[PEN-L:31494] Re: Autism on the rise

[Charles Jannuzi <b_rieux@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- "Devine, James" <jdevine@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> joanna bujes  wrote:
> > > I would think it would be relatively easy
> to
> > > determine whether you are
> > > right. Surely they must keep statistics
> that
> > > would help you correlate
> > > age/medical intervention with incidence of
> > > learning disorders, autism, etc.
>
> Charles J. writes:
> > Not as easy as you might think, since
> concepts of
> > what is normal and abnormal vary widely
> (ditto
> > dyslexia, ditto attention deficit disorder,
> etc).
>
> the concept of hard-core autism (Kanner's
> autism) is pretty clear as these
> things go. (Concepts such as Asperger's
> syndrome and PDD are hard to pin
> down a lot of the time and often lead to
> misdiagnosis.)

No, it's not. Not as to it's etiology, which was
the point of the point.


>
> > Also, I doubt if anyone tracks a very large
> > number of infants for very long, but a lot of
> the
> > disorders appear past infancy. And by that
> time,
> > all sorts of 'psychological' and
> 'developmental'
> > theories are used to overinterpret what has
> been
> > manifested (e.g., the theory of unloving
> parents
> > and the like).
>
> luckily Bettelheim's Freudian theory of the
> Refrigerator Mom as the cause of
> autism ("the theory of unloving parents" --
> with the woman taking the blame,
> natch) has been discredited by almost all
> studies. Most current theories
> blame genetics, prenatal "insults," and the
> like. Autism is seen as a
> neurobiological disorder.

Yes, but people like psychiatrists and
psychologists still have a big stake in dealing
with such things. Woe to the social case worker
who thinks he can take them on.
>
> > I'll keep my eyes open for such a
> > study, though. My brother, who works with a
> lot
> > of kids diagnosed as 'autistic' and 'learning
> > disabled', thinks it's striking how many of
> these
> > kids are born to older, middle class parents.
>
>
> there's a lot of self-selection going on: the
> middle class parents are most
> likely to make sure that their kids get a more
> accurate diagnosis, and are
> so less likely to find their kids labelled
> "retarded." It's also possible
> that your brother works in an agency that
> attracts the middle class. Middle
> class parents are more likely to go to a public
> mental-health agency rather
> than "living with" the child's disorder.

No, my brother doesn't work at an agency that
deals predominately with middle class families.

>
> > One
> > problem in dealing with such parents is that,
> > unlike working class parents, they really do
> > think they've done something wrong and fret a
> lot
> > about why their family should be stricken
> (things
> > like this aren't supposed to happen to them).
>
>
> My experience, with parents of Asperger kids,
> is that almost none blame
> themselves. Instead, they're looking for
> solutions (new diets, treatments,
> schools, etc.) or someone else to blame (such
> as those who require childhood
> vaccinations). Of course, those who attend our
> support group are
> self-selecting...

My interpretation is different. They care about
etiology, however lame the explanations, so long
as they can blame anyone but themselves. My point
was, though, that there is a lot more activism
and concern and fault-finding once it's a middle
class cause--whereas, Americans tend to be quite
fatalistic about a problem if it doesn't affect
the middle classes so much.
>
> > One
> > paradox is that it turns the most right-wing
> of
> > them into limited, self-serving socialists
> once
> > they have to deal with the social services
> maze
> > of the US.
>
> we have little choice but to fight the system
> (the schools, etc.), but
> without calling for its abolition. One problem
> is that it's severely
> underfunded. (The Americans with Disabilities
> Act talks a nice game, but
> isn't backed up with the dough.)

Which you could say about ALL social services in
the US. The US makes the stingy UK look like a
generous country in most areas.

C. Jannuzi

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