primitives discuss growing out of autism

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/11426703

Oh my.

xchrom (86,572 posts)   Wed Jan 16, 2013, 04:29 AM

Children 'may grow out of autism'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21029593

Is a label of autism lifelong?

***SNIP

But experts urge caution.

Much more work is needed to find out what might explain the findings.

Dr Deborah Fein and her team at the University of Connecticut studied 34 children who had been diagnosed with autism in early childhood but went on to function as well as 34 other children in their classes at school.
 
On tests - cognitive and observational, as well as reports from the children's parents and school - they were indistinguishable from their classroom peers. They now showed no sign of problems with language, face recognition, communication or social interaction.

MADem (81,734 posts)    Wed Jan 16, 2013, 07:25 AM

1. Misdiagnosed in the first place, maybe?

Just because the researchers "found no reason" doesn't mean there wasn't one--unless they were in the room when the diagnosis was made, they don't have any certainty as to what went down in the initial assessement...
 
The researchers went back and checked the accuracy of the children's original diagnosis, but found no reason to suspect that they had been inaccurate.

Warpy (66,529 posts)    Wed Jan 16, 2013, 05:29 PM

4. Probably not

Extremely mild forms of the disease are probably like any other congenital problem. Kids simply adapt to them and grow up well in spite of them as long as they get the help that early diagnosis supplies.
 
As adults, they'll fall in to the "normal but clueless" range.

^^^needs no identification.

MADem (81,734 posts)    Wed Jan 16, 2013, 06:17 PM

5. Wouldn't a very mild case be identified in that fashion, though--or missed altogether?

Anything's possible, but I'm just not sold on this study quite yet!

Warpy (66,529 posts)    Wed Jan 16, 2013, 09:30 PM

6. Not necessarily

The symptoms might have been quite striking in a touch-me-not toddler who wasn't beginning to talk. With care, that toddler might grow up to be someone who isn't on the spectrum at all, just a little socially odd.

SheilaT (11,761 posts)    Wed Jan 16, 2013, 04:10 PM

3. Depends on just how severely autistic the child is in the first place.

I have a son with Asperger's, which is considered high-functioning. He's now 30 years old, and if you were to meet him you'd simply think he's a bit shy and very, very smart. He's still terrible at face recognition, and does not do well in group conversation because he cannot spot the small openings that us "normals" can to jump in and add our opinion. But he functions quite well, can hold down a job and is currently back in college working on a B.S. in physics.
 
But I also wonder if the original diagnosis might have been wrong in the first place.

Odin2005 (48,083 posts)    Wed Jan 16, 2013, 10:41 PM

7. On first glance you would never know I'm autistic.

I just seem like a stereotypical nerd who happens to have a stutter. It's only after you've known me for a while that the autistic sensory and social issues become visible.

A "stereotypical nerd" with a 56" waistline.

Get a job and off the dole, Odin2005, you lazy crybaby.

dipsydoodle (30,067 posts)    Thu Jan 17, 2013, 05:45 AM

8. From experience within my own family.

My sisters first son who is now in his early twenties was diagnosed as autistic at a very early age. It was originally foreseen that he might develop as an adult with a mental age of 8. He struggled at school being slow to learn but always happy to devote himself to learning and as such was perpetually allowed to re-sit subjects. Aside from lacking odd social skills like knowing when appropriate to smile he's just fine now with a job, a car and looking to buy a house.
 
Her second son had no signs of autism.

Her third son did speak at all until between ages three and four - he's 18 now and just qualified for a university place.
 
They are all in Australia and gauging by the fact her first son was born 1990 I'd say they are well up on this over there. Due to the closeness of the subject my sister who is early fifties got a degree in psychology last year.

Now, the reason this campfire caught my eye is that one time years ago, an eminent cardiopulmonary specialist when treating me for pneumonia, noted that I was afflicted with "residual autism," which was news to me.

Now, anyone born deaf, and especially born without ears, is likely to have some, uh, problems growing up, and I accepted that statement with equanimity, because it wasn't any big deal.  The odds were that there'd been something wrong, and "autism" was just as good a guess as anything else.

And besides, whatever it was, I'd grown out of it.

Taking responsibility for one's own life and one's behavior helps one straighten out the kinks.

I know nothing about autism, or this autism-lite of which the Odin2005 primitive speaks, and while conceding that yes, there are probably some grievously-serious cases that need all sorts of intervention, I also quite reasonably suspect that some diagnosed with "autism" or "autism lite" had parents who found it easier to drug the kid than to guide, discipline, and inspire him.

Such as probably what happened with the lazy slouch the Odin2005 primitive.

[ChuckJ]

So is being autistic the 'in' thing with them now? I remember back when most of them were claiming to be (or have) indigo children. Then there was the time when most of them were claiming to have Asperger syndrome.

Note: Their claims of Asperger is not to be confused with their claims of Ass Burgler syndrome. Based on their posts most of their 'males' do indeed seem to be sufferers (or enjoyers from their point of view) of Ass Burgler syndrome.

[vesta111]

So is being autistic the 'in' thing with them now? I remember back when most of them were claiming to be (or have) indigo children. Then there was the time when most of them were claiming to have Asperger syndrome.

Note: Their claims of Asperger is not to be confused with their claims of Ass Burgler syndrome. Based on their posts most of their 'males' do indeed seem to be sufferers (or enjoyers from their point of view) of Ass Burgler syndrome.

In born personality ------Documentary of how it works with baby's 9 months old was interesting.

10 baby's lined up in baby seats,  Behind them out of sight the parents would unexpectedly drop a ball in their laps.   Cameras for each child recorded their reactions.    Some were calm others screamed in fright, some smiled  or laughed, others ignored the ball.

There was a couple different tests such as a sudden noise or the lights going out.  The reactions were recorded for each child and at 5 year intervals the kids were until they hit 15 interviewed about their personality.   Was the child laid back and calm, were they hell on wheels, how they interacted with friends family's and in school.

The experiment showed that the personality at only 9 months of age followed them through life.     This left the question of was the personality formed at birth or was there outside influence at work.   Did the parents play very loud music in the home, put the baby to bed who could not sleep for the noise and left to cry for an hour or so to in exhaustion finally sleep ?

Disruption of sleep as some one checking on them awakens them by turning on the light in their sleeping area ? 

Much goes into personality of us humans,  trying to find out why we have such different personality's in very interesting.    Even Identical twins, I baby sat for two girls, could not tell them apart in looks.  One very outgoing the other very shy. One such a feminine and the other a tom boy.

Years later, one the tom boy decided she was gay, the other went on to marry and have children. 

 Boggles my mind, all 4 of mine have different personality's to a point.   One of my sons seldom spoke to me or family, we only found out when he went to school the reason was the other kids spoke for him, only when he was away from his siblings did he open up and has not stopped talking since.