[JPL]

I'm not sure what relavence this discussion has to PO but what the hell (grin).

We've had a diagnosis of AS for my son (age 7) after problems at school after which we gave up on further diagnosis as it became obvious that the problems I've had throughout my life and also those that my eldest daughter (13) is experiencing, were also out of the same bag - it's a genetic condition.

Depending on where you live medical help is either weak or non-existent and anyhow doesn't help as you are neither mad or ill - just different.

One of the problems I have as an adult aspie, and it gets worse as I am getting older, is intense migranes. They are triggered by noise, stress, computer monitors (sic) and artificial lighting. 5 years ago I had to give up work (I am/was a coder by trade) and I can still only spend a max of a couple of hours a day looking at a computer before the headache starts.

I also suffer from the gut problems that are again, one of the known characteristics of the condition and basically cannot eat any rich food without suffering intense cramps that can sometimes last for days.

But with regard to the psycological aspects of the condition, these are known about - I would say Gary Newman is a BAD example (he made a living out of being wierd) - I guess this analogy illustrates the gulf of mis-understanding between those that involved with the Autistic community, and those that are not.

To imply that we are less intelligent, less emotionally aware, less communicative than 'normal' people, or, worse still - that we are some sort of twisted reflection of yourselves 'gone wrong' because society made us that way, is to totally misunderstand Autism and the gifts that we can bring to the table. This mis-understanding is one of the most tragic aspects of the condition - because it is also so cure-able.

JP

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schmuto', ' ')You really thought you'd stroll in here and walk up to the 800 pound intellectual gorilla named Schmuto and drop that horrible attempt at a retort and have it look like something other than rotting fish? FAIL.

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', '
')
He is a joy at times, a real problem at others. There is no cure but some studies have shown that very early intervention can have a beneficial effect; sometimes to the point of 'Normalization'. Big problem there is it costs a bloody fortune.

[JPL]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Shannymara', 'M')y husband is a wonderful person and a great father. But even mild AS has profound effects on every aspect of our lives. For some keyboard jockey (and this particular person is someone I've had plenty of correspondence with in his various incarnations here) to sit there and trivialize the suffering we experience as a result on a daily basis, well, let's just say it makes me wish I could share the suffering with him.

I don't think it's got anything to do with vaccines or mothering. It can definitely be passed via heredity. This is one of the main reasons we have not had a second child.

[scarly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schmuto', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('scarly', 'F')unny how you say it is the parenting. I am the sibling of an autistic, who as well is blind, and has retardation.

[outcast]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his is one of the main reasons we have not had a second child.

[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Good day from Pheba, still from the farm:
I have 3 grandsons, twins age 8 and Stephen, age 9. Stephen is a genius. I am not just a bragging Grandma. Stephen is doing high school algebra and reading college level in the 4th grade. His Catholic school teacher has given up teaching him the curriculum, which he already knows. He gives him algebra to do when he gets "fidgety".
In the first grade his teachers pressured my daughter to put him on medication for "hyperactivity".
My daughter is a nurse and has seen the over-medication of our children. She refused. Stephen is not hyperactive. He's just extremely intelligent. Fortunately he has a teacher now who understands him.

No illness in this country is more over-diagnosed than the alphabet of ADD diseases.
There are no true blood tests, no brain scans, no tests to define the disorders.
If you ever read the lists of symptoms that define ADD diseases you will be amazed.
Psychologists and school nurses should not be defining and diagnosing this cluster of disorders.
All children exhibit the symptoms at one time or another.
My daughter has sent me a lot of books on this subject. I do not know what the answers are, but I do know that over 15 percent of our children on drugs for ADD diseases is wrong.
When I was a substitute teacher (10 years ago) I had to send at least 10 percent of every class to the nurse for their daily drugs.
What kind of a nation are we that we are drugging our children, especially our boy children.
In the book: "Hyperactivity Hoax", written by a pediatrician, his thesis states that most hyperactivity is caused by an underlying illness that goes undiagnosed because the child is falsely labeled with ADD. I can concur because I have witnessed this myself.
Another book is "The Diseasing of Our Children: The authors of these two books base child--rearing on Biblical based principals.
I am an atheist, but I still agree with a lot of what they are saying in their book.
The authors have two thesis. First, they state that children today are not being brought out of toddlerhood. Second, they believe too much influx of noise and television is affecting the brain.
Another possible cause of all of the ADD diseases is damage to the immune system from immunizations. Specifically, the mercury based preservative in the shots. The Thimerosol was removed from U.S. shots in 2001 and the autism rate is still skyrocketing.
Some are blaming exposure to pthlates in plastics.
I do not know what is truly causing this epidemic of mental illness in our children, but I do know that drugging 10 to 15 percent of our young population with mind altering drugs is stupid.
Also, not immunizing your child against childhood diseases is playing russian roulette with your child's life and future.
When I did genealogy I spent a lot of time reading obituaries in old newspapers. Trust me, we do not want to go back to that.
No parent should have to hold their child in their arms while the child dies of diptheria.
I do not have all of the answers. I believe there are some actual cases of ADD/ADHD, but I believe they are small in comparison to the level that are being diagnosed with the illness.
We need to stop drugging our little boys just because they are little boys.
Pheba.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PhebaAndThePilgrim', '
')I do not know what is truly causing this epidemic of mental illness in our children

[Blueberry]

It's also a convenient label for those who are the victim of malpractice.

[Daphne64]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Schmuto', 'R')ate of HDD and Assberger's among the Amish - ZERO.

[outcast]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')S does manifest in women, too. Women have more physical connections between the different parts of their brains, among other differences, and I think that's got something to do with why it is either less common or typically less severe (hence less frequently diagnosed) in women. In our case it goes back through the maternal line.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('outcast', '
')When I was really young I lived on a 10 acre rural setting, we had no computers and no no cable, although we had broadcast tv I wasn't allowed to watch it too much.

[Schmuto]

Vaccines, power lines, television, noise, food additives, enzymes, gremlins.

Plot a graph of % of kids without parents in the home/aka daycare.
Plot a graph of % of kids with ADD/HDD/some other BS 'disorder.'

You'll see that the second plot has the same profile as the 1st, but is moved to the right about 10 or 15 years.

Calculate % of kids with ADD/HDD who have been in daycare.
Calculate % of kids with ADD who have always been watched by bio mom.


The reason that people are looking desperately for any answer other than the obvious one is because the obvious answer - bad parenting - creates a tremendous guilty consciounce.

So why don't we see the research?

Because most of those who would do the research are psychologist types - huge percentage of women and men who themselves abandon their children to daycare.

My family - me and sister 1 - slew of kids, not one with self-control or HDD issues. Both full time at home.
Sister 2 - 3 kids, all of them out of control. They're young still, but they'll get the diagnosis soon enough. Her and hubby each are away from the house about 9 hours a day.

Pheba is dead on, by the way, that it's unnatural to force little boys to sit still at a desk all day long.

People who drug their children, with a very rare few exceptions, are EVIL.

[threadbear]

I know the kind of kids you're describing, Schmuto, There are far too many kids diagnosed with some kind of disease that would be turned right around, in the right setting. I've seen it. There's a large core of children who actually do have problems related to genetics, though. I think some of these cases are due also, to the fact that women are having kids later in life.

Take manic depression, bi-polar disorder. It's way over-diagnosed. Years ago I was living with a guy who was very difficult, by everyone's description. I used to watch this man enter a room and within half an hour he'd have everyone's back up.

I ended up going to a psychiatrist, at his suggestion, because I was flipping into rages. Instead of actually listening carefully to what I was saying, and understanding that I had a concurrent phsical illness, the doctor urged me to take prozac, and told me I had rapid cycling manic depression. You know, up one minute, down the next. That sounds pretty normal to me, particularly, if you're living with someone who is driving you absolutely batty.
I asked him, seeing as I was flipping out, why he would suggest prozac, as it's a disinhibitor. Wouldn't that be unwise?At the same time, I kept telling him I wasn't depressed, just really angry. I didn"t take the drugs and never went back.

I'm not particularly angry now, but if I had to spend more than 10 minutes with this particular X, ts would htf. I may get angry easily, and maybe that does constitute a problem of some kind, but I'm sure not bi-polar.

[Ludi]

I think the mental illness industry in general is more willing to just shove a pill at someone than to listen to their particular situation. A person can have the symptoms of a mental illness such as depression, and it be caused entirely by their situation. Giving them a pill doesn't change their situation.

[Taco]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I') think the mental illness industry in general is more willing to just shove a pill at someone than to listen to their particular situation.

[dunewalker]

We had a discussion about Asperger's here awhile back. I mentioned a book written by John Elder Robison, about his life, called "Look Me In The Eye". It really was an education for me on this topic--highly recommended.

http://www.johnrobison.com/

[jasonraymondson]

Let me explain this to you.

You are all right
You are all wrong

Some people have actual disorders called asbergers, adhd, autism
Most do not.

Having a parent at home raising children is a good thing.
Having parents around all of the time just creates carbon copies.

Most psychologists are people who themselves are fucked up and choose the profession to figure themselves out. This is not a punch line, this is the truth.

People who deny that psychologist actually do anything, or that psychologists are making shit up, are 99.99% of the time nucking futs. (Tom Cruise)

The absurdity that you all are debating yours and your families psychological disorders on this board hoping to find answers and pity, when I know of no actual clinical psychologists or psychiatrists on this board, is a not only a waste of time, but filling your head with nonsense and aggravation.

To those like Schmuto who refer to themselves as 800 lb intellectual gorillas.
To those that completely dismiss what he has to say because he is a dumbass

There are merits to boths sides of this arguement. The simple truth though, is that most kids are diagnosed with a disease when the real disease is that they are not recieving the necessary attention they need and they in the meanwhile develop a subcouncious desire to act out in order to get what they want.

Parents over the last 30 - 50 years have turned more and more to the electronic babysitter. Television while entertaining, is probably one of the worse inventions ever concieved. It has not improved our lives, instead it has chained us to sitcoms, reality tv, and propaganda force fed down our throats by the spoonful, and the delightful puff of a Joe Kamel cig.

It also could be, that our enviroment has become more and more polluted by people driving cars, by factories pooring out smog, that our dna is being modified by exposure to pollutents in an attempt to protect us from these hazards.

[skeptik]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', 'I')t's a form of Autism.
Sometimes I think the people running the wold have it.
It's central symptoms are self absorption& fidgeting.

[outcast]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'I') think the mental illness industry in general is more willing to just shove a pill at someone than to listen to their particular situation. A person can have the symptoms of a mental illness such as depression, and it be caused entirely by their situation. Giving them a pill doesn't change their situation.