of it, those without would struggle and would be considered mentally slow and simplistic. How can you not bounce like I can.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

But a disorder is baselined by what's normal. So who is to say that if the majority were considered autistic or aspergers the shift of how we live changes and those without it actually struggle with the new way. Thus causing people who are currently "normal" increased stress, anxiety, and risk.

If majority were all ADHD and we adjusted society to operate in support of it, those without would struggle and would be considered mentally slow and simplistic. How can you not bounce like I can.

That's always the danger, and I'd hope that our autistic overlords would have the compassion and foresight to make due concessions and appropriations to ensure the neuro-atypicals had proper resources and that society was tailored to function for the benefit of all types of people.

 

[Ivy]

I don't know that I would characterize autism as the next step in evolution- the idea has occurred to me that it could be a mutation, gaining ground in the population, that has both benefits and drawbacks. Not every person with autism gets the benefits, and some people with autism have fewer of the drawbacks. Also, when you consider autism separately from the intellectual disability it's often paired with, the benefits come more sharply into focus.

I'd also say many of the drawbacks are related to a community's willingness (or lack thereof) to accept/work with folks with autism. But that goes for lots of conditions. I'm a proponent of a philosophy called Neurodiversity- that all kinds of minds have a place in the world, and it's a matter of accepting those differences, finding the strengths and working with the disabilities that come with them, and figuring out ways for each person to live a meaningful life and contribute as much as possible.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I don't know that I would characterize autism as the next step in evolution- the idea has occurred to me that it could be a mutation, gaining ground in the population, that has both benefits and drawbacks. Not every person with autism gets the benefits, and some people with autism have fewer of the drawbacks. Also, when you consider autism separately from the intellectual disability it's often paired with, the benefits come more sharply into focus.

I'd also say many of the drawbacks are related to a community's willingness (or lack thereof) to accept/work with folks with autism. But that goes for lots of conditions. I'm a proponent of a philosophy called Neurodiversity- that all kinds of minds have a place in the world, and it's a matter of accepting those differences, finding the strengths and working with the disabilities that come with them, and figuring out ways for each person to live a meaningful life and contribute as much as possible.

Of course I don't think we'll all be autistic in 10000 years, but it will be far more common and as you say, part of the neurodiverse fabric of humanity. "Neurotypicals," if there really is such a thing in the age where there's a diagnosis for so many different types of minds, are in no danger of being bred out anytime soon.

I'm also a proponent of neurodiversity, because different skill sets and ways of thinking make the human race more adaptable as a whole. I'm extremely disturbed by Autism Speaks and by people who say we need a cure. I tend to agree with Temple Grandin when she says that we'd still be living in caves if not for the autistics, but I'd expand her statements to include people with other "disorders"

 

[Ivy]

Absolutely. Autism Speaks gets none of my money and a sizeable portion of my disdain.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Absolutely. Autism Speaks gets none of my money and a sizeable portion of my disdain.

Don't even get me started on them. I'll be typing rants all day. Ugh.

 

[Luke O]

Well idk if you have been through the process of having a child assessed but from a parents perspective I can tell you it is not a decision to be taken lightly and being through the process and working with people with ASD I did not see a single parent pushing for a diagnosis, most parents were desperately hoping the doctors and health professionals would say it was a phase or something easily curable.

I just don't have experience of these badly behaved kids and pushy parents. Sure they will exist but not in the kind of numbers some people seem to think they do. The only times I come across it are when people make wild bigoted judgement calls. The reality just doesn't match up. In saying that I have heard that in the states they are a lot more free with medicating things and making diagnosis... but it's not something I see a lot of here in the U.K. The only experience I have of that is from watching documentaries and knowing a few people who have gone stateside to get medication they couldn't get here.

Yes, here in the UK, we diagnose these things more properly and l guess we both wish we had figures on how many pushy parents there are.

Just a thought though, conditions like ASDs and ADD are a broad thing, and one type of treatment may not work for another. I think they do serve as labels for now for what would be a very wide range of conditions in the future, once we understand the brain enough.

 

[Betty Blue]

Yes, here in the UK, we diagnose these things more properly and l guess we both wish we had figures on how many pushy parents there are.

Just a thought though, conditions like ASDs and ADD are a broad thing, and one type of treatment may not work for another. I think they do serve as labels for now for what would be a very wide range of conditions in the future, once we understand the brain enough.

"Treatments' should be individual, I'd probably reword that as 'support package'. If a child needs something like an EHCPlan (new document taking over form statement of educational needs) to get through school then it *must* legally be catereted to that individual child. Ofc yes there are vast chasms of difference in the spectrum... going from mild dyslexia up to things like pdd. Of course there will be great variants on how to best support the individuals involved. Much harder for adults with late diagnosis as individuals fare much better when support is put in earlier.

Honestly I don't think there are so many pushy parents trying to get diagnosis for their children, I'm not really sure where you get this idea. Most school find it hard to even accept and support things like dyslexia still, there is so much stigma attached when we are supposed to be so enlightened. ADHD still also is a very difficult thing to explain to teachers as 'most' teachers I have spoken with (having acted as an advocate for several parents) really struggle with separating ADHD behaviours from 'badly behaved child'. And it is a great effort to put in place simple strategies in school classrooms which help all children, and especially those with adhd... because the teachers themselves struggle with understanding it and return to this 'badly behaved child disrupting the class' mode.

 

[Roeduif]

I'm one of those kids that got diagnosed, way too quickly if you ask me, as Aspergers. Nowadays nobody seems to notice this, but neither do I. I've been thinking for a while now that maybe I'm not autistic, just having various traits that made them diagnose me as such (if this does make sense). If something is 'popular' in a certain period, aren't they more inclined to diagnose people with that?

Really just my late-night thoughts on this ^^

 

[prplchknz]

I'm one of those kids that got diagnosed, way too quickly if you ask me, as Aspergers. Nowadays nobody seems to notice this, but neither do I. I've been thinking for a while now that maybe I'm not autistic, just having various traits that made them diagnose me as such (if this does make sense). If something is 'popular' in a certain period, aren't they more inclined to diagnose people with that?

Really just my late-night thoughts on this ^^

I can see that, so many people my generation were dxed with ADHD and i doubt some of them are, and a lot of them now as grown ups are like nope and stopped meds, while others were like yes i am continued meds, i guess some were legit some weren't. My best friend got dxed with high functioning autism in adult hood and i don't see it, I really don't.