I must add--as you may have read previously in my blog--I agree somewhat with Mr. Savage to the point of over-diagnosis. I've even contemplated if Jenny McCarthy's son possibly has other diagnoses, and not autism. I wonder if a lot of the so-called "recovered" children were never really autistic to begin with. I have seen allergies wrongly labeled as ADHD and behavioral problems. This does happen. There are also parents, a very small amount, who essentially "shop" around for an autism diagnosis. I would feel comfortable saying there probably are children out there labeled as autistic, who in fact are not. But, surely, no one would even ponder that 99% or anywhere near that number, of those said to have autism really don't (and furthermore, that they are brats).
I will also say that I feel we have become a society who wants only instant gratification, and that includes forcing pills down your child's throat so they behave more appropriately. To put a child on medications (especially say a 2 or 3 year old) first, without attempting therapy and other help, should be strongly discouraged. And, to medicate a child just so they are more docile, to prevent stimming (which is not self-injury), and so forth (and not because the child has severe issues, is harming themselves, severe mood swings, etc.) really should not be an option. All too often, autistic individuals are drugged to near-coma states, locked up, and forgotten about. This should not be tolerated.
I also feel for Mr. Savage, apparently his brother died in a NY mental hospital. That has to be awful, to go through that first-hand. I don't know much of his experience, other than a brief statement I found. But agreeing with Mr. Savage on his views regarding medications for children and sympathizing with him over his brother, does not excuse the ignorant and inappropriate statements he made.
7/21/08
A Savage Side Note
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This Way of Life
"Autism is a way of being. It is pervasive; it colors every experience, every sensation, perception, thought, emotion, and encounter, every aspect of existence. It is not possible to separate the autism from the person."
- Jim Sinclair
3 comments:
As far as over-diagnosis goes, I think it's more a problem with mislabeling a child who has some other neurological or other issue rather than a case of diagnosing a child who is completely healthy and typically developing with autism.
As you said, allergies can be labeled as ADHD, but I've never heard of a child with typical development (absolutely no speech delays, no behavioral quirks, no sensory issues, no unusual anxiety, no unusual obsessive/compulsive behaviors) being diagnosed with autism. We can speculate about whether or not autism was the correct label for Jenny McCarthy's child, but he still wasn't typically developing.
I'm hesitant to say that 'recovered' kids weren't autistic in the first place. It seems to me a bit like the curebies saying neurodiversity advocates diagnosed autistic really aren't - ie, using diagnosis judgements to fit your political views. Of course, it certainly is possible that studies could find significant pre-treatment differences, to the point where the 'recovered' kids should really have another label (for example, there's this one type of infantile spasms that is caused by difficulty absorbing a certain vitamin in diet, and injections of that vitamin can stop the seizures and reverse the resulting developmental delays).
What do you think of Michael Goldberg's ideas about some autism being a neuro immune problem?
Officially I have CFIDS, and I have mitochondrial dysfunction, but I seem to have a lot of autistic symptoms too.
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