Quote:
Originally Posted by SwampYankee
It sure seems like there are a lot more kids with Autistic behaviors than when I was a kid. Kids with special needs weren't integrated into the classroom back then as they are now, but we'd always see the kids around school and at concerts and assemblies.
Having a kid with Down syndrome, we share many of the same circles as parents of kids with Autism. So while I don't live it day-to-day, I have a lot of interaction with them or their parents (some of whom were friends before we all started having kids). I also help with my son's Challenger League baseball team and have had the pleasure of coaching a bunch on kids who are on the spectrum. And that spectrum covers a wide range of tendencies!
I can't help but wonder what factor or combination of factors have led to the increasing number of kids with autistic behaviors. Part of the increase in the diagnosis could be the vast range of behaviors and delays (if any) the Autism Spectrum covers. It's not a parenting issue.
But I digress. (Sorry about the detour on your thread, Stretch!)
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I think I'm the guilty one for going off topic - besides I really don't mind about that kind of stuff - especially in OD
As for autism it does indeed include a massive range of tendencies - I think "they" are starting to rename parts of it now aren't they?
I don't know if what I said about the children I've seen with ADHD and the parents is especially fair - it just seems to be a bit of a coincidence.
Labels can help children and parents outside of the family unit. Teachers and doctors seem to need them to help
them get focus! (In other words with a label they know what to do) The label at home makes no difference - the child is just as he or she ever was.
However, labels can have the effect of making the parents no longer responsible - kind of says it isn't their fault their child plays up => that's what gets my goat.