They’re kids who aren’t being raised to accept the stress of late-capitalist existence. They’ll be useless consumers of resources. Let’s euthanize 'em.
Possibly.
Remember, some of the MR diagnoses may be going to other things too, such as learning disability.
Another possibility is increased testing and abortion when conditions causing MR are detected.
No, we cannot assume that they are simply being reclassified. There may be other reasons. It suggests that possibility, but it’s far from certain.
So you’re one of those pushy posters who dismisses real, verified medical conditions as nothing but hysteria from pushy parents, huh?
You should not be taken seriously.
Do you deny there’s a wave of self-diagnosed allergy and developmental problems, doctor shopping and trusting in “mommy-sense” when no doctor agrees? If not, you’re deluded, and if so, why are you jumping on someone who merely mentioned such as a contributing factor.
No one has suggested autism isn’t a verified medical condition, a problem and a tragedy for the parents, but if there isn’t an actual epidemic, and going deeper into the statistics suggest this is the case, then searching for a cause of the epidemic isn’t worth while.
Knowing a larger than previously thought number of kids have autism spectrum disorders and conjecturing they have related causes does, of course, mean it’s worthwhile looking into those causes, but it doesn’t look like “what are today’s children exposed to that we weren’t” is the first avenue of research we should concentrate on.
That’s not what he means.
There are parents who are told after their child is assessed that their child is, at best, borderline on the spectrum. He’s got some of the symptoms, but not enough to satisfy the DSM criteria for an official diagnosis, without which the student is ineligible for special education services. So the parents push to at least get the kid the diagnosis so he can qualify for services. It’s not that parents are forcing an unjustifiable diagnosis on their children, it’s that they’re trying to make their kids a little less borderline so their kids get the help they need.
But here is where psychology and educational policy intersect. There is a finite amount of money available for special education services. Some kids require a lot of services, such as an aide, assistive technology, or whatever. Some don’t require that much; maybe they only need the help of a learning support teacher. But no matter the level of services required, every student has to qualify, and qualification is necessarily going to involve an arbitrary cut-off. So some parents whose kids don’t quite make that cut-off advocate in favor of their kids. So what?
That’s where I stop talking to you.
I deny that anyone has proven that the increase in allergies and developmental delays isn’t real. Perhaps it’s not, but you have’nt proven it. Internet boards and right-wing radio screamers are not evidence.
Show me a study that proves it.
In the meantime, we do have a study about ADHD. Careful, this is actual science, you might not like it:
Evaluating the Evidence For and Against the Overdiagnosis of ADHD
Mark J. Sciutto, PhD
Muhlenberg College, Pennsylvania, sciutto@muhlenberg.edu
Miriam Eisenberg
Muhlenberg College, Pennsylvania
Abstract
Objective: According to the DSM-IV TR, approximately 3 to 7% of school-age children meet the criteria for ADHD. However, there is a common conception that ADHD is overdiagnosed. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the evidence for and against overdiagnosis. Method: Recent prevalence studies and research on factors affecting diagnostic accuracy were reviewed. For ADHD to be overdiagnosed, the rate of false positives (i.e., children inappropriately diagnosed with ADHD) must substantially exceed the number of false negatives (children with ADHD who are not identified or diagnosed). **Results and Conclusion: Based on the review of prevalence studies and research on the diagnostic process, there does not appear to be sufficient justification for the conclusion that ADHD is systematically overdiagnosed. **Yet, this conclusion is generally not reflected in public perceptions or media coverage of ADHD. Potential explanations for the persistence of the belief in the overdiagnosis of ADHD are offered. (J. of Att. Dis. 2007; 11(2) 106-113)
I think it is, but he can tell us for sure.
How do you know that?
Have you actually seen this happen? Have you done some kind of survey to see how often it happens?
It’s possible that they advocate in favor of their kids, but that doesn’t mean they get what they want.
It’s quite possible that this is an explanation for the trend - that more “mild” cases of autism, or other developmental delays, are being diagnosed and labeled in schools. We don’t have any evidence to show that’s true, but it’s a possibility.
But I still don’t think that’s what he meant. There’s a whole denial industry out there claiming that ADHD and autism are fake altogether, or wildly overdiangosed for various conspiratorial reasons. I saw that in his comments. But only he can say.
Actually, I agree that these are subjective. What I am not sure I agree with is your statement that the symptoms of autism are typical of “active children.”
But that’s just part of the diagnosis. There must be a group of these symptoms, with a certain level of severity or impairment.
It’s unlikely that a normal kid who just doesn’t smile much is going to walk out with an autism diagnosis.
I think you read that into his comments. AFAICT, Colophon made it very clear that he thinks the apparent rise in autism rates is caused primarily by changes in diagnosis, not by overdiagnosis, much less sheer “fakery”.
That is, he notes that as diagnoses of autism have gone up, diagnoses of other mental/cognitive/neurological conditions have gone down, and hypothesizes that the diagnosticians are largely replacing the latter by the former. Simple as that.
How you managed to jump from that to the conclusion that Colophon was “dismiss[ing] real, verified medical conditions as nothing but hysteria from pushy parents”, I can’t quite make out.
He clearly said “fakery” was part of it - and that is the part I object to.
He said:
Couldn’t be more clear.
I didn’t get that impression. Saying that there is no epidemic, to me, means that actual cases of autism/aspergers haven’t increased, it’s just that the diagnoses have increased. We have a lot of ASD (and ADHD), but I haven’t seen anything that convinces me that we have more of it than we used to.
I think that would be saying that there has always been an epidemic and we’re only now seeing it by diagnosing everyone though.
No he didn’t.
True, he didn’t use the word “fakery.”
Here’s what he said:
That’s what I was responding to.
That’s what you wildly overresponded to, by claiming that he was “dismiss[ing] real, verified medical conditions as nothing but hysteria from pushy parents”.
To point out, as Colophon did, that in some cases parents energetically seek an official diagnostic label in borderline cases of disorders is not at all the same thing as to claim that an entire medical phenomenon is nothing but “hysteria from pushy parents”.
The fact that you believe it “couldn’t be more clear” that they are the same thing makes it easier to understand how you managed to misinterpret his remarks so drastically.
ADHD has probably tripled or more, as a diagnosis requiring treatment.
Peanut and nut allergies have also had a field day for increasing popularity.
Gluten sensitivity spectrum is gaining traction…
In a wealthy society such as ours, at least one thing that happens is that we have more folks to diagnosis autism spectrum instead of “imbecile.” (And hey; I’m personally thankful for that, 
although my brother sometimes forgets to use the clinical term for my situation.)
We also, for reasons that Colophon mentions, have this idea that labeling something with an official label is, all by itself, more reassuring than some nondescript term. And of course, there’s big money, along with the chance of actual results, in coming up with specific treatment regimens and programs–some of which are actually beneficial. You can’t optimally treat until you have an optimally correct diagnosis.
Nearly everything exists on a spectrum, so I think what is mostly happening is that we just include more and more people into Something based on the above factors.
Finally, and more cynically, we love to be special and we don’t like to be thought of as dysfunctional. So you feel crappy all the time and don’t accomplish anything; I have Idiopathic Dysphoria. Or whatever the Label DuJour is. My kid’s a little weird; yours has Autism Spectrum (and of course, by formal definition and testing, he might).
What I don’t think is happening is that our gene pool is rapidly changing for the worse or some sneaky environmental cause is at work. But try telling that to folks who don’t want their genes to be sub-par.
That’s exactly what he was saying. How you get something else out of that is beyond me.
Perhaps it’s not what he intended, but only he can say.
Let’s not get into yet another “he didn’t say exactly this or that and he didn’t use exactly that word” thing.
Forget everything else I’ve said. I object to what he said. Let’s move on from there, and wait for him to respond.
No it hasn’t.
It grew by 66 percent over a 10-year period, according to this article.
Don’t overstate the case please.
Hahaha!
Possibly. But so what? Does that mean they don’t belong there? Was the old standard better? Perhaps lots of people with these conditions were just going untreated and suffering before.
That’s just insulting to people with the conditions and their parents.
Fine.
Show some actual scientific basis for your belief, and we’ll talk. Otherwise, it’s nothing more than speculation. Which is fine, except your speculation is based on other unsupported and insulting ideas in this post.
More petty insults. People who have conditions like this aren’t just insecure or vain or inferior. Enough.