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Concerned about the increase of autistic children

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Tekman101101

Tekman101101

Active Member
I am now in my 60’s and for my whole life I had never known anyone that was autistic.... that I know of.

I now know of four people that are autistic and they are all little children six years old and younger.

What is going on? None are directly related to me.


(PS... I know this is not a “scientific” observation...I am just concerned as two of these little children belong to my step-daughter. Interestingly enough one of her other children is perfectly normal AND seems to be VERY intelligent.)
 
tree said:
Being autistic and being intelligent are not
mutually exclusive states of being.
Click to expand...

Indeed, contrary to popular opinion, Autistic people are NOT retarded, on the contrary I recently had an official IQ test at the local Autism Centre and the woman who tested me said I was the best she'd ever worked with.
 
How you made it to 60 without being lucky enough to know anyone Autistic is odd since we really are not rare. And we are also fairly "normal", whatever "normal" means.

Nothing is going on except the way a diagnosis is done, the way the diagnostic categories have changed, and more awareness that people are not all wired the same. Also the world is just a lot noisier.
 
Tekman101101 said:
I am now in my 60’s and for my whole life I had never known anyone that was autistic.... that I know of.

I now know of four people that are autistic and they are all little children six years old and younger.

What is going on? None are directly related to me.


(PS... I know this is not a “scientific” observation...I am just concerned as two of these little children belong to my step-daughter. Interestingly enough one of her other children is perfectly normal AND seems to be VERY intelligent.)
Click to expand...

I think that due to better awareness of Autism, there are more people being diagnosed and there probably are not any more Autistic people than there ever was. I also believe that since 2013, the number of people being diagnosed with ASD has went down. That is when the DSM was changed to make it harder to get a diagnosis. Of course that is just what I believe and a lot of people think that I am full of it.
 
you act like an increase of autistic people is a bad thing. a lot of autistic people invent software and technology, so technically if everyone is "normal" (there is no defined normal, just nuerotypical) you would not have the device you are on, and you would not be able to make this complaint. also, you probably do know autistic people, and there has been no increase. it's just that more autism is a more common diagnosis, and since diagnostic tools are becoming more comprehensive and realistic, more people fit the description. perhaps you yourself are autistic, but you never realized. we can actually be smarter than most NTS, too.
 
Tekman101101 said:
I am now in my 60’s and for my whole life I had never known anyone that was autistic.... that I know of.

I now know of four people that are autistic and they are all little children six years old and younger.

What is going on? None are directly related to me.


(PS... I know this is not a “scientific” observation...I am just concerned as two of these little children belong to my step-daughter. Interestingly enough one of her other children is perfectly normal AND seems to be VERY intelligent.)
Click to expand...
Science can only speculate towards the root causes of autism. Autism is a neurological condition where the brain is wired differently, it is not a disease and there is no cure. To date, there simply has not been enough controlled studies.
 
Tekman101101 said:
(PS... I know this is not a “scientific” observation...I am just concerned as two of these little children belong to my step-daughter. Interestingly enough one of her other children is perfectly normal AND seems to be VERY intelligent.)
Click to expand...

As you start to learn more about autism, you’ll begin to understand a term called “coping mechanisms” which is learned behavior towards fitting in, and also avoiding the persecution and judgement of others.

In many ways we mimic behavior of others, in many ways we have challenges socially, in many ways we have skills that helps us to be brilliant and gifted.
 
You have really opened yourself up to some anger from the group here. Most of us don't see ourselves as diseased, unfortunate invalids. You might want to reflect on that.

First, more people are being diagnosed. When I was a child, no one was considered autistic unless they were nonverbal and banging their head against the wall. We were considered lazy, disrespectful, uncooperative - basically just bad people. So having the medical establishment get with the program is a good thing, not a reason for concern.

Second, autistic people tend to flourish in a technological environment, due to our less animistic view of the world. As science and technology become more important in life, we become more important, and are less likely to be hidden away and not talked about. It looks like there's more of us, because you need us.
 
As a staff member,I feel it is important for all involved in this thread to understand that possibly the OP is not familiar with how things work on the autism spectrum.

Please keep in mind that we who wear the badge and live the life at some stage of our game knew nothing about our own condition either.

Try to take a tone where you educate the OP without destroying him over a possible lack of knowledge.
 
I am completely amazed that almost everyone that read my post here sees it as derogatory or as an insult.

When that was NOT the intent of my post at all. Perhaps your perception that certain comments are demeaning to you personally are needing some introspection?

What I was clearly questioning and espousing was the POSSIBLE increase of this disorder (please do not try to blame this one on me also as that is the definition from several online sources) as this has been the topic of many news stories and science articles these last few years. Whether or not there is an actual increase or if the documented increase is just due to better record keeping and/or more accurate diagnoses???

What I was hoping for was a logical discussion of why this might be.....

I love my step-grandson with all my heart and I feel emotional pain when I think of how he suffers from this. Fortunately he is just now starting to respond vocally to simple questions.

I have NEVER EVER been the kind of person that picks on or makes fun of those less fortunate then me.

And obviously I am talking about the debilitating form of Autism..... I know nothing about nor did I say anything about Higher Functioning Autism or Asperger's Syndrome.
 
Tekman101101 said:
I am completely amazed that almost everyone that read my post here sees it as derogatory or as an insult.

When that was NOT the intent of my post at all. Perhaps your perception that certain comments are demeaning to you personally are needing some introspection?

What I was clearly questioning and espousing was the POSSIBLE increase of this disorder (please do not try to blame this one on me also as that is the definition from several online sources) as this has been the topic of many news stories and science articles these last few years. Whether or not there is an actual increase or if the documented increase is just due to better record keeping and/or more accurate diagnoses???

What I was hoping for was a logical discussion of why this might be.....

I love my step-grandson with all my heart and I feel emotional pain when I think of how he suffers from this. Fortunately he is just now starting to respond vocally to simple questions.

I have NEVER EVER been the kind of person that picks on or makes fun of those less fortunate then me.

And obviously I am talking about the debilitating form of Autism..... I know nothing about nor did I say anything about Higher Functioning Autism or Asperger's Syndrome.
Click to expand...
We'll try to get this thread back on track again :)

I find it very commendable that you are trying to understand it and think others will be inclined to agree.
 
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