Will The Real TWP Please Stand Up?

[eddhead]

First, let me add my too add that I am very happy to hear the good news about your son. All else pales in comparions to issues relating to family/

I didn't want to say anything while you were going through it, but now I can. Both Autism and Dyslexia are being over-diagnosed by lazy child doctors.

I do not agree with that, and would like to know the source of your data. Granted, most of what I have read on this topic is of a secondary nature, and I know the definition of what constitutes autism has arguably expanded past 20 years or so to now include what is known as 'the spectrum of autism' (which includes Aspergers), but I have yet to read where Kanners Autism is routinely misdiagnosed. I hate to see this line of thought propgated because it potentially justifies overlooking what many believe to be the enviornmental causes of the syndrom.

What's worse, a lot of people are hiding behind ADD and Dyslexia (and to some degree Autism/Aspergers) as a way of having an excuse instead of dealing with the problem, like "I can't spell cos I am dyslexic" - no, you can't spell because you're lazy. Here's a test: can you text someone on a mobile? Then you're not dyslexic.

Sorry but that seems a bit judgmental and dismissive for my tastes. I know of more than one child who has been helped thru medication targeted at ADD. For that matter, I know an adult who also uses medication fro AADD and swears by its effectiveness

I'm angry at your doctors.

so am I.

[doc savage]

When my oldest son was about 14 months old, he was diagnosed with autism; I was 19 at the time. Now he is 12 and is classified as "high functioning"; he is starting to attend regular classes and it is hoped that he will someday support himself. My younger son was diagnosed a year later, and now at the age of 11 he functions at the level of a two-year-old. It is believed that in addition to autism he has suffered mild brain damage due to epilepsy.

I know what it's like to try to imagine your child's future, and to deal with some very harsh realities. I can only imagine what my life would have been like if I never heard the word "autism"; perhaps I would have finished college, stayed married, who knows.

I was truly glad and relieved to read that your son was misdiagnosed; not many people can appreciate what you must have gone through in the meantime--I know that words cannot express it.