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Writer defends Savage's autism remarks

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Smallpotatoes, Jul 21, 2008.

  1. Smash Williams

    Smash Williams Well-Known Member

    Zag - there's been a clarification of the diagnostic criteria of Asperger's Syndrome and PDD-NOS, and those cases are being included in counts of "kids diagnosed with autism" where some older count include just infantile autism.

    Also, like with mental illnesses in the 60s and 70s, the stigma attached to having a kid/family member with ASD (or being a person with an ASD) has greatly decreased. People are a lot more open about it now, so you see more people willing to be diagnosed with one as an adult or accept a diagnosis that their kid has one.

    I do think there is a trend toward over-diagnosis, if just a little, but my personal theory is a helicopter-parent related one. Parents want their kids to be happy, and for a few parents, if their kid isn't happy, something has to be wrong. So those few parents take the kid around to different specialists looking for a "reason" that their kid isn't happy, isn't popular, isn't interested in school. I think these parents are fairly rare, but I do believe they exist.

    Even with that, I accredit the vast majority of the recent spike in cases to de-stigmitization, increased awareness of the milder symptoms and re-defined diagnostic criteria.
     
  2. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Quoted out of love for irony.
     
  3. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    The helicopter parent theory is an interesting one. I wonder at what point did that phenomen begin because I'd venture to say most of us were not raised in that kind of enviroment.

    I do agree, however, that part of the reason for the explosion of cases of Autism is that the range of what is considered Autism is so great that the word is almost too generic to really give a good picture of a kid's actual condition. There are some very, very mildly autistic kids who are extremely high functioning (like Dan Marino's son) to the more severe cases, where a kid is non-verbal (Flutie's son) and then there are those with severe cases that are in a wheelchair and still wearing diapers and can't talk at age 10 or whatever.

    The word is way too general in terms of describing a condition and as it becomes a more common diagnosis, it will only get tougher to define exactly what it is and how to treat (or manage is probably a better word) it.
     
  4. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    A few thoughts...

    Autism is on the rise. No doubting that. Is the definition of Autism too broad? Yes. It's like saying a person has cancer. Just to say cancer does not throw a specific enough description. There are levels and symptoms of each.

    Why? My best guess (and all anyone on this board is doing right now is guessing) is that some types of Autism are brought on in the womb due to lack of nourishment or lack of oxygen or due to various types of viruses that strikes the fetus. In the past, these infants would not have survived childbirth. Now, with medicine becoming more and more advanced, these infants are surviving.

    I know this is not the case for all Autistic children, but it could help to explain the increases.

    Could it be additives in foods? Maybe.
    Could it be immunization shots? No (Or Lord I hope it's not).
    Could it be watching too much TV as a child? No (Now I'm just throwing out some of the crazier stuff).


    Also, to go along with Zag, special education is a system that is provided by the government, and yes, some people will play the system.

    Is it 50%? No.
    Is it 5%? Maybe.
    Is it 1%? Probably.

    How do they play the system? They get advantages in the classroom and on standardized tests. It is also very, very difficult to suspend a child with an working IEP (which all Autistic and many ADD or ADHD students will have). And if you do suspend them, they are provided an in-home tutor by the school district.

    It is also the reason why you might not see punishment be similar when two students do the exact same thing. And if the administrator knows anything or values their job, they will never tell you the reason why your Jimmy got three days ISS and Billy did not receive the same punishment because they have an IEP.

    If you have a working IEP in high school, many times you can carry over the accommodations to your university. For example, unlimited time to take the test, or having the test read to you can be done at the university level if you have that in place in high school, and yes, that is an advantage over other students.

    Oh, I am an advocate of special education. I am just stating some of the less than positive things that could happen in the system.
     
  5. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    How about this for a crazy theory: It has something to do with GENETICS.

    Geez, it's not like EVERYTHING is pointing to that or anything.

    For example, one of the hallmarks of an autistic child is one who has a spike in head circumference in his first year. In other words, he may be in the 50th percentile for head circumference at birth, then a few months later, he's off the charts (over 100th percentile).

    How does "helicopter parent" figure into that?

    Or, take the recent case of the sperm donor.

    Multiple sets of parents from Sacramento to St. Augustine reported having autistic kids from this donor.

    Gee, that couldn't be a genetic factor, could it?
     
  6. ink-stained wretch

    ink-stained wretch Active Member

    Wow.

    I love it when medical and mental health professionals debate the physiological and neurological possibilities of diseases and disorders that most admit are not fully understood.

    The board has brought to bear on this subject decades of clinical and research experience, hundreds of pages of data from scientific studies and the brain power of numerous Nobel laureates.

    Congratulations my colleagues of this dispassionate analysis of disorders/diseases that ravage families.

    I am so proud you have taken the time to deeply research the medical and psychological findings of the past 50 years in making your preliminary inferences, rather than making assumptions based on your political or religious beliefs or the secret commands sent to you by the orbiting space ship from Xenon.

    Now how about we all have a nice warm cup of STFU.

    Thank you. (blue font not needed)
     
  7. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Yes, because talking about things is never useful. Yes, there is some bullshit on this thread, as there was bullshit on the other thread. But there is also some useful input.

    If you don't like it, you are more than welcome to stop clicking on the thread.

    Have a nice day and may you find other threads more to your liking.
     
  8. Twoback

    Twoback Active Member

    Here's what I don't understand about the blog world.
    There's a blog about something Michael Savage said. Since most people don't listen to Savage, most people don't know what he said. Then there's a comment on our board that says a writer defends Savage's remarks, but we still don't know what the remarks are, and the link to that writer's page doesn't mention them either.
    If you have to dig that deep to find out what the heck the man said, maybe what he said didn't have that great an impact.
     
  9. ink-stained wretch

    ink-stained wretch Active Member

    Ignorance is a powerful force, as powerful as evil.

    You may call it bullshit. I prefer to call it what it is. Ignorance. There are many good sites to learn more about these disorders/diseases.

    But, hey, it's easier to marginalize these children and demonize their parents. We're normal. They're not. We're good. They are evil.

    It's much easier to attack the powerless. Especially for sportswriters who have a long history of sucking up to the rich, the famous, the powerful.

    How's that for generalization?

    It's time I take my on advice and sip a little STFU.

    Back to work. Have a nice day.
     
  10. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Wow, don't even bother to actually read the majority of the posts on this thread, or the previous one for that matter, before preaching.

    Sorry, but you're the one out of line this time.
     
  11. Kato

    Kato Well-Known Member

    I wish those who use the term "playing the system" would explain what that means because I think it's just a buzz term to get people fired up. I don't know what playing the system means, but I do know this:

    My son was diagnosed with Asperger's about five years ago. I am extremely thankful that my newspaper's wonderful insurance plan allows me to pay *only* $80/month for his meds. I played that one pretty well, didn't I? I'm extremely thankful that my son's school took on yet another special-needs case despite the severe underfunding of special education there and around the country and the unfunded -- yet promised funding -- mandates by the feds. The school played that one so well that that they had to convert an old girls locker room into a kindergarten classroom to prevent overcrowding.
     
  12. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    Take this for what it's worth.

    A parent of an autistic child and one of the top spokespeople for the disease thinks the Savage flap is a good thing, even though she's to the point of tears over what he said.

    People are really talking about autism today and debating the issue. There's news coverage of the protests outside where Savage works. She thinks any light shined on the disease and any thrusting of it into the public consciousness is beneficial.
     
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