Thanks to spacemuffin

[conuly]

For the record, I think it's a combination of more diagnoses and more recognition - the two feed off each other.

With autism on the rise -- as many as 12 in every 10,000 children (boys more than girls) -- how can a parent tell if their child is autistic or if they have some other mental health disorder?

Or is perfectly normal. Notice they don't mention that.

Autism prevents children and adolescents from interacting normally with other people, and affects almost every aspect of their social and psychological development.

Yeah, you could say that, but... children and adolescents? What about adults? Why "autism prevents" instead of "autistics do not"? *shruggles*

One child with autism does not behave like another child with the same diagnosis

True 'dat.

In addition to these characteristics, some children with autism experience hypersensitivity to hearing, touch, smell or taste.

You forgot lighting. And hyposensitivity, as unusual as that seems to be. And adults, why on earth do you insist on forgetting adults?

Really, it's not nearly as bad an article as I'd hoped. Drat. Those are more fun to mock.

Comments

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Because my eldest is gifted, I can't tell if my other two are normal, or not.

Well normal for educational purposes, at least.

So when my middle one has trouble in school I dont know if thats normal, or if he has some sort of underlying problem. Of course, the school isn't very helpful about it....

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

Argh. The way these articles are written, it's no wonder that NTs so often have the impression that autistic adults simply don't exist... >_

[conuly]

Seriously. I know this is written with an eye towards parents, but it would've been easier to say "autistics" than "children and adolescents with autism" all the time.

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

The thing that really made me wonder about it was the list of common symptoms. While I'm sure those are common symptoms of autism (Not being one myself, I don't know for sure, and haven't done a whole lot of reading on it yet), they could very well be symptoms of other things, too.

In my case, notably, "Have a limited range of interests and activities." Don't most children? I know I did. I was completely consumed by My Little Ponies from about age 3 until about age 12. EVERYTHING I did was related to that. Except for the stamps. I was equally consumed by stamps. Very meticulously, I would trim them off envelopes and place them lovingly in a special drawer set aside just for them. I think that having a limited range on interests and activities doesn't necessarily indicate autism or anything else, it just indicates an immature and growing mind.

I had intelligent things to say about the other points, too, but my meds just kicked in and they're making me sleepy.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Because my eldest is gifted, I can't tell if my other two are normal, or not.

Well normal for educational purposes, at least.

So when my middle one has trouble in school I dont know if thats normal, or if he has some sort of underlying problem. Of course, the school isn't very helpful about it....

[codeman38.livejournal.com]

Argh. The way these articles are written, it's no wonder that NTs so often have the impression that autistic adults simply don't exist... >_

[conuly]

Seriously. I know this is written with an eye towards parents, but it would've been easier to say "autistics" than "children and adolescents with autism" all the time.

[wodhaund.livejournal.com]

The thing that really made me wonder about it was the list of common symptoms. While I'm sure those are common symptoms of autism (Not being one myself, I don't know for sure, and haven't done a whole lot of reading on it yet), they could very well be symptoms of other things, too.

In my case, notably, "Have a limited range of interests and activities." Don't most children? I know I did. I was completely consumed by My Little Ponies from about age 3 until about age 12. EVERYTHING I did was related to that. Except for the stamps. I was equally consumed by stamps. Very meticulously, I would trim them off envelopes and place them lovingly in a special drawer set aside just for them. I think that having a limited range on interests and activities doesn't necessarily indicate autism or anything else, it just indicates an immature and growing mind.

I had intelligent things to say about the other points, too, but my meds just kicked in and they're making me sleepy.