Long piece on NPR this morning claiming that autism is much more widespread than thought. They did a study in a Korean city and declared that better than 2% of the children in the city were autistic. They went on to explain that a large number of cases were discovered even though the unlucky children had been doing well in school and not in difficulty.
The piece did not explain how these "hidden" cases of autism were detected, nor how bad the situation was.
I reflect upon a couple of young boys I know, who seem like perfectly ordinary boys to me, but whose mothers both informed me that the they were autistic.
Is autism becoming the new Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), a diagnosis beloved of teachers, because it releases them from responsibility for the child's academic difficulties?
1 comment:
Autism is the trendy condition of the moment, and parents are hyper-vigilant for "warning signs". Plenty of a-typical toddler and childhood behavior can be interpreted as "autism spectrum". Most insurance companies, and state and federal aid programs, will fund "autism" treatment, but not just general speech therapy or other behavioral treatments. So a lot of doctors will winkingly diagnose "autism" so the child can be treated, even if they and the parents know that the child doesn't have autism.
Post a Comment