Dennis Leary on Autism...

[jyates]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
While I strongly believe that autism is a real disease, as is ADHD/ADD and numerous others, I do also strongly believe that much of the diagnoses comes from poor raising of the child or not accepting that they are indeed children. Children require work and don't sit still on their own. I didn't when I was a kid, and I don't expect kids today to. It's the parent's job to guide them. Who all of these false diagnoses hurts most is the people with the real illness that need real treatment. Not only do they get lumped in with the people taking the easy route out, they also have to wait in the queue of those people.

:thumbsup:

 

[herm0016]

from a person diagnosed with ADHD, having gone through the testing multiple times, been on and off drugs all my life, it is a real problem for some of us, and those of us that have this problem do not fit in with societies norms. I have spent my whole life battling with myself to get to where i am today. struggling every second of school. This December I will be graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from one of the top engineering schools in the country. people with the problem do not need to be told its an excuse, rather, they have to work harder and longer than most others to get to the same level. I fought with my teachers in elementary/middle/high school. My parents fought with them and the school admin. I simply could not learn like most of my classmates, My teachers shoved it off as me being lazy and un-motivated. For the few that did help me, I am grateful, they pushed me to my limits and helped to get me here. I do not and have and never really had behavioral problems because my parents were strict, I believe they did a good job, even after a few too many bruises and verbal abuse.

I do believe that it is over diagnosed. but when people say that "they just need a good beating", I know that this can help with behavioral problems, but a "good beating" will not help to motivate somebody that simply can not do it the same as everyone else. It will do the opposite, it will convince them they are the idiot, that they are not worth anything. I know this feeling very well, and it can drive people to think about just giving up, about suicide. It can drive them to being what you all think of as the stereo type, when in reality they may be very smart people that learn and communicant differently.

 

[Whisper]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: moshquerade
Autism has replaced ADHD as the new buzz diagnosis.

As a mental health professional, I can agree that the autism diagnosis can be abused to excuse what is essentially poor parenting. But I'd actually say that rapid-cycling bi-polar is the new buzz diagnosis, because it can look almost identical to a spoiled brat throwing tantrums to get what he wants. It also looks exactly like hypoglycemia. You'd be amazed how many cases of "bi-polar disorder" can be fixed by calling the cops or giving the kid some protein every two hours.

That said, autism is a very real thing, and for the kids that are affected by it, no amount of conventional behavior modification will help them. It is also important to realize that it is a spectrum disorder, meaning not everyone who has a form of it is completely non-functional. There are plenty of people who live more or less normal lives but will always be seen as "weird" by others. And there are kids for whom the inability to process stimulation overloads and results in panicked "wild animal" blow-outs that cannot be controlled by any amount of consequences, time-outs (as in 30 days in an isolation tank and STILL freaking out!), or even physical threats.

While I don't work with children, I've heard the same from those in the field who do. Personally, I don't know that I'll ever understand a diagnosis of Bipolar anything in a child; same goes for any personality disorder.

As for ADHD and the autism spectrum as a whole, both are very real conditions backed by numerous empirical studies conducted over the course of decades. Part of the increase in diagnoses of such conditions can be attributed to increases in both parental and practitioner awareness, definitely. Likewise, as with dyslexia and anxiety in the past, increased awareness can also at times lead to undocumented and unsupported diagnosis.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

I always thought I had Asperger's Syndrome but then I realized that I'm a idiot in general.

 

[djheater]

Originally posted by: Whisper

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: moshquerade
Autism has replaced ADHD as the new buzz diagnosis.

As a mental health professional, I can agree that the autism diagnosis can be abused to excuse what is essentially poor parenting. But I'd actually say that rapid-cycling bi-polar is the new buzz diagnosis, because it can look almost identical to a spoiled brat throwing tantrums to get what he wants. It also looks exactly like hypoglycemia. You'd be amazed how many cases of "bi-polar disorder" can be fixed by calling the cops or giving the kid some protein every two hours.

That said, autism is a very real thing, and for the kids that are affected by it, no amount of conventional behavior modification will help them. It is also important to realize that it is a spectrum disorder, meaning not everyone who has a form of it is completely non-functional. There are plenty of people who live more or less normal lives but will always be seen as "weird" by others. And there are kids for whom the inability to process stimulation overloads and results in panicked "wild animal" blow-outs that cannot be controlled by any amount of consequences, time-outs (as in 30 days in an isolation tank and STILL freaking out!), or even physical threats.

While I don't work with children, I've heard the same from those in the field who do. Personally, I don't know that I'll ever understand a diagnosis of Bipolar anything in a child; same goes for any personality disorder.

As for ADHD and the autism spectrum as a whole, both are very real conditions backed by numerous empirical studies conducted over the course of decades. Part of the increase in diagnoses of such conditions can be attributed to increases in both parental and practitioner awareness, definitely. Likewise, as with dyslexia and anxiety in the past, increased awareness can also at times lead to undocumented and unsupported diagnosis.

I am surprised and gratified to see intelligent, informed opinions in this thread.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thank god practitioners don't listen to either political commentators or comedians when developing therapies and working with patients.

Cute

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: hiromizu

Originally posted by: dbk
It's all about discipline. Like Russell Peters says, "Parents, please beat your kids."

Exactly. No matter how stupid you are, you'll stop and listen if someone is beating the crap out of you. If you don't, then you're genuinely retarded or really into the sadomasochistic arts.

See, that's just not true for autistic kids. There are plenty of kids who just need a good spanking once in a while. But for autistic kids, it will not help at all.

I don't think that anyone is suggesting that such things will work for autistic kids. What I believe that they are suggesting is that many kids who are diagnosed as "autistic" are not actually suffering from the disorder and genuinely are only in need of stronger discipline at home.

I agree completely that autism is very real and that it is extremely difficult to deal with, both for the child and the parents. I also completely agree with what you say about it being a spectrum.

From the way my parents describe my behavior when I was younger, it's very possible that I would have been diagnosed with mild Asperger's syndrome if they had taken me to a doctor. They did not, and I will never know for sure, but there is no denying that I was an odd child with many of the characteristics that tend to indicate Asperger's. As an adult now, however, I have learned how to deal with these oddities in productive ways. For example, being overly-logical in the formal sense is a boon when working with computers or even when designing systematic processes in business, which is one reason that I'm rather good at my job designing performance management processes and configuring SAP systems to support those processes. This is similarly true in areas like engineering, where there seem to be a large amount of people with Asperger's tendencies.

ZV

 

[Whisper]

Originally posted by: djheater

Originally posted by: Whisper

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: moshquerade
Autism has replaced ADHD as the new buzz diagnosis.

As a mental health professional, I can agree that the autism diagnosis can be abused to excuse what is essentially poor parenting. But I'd actually say that rapid-cycling bi-polar is the new buzz diagnosis, because it can look almost identical to a spoiled brat throwing tantrums to get what he wants. It also looks exactly like hypoglycemia. You'd be amazed how many cases of "bi-polar disorder" can be fixed by calling the cops or giving the kid some protein every two hours.

That said, autism is a very real thing, and for the kids that are affected by it, no amount of conventional behavior modification will help them. It is also important to realize that it is a spectrum disorder, meaning not everyone who has a form of it is completely non-functional. There are plenty of people who live more or less normal lives but will always be seen as "weird" by others. And there are kids for whom the inability to process stimulation overloads and results in panicked "wild animal" blow-outs that cannot be controlled by any amount of consequences, time-outs (as in 30 days in an isolation tank and STILL freaking out!), or even physical threats.

While I don't work with children, I've heard the same from those in the field who do. Personally, I don't know that I'll ever understand a diagnosis of Bipolar anything in a child; same goes for any personality disorder.

As for ADHD and the autism spectrum as a whole, both are very real conditions backed by numerous empirical studies conducted over the course of decades. Part of the increase in diagnoses of such conditions can be attributed to increases in both parental and practitioner awareness, definitely. Likewise, as with dyslexia and anxiety in the past, increased awareness can also at times lead to undocumented and unsupported diagnosis.

I am surprised and gratified to see intelligent, informed opinions in this thread.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Thank god practitioners don't listen to either political commentators or comedians when developing therapies and working with patients.

Cute

Autism research is an amazing field to be in right now. A few of the individuals in my program (supervisors and clinicians-in-training) are heavily involved in assessment and treatment development for both the Autism spectrum disorders and mental retardation/intellectual disabilities, and I can tell that they find their work to be truly rewarding and enjoyable.

 

[bignateyk]

Yep. Just like downsyndrome is made up.

While there may be minor cases overdiagnosed, I can assure you that autism is, indeed, real.

 

[randay]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: moshquerade
Autism has replaced ADHD as the new buzz diagnosis.

For the love of all that is good, please don't say that. I guess you get it.

ADHD is 99% a misdiagnosis. Autism is a life-crushing genetic disease with no real cure.

"ADHD"....yeah, right. Gen Y has used their Ritalin-fueled youth as an excuse for their failures for 15 years now.

When I was growing up "hyperactive kids" got Dad's BOOT up their ASS. Numerous times, if that's what it took to get across the message that you were messing something up, something. Know what? It worked. Funny, that, eh?

No Ritalin. No pet-me-on-the-head-because-I-have-a-learning-disability bullshit. ADHD is the biggest bullshit diagnosis ever. It's a PARENTING FAILURE. Your kid needs an ass-kicking. Give it to him/her.

i agree wholeheartedly. a little child abuse never heart anyone.

 

[Aquaman]

Originally posted by: CPA

Originally posted by: binister

Originally posted by: CPA
Michael Savage said something similar about a month ago, and got killed in the media for it. Luckily, Savage stands by his opinions and isn't PC....oh, and it helps that he's right.

So you don't think there is a true increase in Autism?

certainly not at the rate in which doctor's would like us to believe.

My sister's two year old was just "diagnosed" with autism. Funny thing is he acts/behaves exactly like my 11-year old did then. My 11 year has had issues, but it's not autism and we don't handicap him by coddling to his fits.

My 20 year old cousin is autistic but he is very high functioning. He graduated high school (although not on the academic track) and now he has finished a training program that has allowed him to work in a bakery. He is pretty self sufficient and can explain clearly what he needs or what he would like to do.

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: binister

Originally posted by: CPA
Michael Savage said something similar about a month ago, and got killed in the media for it. Luckily, Savage stands by his opinions and isn't PC....oh, and it helps that he's right.

So you don't think there is a true increase in Autism?

There could be, but why is there such a dramatic increase of all the sudden?


A huge proportion of this country is NOT inbreeding, and there are tons of heterozygous races, so why the huge leap?

 

[0roo0roo]

pretty much, and now they've classified aspergers as well as mild autism. the shrinks just want to shove everyone into a category of disfunction.

 

[nanette1985]

It isn't the parents, it's the doctors and big pharma. There's money to be made in diagnosing these things. Strattera, Clonidine, Ritalin, Focalin, Metadate, Concerta, Daytrana, Dexedrine, Adderall etc for ADHD. Though there's no actual approved med for autism, there's an even bigger list of meds for the behaviors - tranquilizers, antipsychotics, anti-seizure meds, antidepressants, etc. For bipolar, there's lithium, anticonvulsant drugs (carbamazepine (Tegretol), valproate (Depakote), gabapentin (Neurontin) and lamotrigine Lamictal), antidepressants (such as bupropion (Wellbutrin)or sertraline (Zoloft)), neuroleptics (e.g. haloperidol) and benzodiazepines (e.g. lorazepam).

Follow the money.

 

[Auryg]

I have a cousin with genuine autism. His newest hobby is weightlifting, and he was already a big guy. Oh, and he stabbed his family dog to death. Yeah, that doesn't make me nervous at the family functions..

I also have another cousin with ADHD...and while I haven't seen him since he was 2, it sure seemed genuine there, but it also did seem like better parenting could have helped control it more. That being said, I've seen a lot of kids that supposedly have either of these diseases and it's plainly obvious that they just needed stronger parents when they were younge.r At any rate, I'm very much against giving kids any brain-chemical altering drugs. It seems to me like it would wreck havoc on their development.

But as someone with atypical depression I know how much it can suck when people don't "believe" in a mental disorder because they can't see it. Without drugs, I'm ridiculously tired all of the time, except for a few hours at night. All throughout school I was called lazy when I could barely move or keep my eyes open, no matter how much sleep I got. So it can suck.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: hiromizu

Originally posted by: dbk
It's all about discipline. Like Russell Peters says, "Parents, please beat your kids."

Exactly. No matter how stupid you are, you'll stop and listen if someone is beating the crap out of you. If you don't, then you're genuinely retarded or really into the sadomasochistic arts.

for the record, i have a cousin who is genuinely autistic, though i think his symptoms are milder (he's much younger than me and i don't see him very often).