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Autism Spectrum Disorders
Replies
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mommarnurse wrote: »Going along with the probably accurate theory that it's genetic, how can we account for the obvious increasing number of diagnoses over the past 20 years or so? Yes, the broad diagnosis of ASD now in part accounts for 1.) many disorders (I.e. Intellectual disability, learning disability, add/adhd) are now encompassed into the ASD diagnosis and 2.) many people could have been diagnosed but the symptom set recognition and name wasn't there previously
However, I still feel like aside from accounting for these circumstances, there's still probably an actual increase in cases. There's something there causing that, either directly or indirectly. It could be environmental causing gene damage, and I think it probably is. But, environmental doesn't just mean "chemicals" or "pesticides", etc. it's going to be very hard to narrow it down.
As I previously stated I believe this to be 100% genetic. I suspect the largest cause of the increase to be due to lack of connection with parents due to all the distraction we have available to us - coupled with the increase of the two party income family. Many of these children who would previously be institutionalized are now getting the treatment and coping techniques to function.
This last paragraph seemed contradictory to me. It's 100% genetic, but the largest cause is lack of connection with parents? There's a lack of connection with parents due to modern lifestyles, but kids are receiving treatment now they wouldn't have received in the past? I'm not trying to be critical, your point was just genuinely lost on me.
That being said, I've often wondered if my son's symptoms would have been worse (and mind you, I've never had him diagnosed, since it doesn't interfere with his education for the most part) had I not been home with him every day, providing lots of one-on-one attention and working with him daily (I am a SAHM and we home school). I am not trying to be judgmental of anyone's lifestyle at all- just genuinely wondering if it could be a factor?
I should have spent more time constructing this and appreciate the critique.
The cause is 100% genetic. The coping mechanisms are 100% environmental. Genetics establishes the parameters and we can either choose to life with those or attempt to break past the boundaries through innovation and experimentation - this is behavioral.
The problem is so multifaceted it is impossible to address root cause in something as brief as a forum post.
I don't believe there is any sort of an increase due to genetics. Western lifestyle has led to a decay in social interaction and connections. Many children have lost the model of behavior to act on.
whoa
I'm another SAHM, who has always stayed with my children, who has homeschooled them their entire life. They are with people who care for them, family, friends, work groups, whatever, all day. My oldest son, who is most likely an aspie, is ahead by a couple of grades in a couple of subjects, is learning two languages (largely self taught), does soccer, baseball and martial arts, participates in a demo team for martial arts, and volunteers teaches at the same martial arts studio with young students - the youngest students ever allowed to do this. He also has a job shoveling snow for seniors, dog walking for family in the neighbourhood, and is excited to try highschool so he can join their RAK club - Random Acts of Kindness club...
So the western lifestyle has led to a decay in social interaction and connections? That's what has caused my son to seek quiet and stim when he is overwhelmed? Even as a 2 year old? That's why as a toddler he was happy to sit quietly in a restaurant if he was able to play with/organize the sugar packets?
He just handles his challenges in a different way than a more outspoken, less quiet aspie would. How he loses his control (stim or quiet crying) just happens to be in a different manner than other aspies, or other regular children or adults for that matter.
Your ability to take points out of context exceeds expectations. Have a wonderful life.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »I'm sure some people are going to jump all over me for this viewpoint, but I don't really care. If you think there is something that would actually change my view, I'm open to it. If you just want to tell me I'm a terrible person for having this viewpoint, or that I'm wrong because your cousin/sibling/kid/etc. doesn't fit either of the things I see; my viewpoint won't change based on that.
Since they changed the DSM criteria several years ago, the number of ASD cases has drastically increased. If you read through the criteria, you might understand why... anybody could be diagnosed under one or more of the criteria. While I believe that many patients truly have a developmental issue, there are a lot diagnosed with ASD now that just have old-fashioned behavioral issues. Many of the latter are actually "bad parenting."
That isn't to say all ASD patients fit that scenario, but it has become a trend where terrible parents have kids with awful behavior, so they take them to someone who diagnoses ASD based on vague DSM criteria. Terrible parents then just excuse their absent parenting with "I just can't help it... my kid has ASD."
I'm a bit flummoxed that so many people are jumping all over you for this, especially people with some personal experience with autism. What you have said here is correct.
I thought I was ASD, myself. I did a massive amount of research on it. I fit so many of the criteria, I could be a poster child. The people in the autism community were amazing, these are people with autism, not people with children with autism, mind you. Autistic people are fantastic, I love them. I still hang out in those communities despite now knowing it isn't what is happening with me. I can still relate to their experiences and they to mine. We get along really well and they welcome me.
One idea that they drove home to me over and over was the importance of making sure you get a differential diagnosis. That's just a fancy way of saying the DSM is vague and there is a lot of other stuff that may be causing these behaviors. That is true. Autism isn't the only syndrome like this, either. The DSM is like this and differential diagnosis is super important in all manner of cases. Anybody who has tried to diagnose a headache on WebMD only to learn they may have a brain tumor can attest to this.
All you seem to be saying is that differential diagnosis is important with ASD and maybe isn't being done as much as it should be. To me, that's like saying that the sky looks blue.
When you are doing a differential diagnosis of a developmental disorder, one likely other explanation is abuse. Abuse also causes developmental issues. Again, the sky looks blue.
Unscrupulous, lazy or weak mental health professionals will likely refrain from telling their client that they are the actual problem and give out an ASD diagnosis rather than face this nightmare of a situation.
Anyway, the ASD community I found warned that you must make sure to get a diagnosis from somebody willing to subject you to the full battery of tests, not just fling the diagnosis at you willy nilly, as many mental health professionals are wont to do. They recommended a neurologist over a psychiatrist as well. They gave me so much advice about being careful about going about getting a diagnosis. Really, again, what wonderful people.
Even they warned that it's easy to get the diagnosis when it may not be the problem. You won't get the help you need if that happens. And they were right.
I got a diagnosis without the full battery of tests and I discarded that diagnosis. I eventually figured out what my real problem is. It's from developmental trauma, it's called CPTSD. CPTSD isn't even in the DSM yet.
I currently moderate an online community for people with CPTSD. We regularly get people who either used to think they had ASD or think they have ASD comorbid with the CPTSD. This is also true of ADHD, especially the primarily inattentive subtype.
The effects of developmental trauma are very easily confused with ASD. Not just with kids who act out. A lot of kids with traumatic childhoods do what is called "act in". That's what I'm like. I do not have the tantrums or flip outs.1 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »I'm sure some people are going to jump all over me for this viewpoint, but I don't really care. If you think there is something that would actually change my view, I'm open to it. If you just want to tell me I'm a terrible person for having this viewpoint, or that I'm wrong because your cousin/sibling/kid/etc. doesn't fit either of the things I see; my viewpoint won't change based on that.
Since they changed the DSM criteria several years ago, the number of ASD cases has drastically increased. If you read through the criteria, you might understand why... anybody could be diagnosed under one or more of the criteria. While I believe that many patients truly have a developmental issue, there are a lot diagnosed with ASD now that just have old-fashioned behavioral issues. Many of the latter are actually "bad parenting."
That isn't to say all ASD patients fit that scenario, but it has become a trend where terrible parents have kids with awful behavior, so they take them to someone who diagnoses ASD based on vague DSM criteria. Terrible parents then just excuse their absent parenting with "I just can't help it... my kid has ASD."
I should learn not to step into debates that I'm not well informed in but here I go:)...
Do children out grow Autism when they become teenagers or adults? Or do they continue to show the same behaviors in the general guidelines of the DSM?
The reason I ask is because children eventually out grow bad parenting, to a degree. This is from Autism speaks...
"There are two domains where people with ASD must show persistent deficits:
persistent social communication and social interaction
restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior
More specifically, people with ASD must demonstrate (either in the past or in the present) deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction and deficits in developing, maintaining and understanding relationships.
In addition, they must show at least two types of repetitive patterns of behavior, including stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, insistence on sameness or inflexible adherence to routines, highly restricted, fixated interests, hyper or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment. Symptoms can be currently present or reported in past history".
So it seems that yes a child with poor behavior COULD be diagnosed (If this is correct) cherry picking a few of the above behaviors BUT it seems after going to school interacting with other children other adults etc some of these behaviors would IN GENERAL subside greatly and to a much greater degree as they get older wouldn't you think?
I'm not debating this subject as I said I don't have a decent foundation of Autism other than the controversy around vaccines and the rapid rate of increase children being diagnosed.
ETA - I'm googling now:)
It looks like 7% outgrow it.
I've certainly not outgrown it, I'm 44 and have only just really been dxed (up to now I've had the social anxiety label). Of my 6 children 5 have varying degrees of ASD and within my family it is very prevalent throughout my maternal side. I struggle big time with all social interaction both in person and online/telephone, I don't understand nuances in tone or body language and find crowded/noisy/new places extremely stressful.3 -
nokanjaijo wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »I'm sure some people are going to jump all over me for this viewpoint, but I don't really care. If you think there is something that would actually change my view, I'm open to it. If you just want to tell me I'm a terrible person for having this viewpoint, or that I'm wrong because your cousin/sibling/kid/etc. doesn't fit either of the things I see; my viewpoint won't change based on that.
Since they changed the DSM criteria several years ago, the number of ASD cases has drastically increased. If you read through the criteria, you might understand why... anybody could be diagnosed under one or more of the criteria. While I believe that many patients truly have a developmental issue, there are a lot diagnosed with ASD now that just have old-fashioned behavioral issues. Many of the latter are actually "bad parenting."
That isn't to say all ASD patients fit that scenario, but it has become a trend where terrible parents have kids with awful behavior, so they take them to someone who diagnoses ASD based on vague DSM criteria. Terrible parents then just excuse their absent parenting with "I just can't help it... my kid has ASD."
I'm a bit flummoxed that so many people are jumping all over you for this, especially people with some personal experience with autism. What you have said here is correct.
I thought I was ASD, myself. I did a massive amount of research on it. I fit so many of the criteria, I could be a poster child. The people in the autism community were amazing, these are people with autism, not people with children with autism, mind you. Autistic people are fantastic, I love them. I still hang out in those communities despite now knowing it isn't what is happening with me. I can still relate to their experiences and they to mine. We get along really well and they welcome me.
One idea that they drove home to me over and over was the importance of making sure you get a differential diagnosis. That's just a fancy way of saying the DSM is vague and there is a lot of other stuff that may be causing these behaviors. That is true. Autism isn't the only syndrome like this, either. The DSM is like this and differential diagnosis is super important in all manner of cases. Anybody who has tried to diagnose a headache on WebMD only to learn they may have a brain tumor can attest to this.
All you seem to be saying is that differential diagnosis is important with ASD and maybe isn't being done as much as it should be. To me, that's like saying that the sky looks blue.
When you are doing a differential diagnosis of a developmental disorder, one likely other explanation is abuse. Abuse also causes developmental issues. Again, the sky looks blue.
Unscrupulous, lazy or weak mental health professionals will likely refrain from telling their client that they are the actual problem and give out an ASD diagnosis rather than face this nightmare of a situation.
Anyway, the ASD community I found warned that you must make sure to get a diagnosis from somebody willing to subject you to the full battery of tests, not just fling the diagnosis at you willy nilly, as many mental health professionals are wont to do. They recommended a neurologist over a psychiatrist as well. They gave me so much advice about being careful about going about getting a diagnosis. Really, again, what wonderful people.
Even they warned that it's easy to get the diagnosis when it may not be the problem. You won't get the help you need if that happens. And they were right.
I got a diagnosis without the full battery of tests and I discarded that diagnosis. I eventually figured out what my real problem is. It's from developmental trauma, it's called CPTSD. CPTSD isn't even in the DSM yet.
I currently moderate an online community for people with CPTSD. We regularly get people who either used to think they had ASD or think they have ASD comorbid with the CPTSD. This is also true of ADHD, especially the primarily inattentive subtype.
The effects of developmental trauma are very easily confused with ASD. Not just with kids who act out. A lot of kids with traumatic childhoods do what is called "act in". That's what I'm like. I do not have the tantrums or flip outs.
I have heard the exact opposite of this, tbh, particularly in women, which is why I think self-diagnosis is still a really powerful tool. People who had diagnosis after diagnosis, none of which seemed to really fit or do them any good when treated, only to read up on ASD and autism and have a sudden "aha" moment, realizing that all these different things are actually one thing. They then often have to fight to get a diagnosis from doctors who are uninformed about the differences in ASD between men and women or who are simply unwilling to admit that they might have been wrong and/or that a different treatment might help more.
I also know some people whose undiagnosed ASD was the cause of childhood trauma due to *kitten* parenting.1 -
mommarnurse wrote: »Going along with the probably accurate theory that it's genetic, how can we account for the obvious increasing number of diagnoses over the past 20 years or so? Yes, the broad diagnosis of ASD now in part accounts for 1.) many disorders (I.e. Intellectual disability, learning disability, add/adhd) are now encompassed into the ASD diagnosis and 2.) many people could have been diagnosed but the symptom set recognition and name wasn't there previously
However, I still feel like aside from accounting for these circumstances, there's still probably an actual increase in cases. There's something there causing that, either directly or indirectly. It could be environmental causing gene damage, and I think it probably is. But, environmental doesn't just mean "chemicals" or "pesticides", etc. it's going to be very hard to narrow it down.
Autism wasn't really known about when I was a child and what was bandied about was mostly misconceptions. Had I been a child in school now I would probably have been diagnosed with both ASD and ADHD, but because I'm female and atypical it wouldn't have even been considered 40 years ago. Plus despite knowing I was different and quirky my parents didn't want me labelled and besides all we knew about autism was Rainman, and I'm nothing like that. Personally, while a dx wouldn't have made much difference to my schooling (under acheiver) it would have been good to know why I'm different and have such a hard time fitting in.3 -
unsuspectingfish wrote: »
I have heard the exact opposite of this, tbh, particularly in women, which is why I think self-diagnosis is still a really powerful tool. People who had diagnosis after diagnosis, none of which seemed to really fit or do them any good when treated, only to read up on ASD and autism and have a sudden "aha" moment, realizing that all these different things are actually one thing. They then often have to fight to get a diagnosis from doctors who are uninformed about the differences in ASD between men and women or who are simply unwilling to admit that they might have been wrong and/or that a different treatment might help more.
I also know some people whose undiagnosed ASD was the cause of childhood trauma due to *kitten* parenting.
What is kitten parenting?
It's not the exact opposite,though, is it? It's the other side of the same coin.
There is a great deal of overlap and careful differential diagnosis is necessary. Your friend needed a differential diagnosis and had a lot of trouble from not getting one.
I had the same experience as your friend, though. Almost to the word that describes what it was like for me in the beginning. But I was wrong, I think. It wasn't ASD. I'm not kidding about the poster child thing. I am pretty much exactly how a female autist is meant to be. The similarities are uncanny.
I'm not saying your friend is wrong. I'm saying the overlap can be seriously misleading.
I agree with much of what you said. I definitely think self-diagnosis can often be the best option available to a person. But the best option of all is a careful differential diagnosis done by a competent professional. The problem is that it's generally easier to find rocking horse poo than a competent professional who will do a careful differential diagnosis.0 -
kitten is the bad word filter.
2 thoughts beyond that.
1. aging or growing out of a disorder doesn't necessarily mean the symptoms go away, merely that the coping mechanisms sufficiently and successfully disguise the symptoms from non-therapeutic/diagnostic observation
2. increased diagnosis(imo) is largely due to increase in ability to correctly or successfully diagnose moderate functional "spectrum" individuals. Early diagnosis tends to hit high function/high intelligence cases and low/no function cases. Leaving the moderate function cases to suffer or operate under an alternative diagnosis.2 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »I'm sure some people are going to jump all over me for this viewpoint, but I don't really care. If you think there is something that would actually change my view, I'm open to it. If you just want to tell me I'm a terrible person for having this viewpoint, or that I'm wrong because your cousin/sibling/kid/etc. doesn't fit either of the things I see; my viewpoint won't change based on that.
Since they changed the DSM criteria several years ago, the number of ASD cases has drastically increased. If you read through the criteria, you might understand why... anybody could be diagnosed under one or more of the criteria. While I believe that many patients truly have a developmental issue, there are a lot diagnosed with ASD now that just have old-fashioned behavioral issues. Many of the latter are actually "bad parenting."
That isn't to say all ASD patients fit that scenario, but it has become a trend where terrible parents have kids with awful behavior, so they take them to someone who diagnoses ASD based on vague DSM criteria. Terrible parents then just excuse their absent parenting with "I just can't help it... my kid has ASD."
I should learn not to step into debates that I'm not well informed in but here I go:)...
Do children out grow Autism when they become teenagers or adults? Or do they continue to show the same behaviors in the general guidelines of the DSM?
The reason I ask is because children eventually out grow bad parenting, to a degree. This is from Autism speaks...
"There are two domains where people with ASD must show persistent deficits:
persistent social communication and social interaction
restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior
More specifically, people with ASD must demonstrate (either in the past or in the present) deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction and deficits in developing, maintaining and understanding relationships.
In addition, they must show at least two types of repetitive patterns of behavior, including stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, insistence on sameness or inflexible adherence to routines, highly restricted, fixated interests, hyper or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment. Symptoms can be currently present or reported in past history".
So it seems that yes a child with poor behavior COULD be diagnosed (If this is correct) cherry picking a few of the above behaviors BUT it seems after going to school interacting with other children other adults etc some of these behaviors would IN GENERAL subside greatly and to a much greater degree as they get older wouldn't you think?
I'm not debating this subject as I said I don't have a decent foundation of Autism other than the controversy around vaccines and the rapid rate of increase children being diagnosed.
ETA - I'm googling now:)
It looks like 7% outgrow it.
I've certainly not outgrown it, I'm 44 and have only just really been dxed (up to now I've had the social anxiety label). Of my 6 children 5 have varying degrees of ASD and within my family it is very prevalent throughout my maternal side. I struggle big time with all social interaction both in person and online/telephone, I don't understand nuances in tone or body language and find crowded/noisy/new places extremely stressful.
I mentioned 7% outgrowing, referring to at least SOME misdiagnosis.
I don't believe you can outgrow Autism.0 -
nokanjaijo wrote: »unsuspectingfish wrote: »
I have heard the exact opposite of this, tbh, particularly in women, which is why I think self-diagnosis is still a really powerful tool. People who had diagnosis after diagnosis, none of which seemed to really fit or do them any good when treated, only to read up on ASD and autism and have a sudden "aha" moment, realizing that all these different things are actually one thing. They then often have to fight to get a diagnosis from doctors who are uninformed about the differences in ASD between men and women or who are simply unwilling to admit that they might have been wrong and/or that a different treatment might help more.
I also know some people whose undiagnosed ASD was the cause of childhood trauma due to *kitten* parenting.
What is kitten parenting?
It's not the exact opposite,though, is it? It's the other side of the same coin.
There is a great deal of overlap and careful differential diagnosis is necessary. Your friend needed a differential diagnosis and had a lot of trouble from not getting one.
I had the same experience as your friend, though. Almost to the word that describes what it was like for me in the beginning. But I was wrong, I think. It wasn't ASD. I'm not kidding about the poster child thing. I am pretty much exactly how a female autist is meant to be. The similarities are uncanny.
I'm not saying your friend is wrong. I'm saying the overlap can be seriously misleading.
I agree with much of what you said. I definitely think self-diagnosis can often be the best option available to a person. But the best option of all is a careful differential diagnosis done by a competent professional. The problem is that it's generally easier to find rocking horse poo than a competent professional who will do a careful differential diagnosis.
LOL, "kitten" is not what I wrote. I didn't even write a bad word! It was cr*ppy.
You're absolutely right, it is just the other side of the coin. For one particular friend, it was further complicated by the fact that she had an abusive parent while suffering from undiagnosed autism as a child, making a diagnosis later in life more difficult, particularly since she absolutely did suffer from other issues brought on by that abuse.
You're absolutely right in terms of compotent professionals.0 -
I believe in the genetic element.
How much is triggered by anything else, I don't know. I'm inclined to have some belief that stresses on the body or mind can set it off and so I'm not completely against the suggestion that vaccinations can trigger autism to develop in some individuals, but I don't believe that autism is anywhere near as bad as death and so I could never agree with an anti-vaccination stance.
I'm autistic myself. I believe that there are two undiagnosed people with autism in my extended family, which is where the genetic element seems to be confirmed on a personal level. It seems very obvious to me in both cases, but I've not told them so. One of these people is in her 50s and the other is a teenager - the teenager does have an array of other diagnoses that appear to be the modern-day approach of addressing the traits and symptoms but completely missing the overriding cause.1 -
All through school I was told I had a learning disability and now through research on Asperger's I'm 98% sure I'm on the spectrum and I have so many questions now. should I change my diet? what books should I read? Is there cognitive exercises I can be doing? Should I get a formal diagnosis?2
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Genetic. My son has it. Was a little delayed in some areas but advanced in others so I didn't catch it right away. About the age of 3. My husbands two brothers also have it. And my husband has ADHD. I think a lot of things just around us has changed our generic code. To the fake food we eat, chemicals in our water, medicines, etc. (not saying these things aren't nice and for a greater cause. But, sayin everything has a side effect. Add them all up... and you're going to get something bigger. Like autism). I can see, where some would say some diagnosis are just bad parenting.. but to an extent more or less maybe an ADHD or add diagnosis (both are now on the autism spectrum now).0
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duffylynnreb wrote: »All through school I was told I had a learning disability and now through research on Asperger's I'm 98% sure I'm on the spectrum and I have so many questions now. should I change my diet? what books should I read? Is there cognitive exercises I can be doing? Should I get a formal diagnosis?
A diagnosis is mainly helpful if you need it for some assistance or concessions at work or at school.
My son is not completely diagnosed yet because we homeschooled him and he didn't need the diagnosis. Now he is planning to attend some high school and I want the concessions for things like a private, quieter room for writing exams in. KWIM?
And I would read everything. Some might help you and some might not.
As to diet, whole foods seems to help some. Gluten and dairy (casein and not the lactose) seem to bother some. My son's behavior and thinking improves when he is GF ad dairy free. Red dyes also seem to bother him.2 -
Red dyes were definitely a trigger for me when I was much younger. As was processed sugar.
I've never been formally diagnosed. But a therapist who was a close personal friend noted that some of my distinctive behaviors suggest a spectrum diagnosis0 -
Having recently studied ASD for the past 8 years, we discovered the experts still don't know what causes it or what will cure it. Some evidence exists that points to the possible source coming from the father's DNA but still speculation.0
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My daughter has high functioning autism. It took nearly 3 years to get the proper diagnosis. In Australia you need a dual diagnosis. Do you understand how hard it is to get a diagnosis for Autism? Speaking about my daughter to her doctors it makes me realise I'm describing myself. How similar we are, our behaviours etc. We have seen many psychologists, paediatricians, we are now seeing an OT and speech. Life is hard but that doesn't change that I love my daughter. She has Autism it does not define her. Do I think it is genetics? Yes. Do I think vaccines cause it? No. We have a couple of members in our group who do not vaccinate (medical reasons) and their children have autism.1
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I have two sons who have autism and they both have different dads. They are part of a study through Columbus children's hospital, to map their progress throughout their life and also we are going to be participating in genetic studies.
I don't know what causes it but I know when both of them were first diagnosed I went through a grieving process, and now I just want answers as to why. My oldest who is five was diagnosed at three years old and my youngest who is 3 1/2 was diagnosed at two. Their symptoms as they have aged have become more prominent. They're both and a handful of different therapies that's basically my entire life, and at this point I have pretty much just accepted that I'm going to spend the rest of my life caring for them because they're both very high on the spectrum.
1 -
duffylynnreb wrote: »All through school I was told I had a learning disability and now through research on Asperger's I'm 98% sure I'm on the spectrum and I have so many questions now. should I change my diet? what books should I read? Is there cognitive exercises I can be doing? Should I get a formal diagnosis?
Try Aspergirls by Rudy Simone, that's a good one. Cynthia Kim's book is good too, and her blog.
Personally it helped me a lot having someone else tell me that I'm autistic, but it's not always possible to find someone who can diagnose adult women (VERY different from diagnosing young boys!) and for that reason a lot of people who find out later in life that they're autistic will settle for self-diagnosis. The only practical problem with self-diagnosis is that you can't access support, but there might not be any available anyway. There's no support where I live and you have to be on death's door to get disability benefits these days, so the only support I get is through support groups on the internet (there are a lot of fantastic groups on FB if you're on there). Also some people, usually non-autistic people who do not realise how hard it is to get an adult diagnosis, can be sneery about self-diagnosis and say it's not valid.
There's no evidence to support the idea that dietary changes will help, but you can give it a go if you like. Some people say that a GF CF diet helps but it's anecdotal.2 -
My son was diagnosed with ADHD and tested for Autism but was diagnosed as "quirky". The dr. said if they were still using the Aspergers diagnosis he'd be on the spectrum for that. but he's just quirky. Guess who else is quirky? Me. The more appointments I go to for him I realize I would have the same diagnosis if I were going to school today as would my brother and probably my husband.
so I say genetics.
My son has some sensory issues. He hates loud sounds or sudden sounds and has lots of food sensory issues. Then again hubs hate loud sounds and I have lots of issues with foods
I agree to a point that some parents just go looking for something and some kind of diagnosis. Heck when we went for our appointment to get the results of the boy's Autism test the Dr. said some parents would be unhappy with the lack of diagnosis. We were shocked but he said lots are looking for something to get them some services for help.
It's entirely possible that your child with ADHD also has sensory issues and is not, in fact, autistic.
However, (putting my teacher hat on a minute...one moment...), that's plenty to demonstrate a need to get an IEP, OT services, etc. So in a way, even if the diagnosis isn't correct--medical professionals are far from perfect--you can get the sort of help and supports needed from school and community that is necessary.
Whether or not he is or is not on the autism spectrum may be an ongoing journey. And what "autism" is keeps shifting.0 -
microwaves! also limited practice of delayed cord clamping at birth.0
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