Autism and The HBO Movie Temple Grandin

[M.D. Holloway]

HBO: Temple Grandin: Home

I remember seeing this women on a late night talk show. Very interesting. Come to find out there is a movie about her. I watched it the other night. Very well done and from what I can tell it was pretty accurate. If you don't know who this women is check out this link: Temple Grandin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you get a chance, watch the movie.


On a side note, Jenny McCarthy was on TV last night discussing Autism. She sited a figure that 1:60 boys born today will have some form of Autism. I found that difficult to believe. I haven't researched it understand if that is true or not. BTW - she isn't the whack many think she is. She believes that many outside influences including pesticides and multiple vaccines can push a young child's system into Autistic tendencies.

Not only is she one of the most beautiful women on Earth, she is smart, funny , compassionate, sexual and now single!

[cantdrv55]

Didn't she say her child has gotten over his autism?

[Crowbob]

Autism Spectrum Disorders can be very nebulous and difficult to diagnose. The variability of expression of the disorder is wide. I've seen kids diagnosed with autism who are simply socially awkward, immature or inexperienced. It is not rare for highly intelligent, socially disinterested boys be diagnosed with autism. Social anxiety disorders, borderline intellectual functioning and personality disorders can easily be misdiagnosed as autism. Mental and develpmental disorders of childhood not infrequently go away with age and increased social exposure. Be wary of an autistic diagnosis, especially so the younger the individual is-boys in particular.

[Paco Anton]

My 3,5 year-old boy has been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder but since he is so young the diagnostic is not clear.

He has difficulties to learn to speak and is very independent but, on the other hand, he is quite sensitive and affective. He currently attends speech therapy 3 x week and psycological theraphy 1 x week. Besides he has help at school.

We do not know how this will turn out in the future but hope we will be able to manage by himself in the future.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

Autism Spectrum Disorders can be very nebulous and difficult to diagnose. The variability of expression of the disorder is wide. I've seen kids diagnosed with autism who are simply socially awkward, immature or inexperienced. It is not rare for highly intelligent, socially disinterested boys be diagnosed with autism. Social anxiety disorders, borderline intellectual functioning and personality disorders can easily be misdiagnosed as autism. Mental and develpmental disorders of childhood not infrequently go away with age and increased social exposure. Be wary of an autistic diagnosis, especially so the younger the individual is-boys in particular.

Stepson is a psychologist at University of Boston. He says, while autism is real, it is over diagnosed. On one end of the mis-diagnosed spectrum are simple psychological problems and on the other end are kids who are "just plain retarded" (his words) but is isn't PC to use "retarded" these days.

[Crowbob]

Paco,

From your sensitive description of your son, I would advise you to carefully place aside any fears or doubts. 3.5 yo affectionate boys SHOULD have difficulty with speech. Speech is a wondrously elegant process. It takes time. Let your son communicate to you, his family, the way he is best able. If he is intelligent (whatever that means) he may be trying to teach you. Professor Einstein did not speak until age 6, IIRC.

[TechnoViking]

Vaccines don't cause autism. As someone on this board once said, we know that "with mathematical certainty".

McCarthy's claims, despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, that vaccines hurt some "susceptible" children shows a fundamental lack of understanding the scientific method. She has helped to create fear and perpetuate a pseudo-science that is having unfortunate consequences for a growing number of children with parents that chose to skip vaccinations.

I thought Wired Magazine's column earlier this year, The War on Science, was a good summary of the issues:

An Epidemic of Fear: How Panicked Parents Skipping Shots Endangers Us All | Magazine

"In May, The New England Journal of Medicine laid the blame for clusters of disease outbreaks throughout the US squarely at the feet of declining vaccination rates, while nonprofit health care provider Kaiser Permanente reported that unvaccinated children were 23 times more likely to get pertussis, a highly contagious bacterial disease that causes violent coughing and is potentially lethal to infants. In the June issue of the journal Pediatrics, Jason Glanz, an epidemiologist at Kaiser’s Institute for Health Research, revealed that the number of reported pertussis cases jumped from 1,000 in 1976 to 26,000 in 2004. A disease that vaccines made rare, in other words, is making a comeback. “This study helps dispel one of the commonly held beliefs among vaccine-refusing parents: that their children are not at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases,” Glanz says."

"I used to say that the tide would turn when children started to die. Well, children have started to die,” Offit says, frowning as he ticks off recent fatal cases of meningitis in unvaccinated children in Pennsylvania and Minnesota. “So now I’ve changed it to ‘when enough children start to die.’ Because obviously, we’re not there yet.”



"The rejection of hard-won knowledge is by no means a new phenomenon. In 1905, French mathematician and scientist Henri Poincaré said that the willingness to embrace pseudo-science flourished because people “know how cruel the truth often is, and we wonder whether illusion is not more consoling.” Decades later, the astronomer Carl Sagan reached a similar conclusion: Science loses ground to pseudo-science because the latter seems to offer more comfort. "

[red-beard]

They had a woman (with Autism) on the morning shows last week and she made a statement that more children have it than are diagnosed. She seemed to claim that most kids who are nerd/geeks have austism.

What a load of crap!

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by red-beard

They had a woman (with Autism) on the morning shows last week and she made a statement that more children have it than are diagnosed. She seemed to claim that most kids who are nerd/geeks have austism.

What a load of crap!

+1
The range for "normal" is getting narrower and narrower. If you aren't with a percent of the tip of the bell curve these days, they tell you something's wrong with you.

[Oh Haha]

Having a child with Aspberger's I can tell you that it is a challenge. Obviously, not as much as a physically or severely mentally handicapped child but it is something that we have to recognize.

On most levels he is the typical 7YO boy. On others, he is not. We have a great IEP with the school system and he is doing great.

I started another thread on our situation so I won't ramble here.

"look me in the eye" by John Elder Robisonis a great book that really helps the reader understand what someone with this affliction is thinking.


I would be glad to send it to anyone that would like to read it.

He's done some amazing things in his life. He currently runs a high-end auto repair shop on the east coast.

[red-beard]

Wayne,

I am not belittling those who truely have a child with an issue. I'm just saying that this person seemed to imply it was about 30% of the population.

[Oh Haha]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Wayne,

I am not belittling those who truely have a child with an issue. I'm just saying that this person seemed to imply it was about 30% of the population.

Oh, I know that and I didn't take it that way. I don't think that the true number of cases is that high. WE know that the easy way to deal with unruly or hyper children is to stick them with a label.

Until it was proven to me by several different professionals I was not on board with the diagnosis. Now, I need to be for my son's future.

[Crowbob]

The easiest way to deal with 'em is labeling them with a stick. That's how we always done it.

[sammyg2]

Whenever something is over-diagnosed it hurts those who really are inflicted.
ADHD and autism are two ways for lots of folks to make lots of money with false diagnoses.
Not fair to those who really have it.

[Paco Anton]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

Paco,

From your sensitive description of your son, I would advise you to carefully place aside any fears or doubts. 3.5 yo affectionate boys SHOULD have difficulty with speech. Speech is a wondrously elegant process. It takes time. Let your son communicate to you, his family, the way he is best able. If he is intelligent (whatever that means) he may be trying to teach you. Professor Einstein did not speak until age 6, IIRC.

Thanks Crowbob.

For the moment he speaks more or less like Tarzan but he is improving his speech abilities very fast. We hope/pray he has enough capabilities in 3 years when he is due to begin 1st grade.

[12own911]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

On one end of the mis-diagnosed spectrum are simple psychological problems and on the other end are kids who are "just plain retarded" (his words) but is isn't PC to use "retarded" these days.

As a parent of a 15 year old - young adult who has both down syndrome and autism, I do not buy in the what is PC. My son is retarded. He is slow to learn and has difficultly grasping concepts. He is a great kid but very unlike most individuals with down syndrome. He does not like attention. He does not need to be on stage and have others look at him. He is quiet. He loves video games and playing with cars and characters. He hates when someone messes with the lines he draws with with cars or characters. He does not like to hang out with anyone. He prefers to be alone and is happy when he is left alone. We can go to a family party and he prefers to hang out with no one. He goes to the quietest place in the house away from everyone. Give him a TV, some movies and leave him alone and he is good to go.

I realize that everyone is different from the other but there are norms that everyone is judged by and my son is the norm for me. Retarded - yes: different from others with down syndrome - yes but still a great kid. I consider myself to be lucky everyday.

[Oh Haha]

Kim,
Thanks for sharing this part of your life. As you know, there are wide differences in the autism spectrum. Your son is obviously more severely affected than ours but they are still in the same grouping.

Our son is doing great with the program we have him on although he still has troubles with large crowds, it is what it is and we deal with the best that we can.

The best thing about the knowledge that has been gained in recent years is that funding for federal/state programs and insurance coverage has come to light.