My son is 8 years old, and has been diagnosed with Autism since the age of 4. He's in the center as far as severity, not as bad as the boy in the article, but close. He chews on EVERYTHING, to the point that I bought him some baby shoes to chew on because the rubber soles last a while. He hasn't spoken anything except for the occasional "drink" when he's thirsty, or "want" and points. Think it's expensive raising a child? Try raising an autistic child.

I've seen mentally retarded children, and I've seen autistic children, and there is DEFINATELY a difference between the two. Autistics know there is something wrong with them, but don't know what it is. You can see it in their eyes, and when it's your child, it saddens you deeply. My wife and I can only guess why our child is crying sometimes. Is it because he's sad? Does he have a headache? Is he hungry? Stomach ache? It's hard to tell when he cannot communicate. And we've tried everything from sign language classes, to having him move pictures on a velcro board.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, Autism is a serious disorder, and it's something that people should start becoming aware about soon, and don't think that parents have it easy when their children are diagnosed. Hell, the last movie my wife and I saw in the movie theatre was the first Lord of Rings.

I wish they would put more effort into treatment/coping/etc. than they do into just diagnosing.

I was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder(sort of like dyslexia for hearing) back in the early 90s. They still don't know jack shiat about it. At least now I'm in the real world (not school) where it doesn't matter as much.

Today's "Asperger" cases are just the geek freaks from yesteryear. Without them, who would be the computer geeks?

I guess I'm a cold person and having my own children doesn't mollify my opinion: These people should let Darwin take its course with the severly autistic kid. He wants to eat glass? Let him.. He wants to bash his head? Let him. Why are they pushing the cost of his perpetual care onto our society? Why do they choose to ruin their lives? I dunno.

ImprovOmega: However there are actually still parents out there that legitimately care about their kids and do the best that they can by them. You just don't hear about/notice them as much because they're doing what a parent is supposed to be doing.

Damn it, you got my attention with probably the best post in here.

And I'll just say that this a major problem, people in denial that their child has something "wrong" with him/her and pushes towards a future that the child can't handle... without a proper direction, these children have one hell of a difficult like because their parents didn't want to provide the proper "training" environment.

I leave the figuring out why it happened to the experts in research, I leave the "possible cure" also to those that dedicate their lives to this research. I participate in working with my daughter and the other autistic children when I volunteer.

All the whining in the world isn't going to make it better for anyone, working on it does.

My daughter is too difficult for the (high) school to handle her (she just switched from primary), but also, they weren't trained enough, so we (me, my wife and her previous teachers) are giving them all the tools that we have at our disposal, and our experience. Her previous teachers had little knowledge until my daughter came along, and I spent many hours going to the class to help and participate.

So now, she's being home schooled by my wife, and doing better than she's done in quite a while.

And for those idiots with the whole anti-pharmaceutical attitude: DIAF

If it wasn't for mood stabilizers, we would have had to put my dauther is a special care facility due to her extreme strengh and that I can't be there 24/7.

All you idiots blaming doctors, get a clue, they are doctors, not gods, they do what they can with what they know/learned/studied. It took a LOT of tests to diagnose her, and the doctor did not want to put her in "that" category due to the stigma that it holds. I was the one that did the research and placed my foot down... and been working in the right direction ever since... and anyone around us (aside those pompous knowitalls) see the work that we have accomplished and we are very well respected in the "autisms" circle.

fluffytuff: My son is 8 years old, and has been diagnosed with Autism since the age of 4. He's in the center as far as severity, not as bad as the boy in the article, but close. He chews on EVERYTHING, to the point that I bought him some baby shoes to chew on because the rubber soles last a while. He hasn't spoken anything except for the occasional "drink" when he's thirsty, or "want" and points. Think it's expensive raising a child? Try raising an autistic child.

I've seen mentally retarded children, and I've seen autistic children, and there is DEFINATELY a difference between the two. Autistics know there is something wrong with them, but don't know what it is. You can see it in their eyes, and when it's your child, it saddens you deeply. My wife and I can only guess why our child is crying sometimes. Is it because he's sad? Does he have a headache? Is he hungry? Stomach ache? It's hard to tell when he cannot communicate. And we've tried everything from sign language classes, to having him move pictures on a velcro board.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, Autism is a serious disorder, and it's something that people should start becoming aware about soon, and don't think that parents have it easy when their children are diagnosed. Hell, the last movie my wife and I saw in the movie theatre was the first Lord of Rings.


I have to say... I understand... sounds very close to our situation...

It's taking a long time, but we are making progress.

In time, he might be able to make some behavior that you'll be able to tell the difference in having headaches, hungry, and all that... just watch for body language.

Our daughter is now 13, and it's only been a few years that she was able to be able to express some things (velcro images) but I've been able to read her bydy languages for a while now... still not easy... just lot's of love...and patience.

zekebullseye: I guess I'm a cold person and having my own children doesn't mollify my opinion: These people should let Darwin take its course with the severly autistic kid. He wants to eat glass? Let him.. He wants to bash his head? Let him. Why are they pushing the cost of his perpetual care onto our society? Why do they choose to ruin their lives? I dunno.

Your children want to play in traffic? Let them. They wanna eat toxic substances? Let them.

Hell, *I* was farking diagnosed with autism. Freaked me out at the time. My parently even bought me these weird-ass rubber toys that were supposedly invented specifically for autistic people. I remember overhearing discussions between them after they knew that it was genetic where they started to suspect other members of our family. Turns out I was just awkward in my early teens.

Actually, that's kind of an embarassing story.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for all parents that raise their autisitc kids with love and attention. My 2nd cousin is mildly autistic. Amazing kid even if he does have some strange habits and minor behavioural problems. He gets lots of help and luckily doesn't need too much special assistance with school as far as I am aware.

But I get really really irritated with the "ZOMG the Vaccines are making our kids sick!" irrationality I often see. Do I think modern medicine can go overboard? Yes I do. For instance I think that the introduction fo a vaccine for chicken pox is kind of overkill. Of course do to herd immunity opting out might not be the best case scenario because that increases the risk of them getting shingles later in life as opposed to regular old Chicken Pox. Does modern medicine and science sometimes make mistakes? Of course. But how seriously can I take a website about anti-vaccination when it is hosted on geocities and most of the links to it appear to be from rabid antivax websites.

It amazes me how many people will be extremly skeptical of established medicine yet swallow what the alternative crowd feeds them in one gulp and a grin on their face.

I have Asperger's Syndrome, first diagnosed by be and then later by my shrink.

I hate it when people call autism a 'disorder'. Who on earth defines what 'order' is?

All those who think that autism needs to be 'cured' can bite my shiny metal ass.

I may be a bit 'weird' in certain aspects, but I've managed to graduate from law school and take the Bar exam.

So what if I think most people are ignorant fools who are oblivious to the world around them?

I wish that parents like Alexandra, et al could be arrested for child abuse.

Eidolon

Did they make you wear a helmet and write on circles of paper?

/sorry, what happened sounds like it really sucked

NineInchNader:

"Then why do so many Asperger's get prescribed a host of drug combinations including methylphenidate, dextroamphetamine and many common anti-depressents?

Because Aspergers is co-morbid with other emotional disorders like depression and generalized anxiety disorder.

I've had major depression since the age of 6 and an anxiety disorder for as long as I can remember.

I take 2 different meds to handle these problems.

From my point of view, there is no treatment nor cure for Aspergers, because Aspergers is merely a different way of perceiving the world.

Trying to 'treat' someone with Aspergers is like trying to 'treat' someone with blue eyes - it represents an outdated way of thinking and demonstrates a real lack of understanding on behalf of the psychiatric profession.

Eidolon: Hell, *I* was farking diagnosed with autism. Freaked me out at the time.


Hell... if you follow all the "symptoms" ...everyone is a little bit autistic.

Research into autism only began a few year ago... still lots of grounds to go before they work it out.

2006-09-24 07:37:26 AM zeroeffect
Expire in a minor conflagration please... Though I do realize that a lot of you guys and/or gals must be trolling.
/sigh

Sigh. I was responding sarcastically to the guy who said "Out come all the self-diagnosed Asperger's Internet people." I was not being serious.

/another sigh from me
//not a troll
///but responding to one

imfallen_angel: people in denial that their child has something "wrong" with him/her and pushes towards a future that the child can't handle...

I'm in Washington every morning, talking about how to protect us.
There's a lot of really good people working hard to do so.
It's hard work.

F42: I'm in Washington every morning, talking about how to protect us.
There's a lot of really good people working hard to do so.
It's hard work.

hmm... what am I supposed to feel about that one?...oy...

We are all autistic, each and every one of us.

I don't see what the big problem is. Big problem is. WHen I was kid, so younger, the teacher's were all, like, "Tommy, that's a beautiful picture! You draw so well!" And everyone else was jealous of me. Jealous of me. It seems to me we should encourage our kids to be autistic. If we don't, the Chinese will. The Chinese will.

imfallen_angel: what am I supposed to feel about that one?


I dunno, but it's an actual quote.

/it's hard work finding actual quotes

MorningBreath: better diagnosis.

And right off the bat it has been entirely summed up.

That said, we are preparing to go to Kennedy Krieger next month for their autism clinic. My stepson has never been diagnosed but has all the classic signs and symptoms. He's 12 now but spent most of his single digit years with his mother. She neglected and abused him until we finally got custody. She also left us with no trace of medical history. I don't even have an immunization record for him.

It's taken us 1.5 years just to get an appointment at this clinic, if that tells you anything about how many kids are offered up for testing. I honestly don't care about the diagnosis, just the treatment. He's had a really rough life and I just want the quality to be at least a bit better.

imfallenb_angel:

Research into autism only began a few year ago... still lots of grounds to go before they work it out.

The paper defining the criteria for Asperger's Syndrome was published in 1944.

So I guess if by 'few years ago' you mean '60+ years', then yeah, you're right.

2006-09-24 08:03:04 AM Alexandra magic_minox

A disease is only temporary. The damage from those preservatives can be permanent.

I hope you're joking. Most of the diseases we immunize against are only temporary - because they kill.

We're not talking about minor ear infections here. The stuff we immunize against or already immunized into extinction led to the death, maiming and debilitation of millions.

The cdc is a wonderful resource. This link will get you started on your road to actual research: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm4753.pdf

gurlygirl808:

KUDOS TO YOU for being open-minded about your daughter's course of treatment. It's a fact that meds work for true ADHD sufferers. I'm 43 and have been taking them for about 10 years. In my experience, ADHD occurs concurrently with dysthymia/clinical depression (started at about age 13; was SEVERE, cyclical, and undiagnosed until about age 31) Please recognize that these things can all exist together!! I was miserable for years in spite of making good grades and earning scholarships and graduate fellowships. My parents never knew that there was anything wrong other than "typical teenage 'moods'" God bless you and your family as you work with doctors and learn how to best maximize your daughter's potential and emotional well-being.

when it comes to choosing a mate, why not discriminate?

that's how the rest of the members of our beautiful ecology usually keep everything running as smoothly as possible.

and sometimes they even eat the runts.

i don't hear any pandas complaining about no back up in their social problems.

milo_rules: The paper defining the criteria for Asperger's Syndrome was published in 1944.

So I guess if by 'few years ago' you mean '60+ years', then yeah, you're right.

and actual research on AUTISM started when? and I mean serious efforts here...

Sorry but when my daughter was diagnosed, there was virtually NOTHING out there aside maybe 3-4 books, a few, very limited studies... why the hell do you think that Sly Stallone pushed so hard to get Autism on the radar screen?

Only in the last five years have they actually developped serious plans of interventions, and actually designed better environment...

The schools and centers were very rare prior to 7 years ago, everyone was working together to figure something out... the teachers would be going on several seminars per year to compare notes, etc...

Another fine example of a smartass troll which promped my firt post of this thread being idiotic and filled with knowitalls...

There is strong evidence linking Thimerosal to parental anxiety :)

/That's about it.

Well, now that some apparently 'human' people are here, I'll join in. If there is one thing I can't handle it's people who think they know everything when they haven't even SEEN an autistic person other than in the movies. Believe me...if it was that easy...life would be great.

Our daughter has really made me grow up alot. If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't be even half as patient or understanding as I am. Yes she is autistic, and severly so...but even with all her quirks and troubles, all she really wants is for us to love her, and that we do. That's the easy part. The hard part is trying to get her to be more communicative. We have been working with picture boards for years, but sometimes it just takes longer to figure things out for her. She is unbelievably strong, which often shows itself in the way of aggressivity...uncontrollable aggressivity. Hell, she has broken my arm twice, all because I didn't understand her, or put myself in a situation that I shouldn't have. How do you place blame on a child for that? YOU DON'T! You calm her down, learn from your mistakes, and try to remember not to do it again.

When I saw that her new school was not equipped or trained well enough for her, I made the step (after consulting hubby of course) to initiate homeschooling mesures at least for this year, while the school figures out what the heck they are doing. And like hubby said, she's doing better than she has in a long time. I don't try and say that it's because I'm doing the teaching, but try to explain that in the home setting she is comfortable, therefore more open to working. The school situation was too much for her, therefore she was NOT open to working on already learned areas, or trying to learn something new.

I know there is alot more for me to learn...because of our daughter I learn at least one new thing every day. I am far from being an expert too. But if a person spends their days caring for and teaching and learning from a person who has different abilities that what is considered 'NORMAL' by most, I consider them to be more of a 'pro' on the subject than someone who reads an article or 2 and then thinks they can tell me how to raise my child. My brother-in-law tried that once...I kicked him out of my house and haven't seen him since....nobody knows my kids better than myself and my husband...so don't try and tell me you know better, unless you are trying to help with new information I don't have, and not just being pompous and a freaking 'expert' because you read an article or 2 on autistic children.

/grrrrrr

humaniacal: when it comes to choosing a mate, why not discriminate?

that's how the rest of the members of our beautiful ecology usually keep everything running as smoothly as possible.

and sometimes they even eat the runts.

i don't hear any pandas complaining about no back up in their social problems.

Pandas also waste most of their day eating non-nutritious food. Shows how smart they are.

humaniacal: when it comes to choosing a mate, why not discriminate?

that's how the rest of the members of our beautiful ecology usually keep everything running as smoothly as possible.

If you think you've got the answer... go for it, you'll be famous... otherwise... get a clue, autism hits anywhere anyone, there is no person that is "autism-proof" on this world, no more than any other handicap.

Until the real causes are found (for any handicap), there is no "fixing it".... and for most, what would be the choice?.. to not have kids because you might have (these numbers are examples of what they might find out) a 5% to have a child with autism? 5% for astma, 15% for being a moron? 2% for having a physical difformaty? 7% to have epilepsy? 2% to have MS?

Then your partner (if you can find one beside your hand, blow-up girl or your mother) would have similar odds... then what?

You know what that sounds like?.... figure it out

http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/bio5663/2006/volkmar.pdf

http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/bio5663/2006/baron%20cohen.pdf

furthermore

http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/bio5663/2006/dawson.pdf

Also recent evidence points to older men being statistical more likely to have a child with autism. Which comes in the wake of evidence saying older men produce sperm of lower quality.

Avicenna


I wish that parents like Alexandra, et al could be arrested for child abuse.


Oh, so protecting my child from something harmful is child abuse? My state DOES allow vaccine exemptions for medical, religious, and philosophical reasons!

Go back under your bridge, troll.

imfallen_angel:
/she could rip any of you people in two is she were to get pissed enough

I'd pay good money to see that

And just because some people in this thread seem to need it:
Naturalistic fallacy

It's an argument I used to endorse until I found out how silly it was.

Just wanted to know if anyone else thinks that Asperger's is bunk and just a general diagnosis for shut-in nerds?

I'm surprised that no one has posted this link:
http://www.physorg.com/news78151666.html yet. It is in line with where research has said Autism comes from.

I believe as many do, based on a lot of reading and research, that Autism is basically genetic and may have an environmental component too, as a trigger or some similar type of relation. It seems quite clear that it is increasing, but it has also been defined so that it is not lumped in with mental retardation and such.

There are so many people that believe it is mercury, which is disappointing, as you only need a short amount of time to see that it has no causational relationship. 100% spurious. Likley off shoots of the tin-foil hat crowd.

The only things we can do that are effective is early intervention with specific programs designed to teach what will not come as easily, such as discrete trials. We tried so many of the "remedies", chelation, 2 years of gluten-free diet, vitamin therapy, hyperbaric treatments and none worked.

It is a frustrating disorder.

Since then, four perfectly good studies comparing large populations of kids have showed that thimerosal did not cause the increased reporting of autism. The best evidence comes from Denmark, which stopped putting thimerosal in vaccines in 1992; the rate of autism in kids born afterward continued to increase.
-Slate
Who woulda thought denmark would have the last word in any controversy?

There are lots of ideas but I think Ummon came closest. There is no proven significant environmental links and that points at genetics. The data about dad's increased age is interesting but locally there just as many families with young parents that have autistic children. I work with a lot of young adult Aspergers and "lite" autism cases and many of them have strange families with similar traits in several generations. Any Farkers with autistic children have my full sympathy.

Humanical: Actually, we used to do that. It wasn't until the 20th century that mental disorders were mainstreamed. Prior to that, they were locked up or institutionalized. Before that, they were drowned or left in the woods

Alexandra: Oh, so protecting my child from something harmful is child abuse? My state DOES allow vaccine exemptions for medical, religious, and philosophical reasons!

Yes, but not for reason of stupidity or insanity.

The change in federal funding eligibility parameters is the largest cause of the surge in autism in this country

I'm autistic and so's my wife!

/Federal funding please.

I did vaccinate my child until age two and now he's speech-delayed and needs some occupational therapy. I refused to vaccinate him further this past year. I told the doctor that I would only vaccinate if he could prove that they're absolutely harmless. He admitted he couldn't do that, so there you go.

He doesn't seem to be autistic. I'm told he behaves well in preschool. He learns by watching. But I wish he'd talk because I am SO sick of guessing at what he wants much of the time! He is starting to pop some words out now, like "done" and "go" and "why." And he's saying some letters.

I resent anyone insinuating that I don't care about my son. I care about him very much and I'm just about beating myself up because I'm the one who got him those shots, when my husband said he didn't really want it done. If I didn't care, I wouldn't have him in a preschool where he can get the speech therapy he needs. If I didn't care, I wouldn't make sure he has food to eat, clothes on his back, a roof over his head, and lots of love! How dare anyone accuse me of child abuse!

Might I point out that the Amish here don't vaccinate and you don't see autism among the Amish?

I would not deny my son life-saving medical care if he ever needed it, and this includes blood transfusions. I try to do what's best for him and if someone else has a problem with it, OH WELL.

Also check out this site: Vaccination Liberation

moof


Alexandra: Oh, so protecting my child from something harmful is child abuse? My state DOES allow vaccine exemptions for medical, religious, and philosophical reasons!

Yes, but not for reason of stupidity or insanity.


What's insane is injecting your child with aspartame (some vaccines have this--and it can cause ADHD), formaldehyde, formalin, aluminum, and/or mercury.

Remember when we were warned about mercury in thermometers? There was a good reason for that. Think it's safe to inject anyone with it?

As a grown woman with asperger's I consider myself normal.

/ 4 level 60's in WoW
// All elves
/// I pay a guy in california 15$ a month to pretend to be an elf, okay, so i'm not all that normal

Ok, since no one seems to be looking at what I posted earlier.

According to those articles/ the expert in the field who taught the class the articles were reading for. There are effectively two bell curves to describe the language and interpersonal skills of the human population (normalized for intelligence). One for women and one for men. Women score significantly higher on these tests then men.

At the tail end of these curves is where the people with autism (outside "2" standard deviations of the mean). Aspergers cases tend to score slightly closer to the normal range. Parents of children with either disorder tend to score well below the mean. So there is some genetic component. However it seems to be linked to many genes and thus it is not a disease that you either have or do not. It is a more linear progression.

Interestingly math science people tend to score lower on this scale then say lawyers. So the scale would statistically rank these groups as something like this moving right having decreasing people and language skills:

lawyers MDs scientists engineers farkers aspergers autism

Alexandra: What's insane is injecting your child with aspartame (some vaccines have this--and it can cause ADHD), formaldehyde, formalin, aluminum, and/or mercury.

Remember when we were warned about mercury in thermometers? There was a good reason for that. Think it's safe to inject anyone with it?

Yes, I do think the current vaccines are perfectly safe and that the risks they pose are both minimal, and stem mostly from the immune system's response to their active ingredients (which is actually a provoked response that is meant to happen).

I belief the FDA, the WHO and a whole lot of non-tin foil hat wearing doctors are right on this one, and that you are wrong. I thought my sentiment would've come across perfectly clearly.

Now, if you absolutely positively need to blame yourself about your son's lack of language skills, I suggest you take a look at your own lack of reading apprehension.

/Genetic component?

Quadriplegic boy awarded $43.1 million MMR vaccine caused his quadriplegia. Sure, it may be a *rare* reaction, but I'd rather not play Russian roulette with my child, thank you.

US scientists back autism link to MMR

Think Thimerosal was removed from vaccines? Think again.

moof

Reading "apprehension"? Don't you mean "comprehension"?

For the record, I was reading my mother's college textbooks when I was in kindergarten. So I think my reading comprehension is pretty good, thanks for playing.

fluffytuff

My husband and I have had a lot of trouble finding people we can afford that we'd trust to watch our child, so we started to take off one of our son's schooldays together every few months. We can go out on daytime dates that way, and get a little time to ourselves. We'll go out for breakfast or lunch somewhere nice, catch a matinee, then maybe go for a walk together while everyone else is working. It eats up our vacation days, but at least we get to do things together.

Before we started doing that the last movie we saw together was Return of the King...

Please if you want to believe that rubbish, go ahead. Just don't spread it to others. We wasted precious time on what was completely untrue.

Vaccinations do not cause Autism. I belive Autism to be a genetic disposition with an environmental trigger.

First, I have seen the reports and stories about the Amish lack of Autism, but there are in fact reported cases, admittedly FAR less. With Autism being genetic and the Amish being genetically isolated, do you think that may have more to do with it? Or do you want to ignore the data that say that vaccination aren't the cause.