None So Blind
April is Autism Awareness Month and most media outlets are carrying something on the subject, more than in any year I can recall. CNN had a series. HBO did a wonderful documentary on a group of children who staged their own musical. I liked it because it placed them in the context of everyday life, and gave a glimpse into the struggles their parents face. Several times recently I have seen or read of prominent scientists explaining that autism appears to be caused by a genetic vulnerability triggered by an as yet unknown environmental factor, or factors. That by itself is a major step forward. For years now parents of children with autism have been shouting from the rooftops to a scientific community that has insisted on ignoring them. Autism is affecting a lot more children these days and something is causing it.
Not all scientists or physicians agree. Yesterday I watched a program on PBS featuring a panel of experts. One member was a retired professor of pediatrics who averred that in forty years of practice he had seen maybe two cases of autism. He thinks parents of normal children are having them diagnosed with autism just so they can get benefits. The children will be needlessly stigmatized for the rest of their lives. I was so angry I could have spit. He is typical of the doctors my son and daughter-in-law have been dealing with in the five years since they realized their child had autism. Weston’s symptoms are plain to see but most pediatricians still don’t see them, I suppose because they aren’t taught them in medical school. Nor do they see the equally obvious digestive and immune system issues Weston has. Most children with autism have such issues as any of their parents will tell you but to this day when doctors will diagnose autism at all they almost always treat it as strictly a behavioral problem. None of the experts on yesterday’s panel mentioned the related medical factors.
The CDC now says 1 in 150 eight year olds in multiple areas of the United States have autism. How much it has increased over the last three decades is hard to measure. It’s diagnosed more often partly because of increased awareness and partly because the autism spectrum has been broadened to include Asperger’s syndrome, a disorder that was not included until relatively recently. People with Asperger’s typically function at a relatively high level and aren’t diagnosed until later, around age six. Weston’s autism became apparent at about eighteen months, a common age for “autistic disorder” symptoms to be noticed. Nevertheless, the idea that we’ve always had large numbers of children with autism in our schools is simply not credible. It can’t possibly be true, else we would have large numbers of adults with autism today and they just aren’t here.
Get ready for it. For most people autism is a lifetime disorder. Effective treatment requires a lot of intervention and it needs to start early. It’s expensive too. Insurance doesn’t usually cover it and most of the affected families are broke. Intransigence doesn’t stop with my friend from the panel of experts. Twenty years ago there was very little treatment to be had at any price. A lot of these people are going to have to be institutionalized, just to get the “benefits.”
It’s encouraging to see so much attention being paid. I suspect there is more and more interest because by now almost everybody knows at least one affected family. They are becoming more politically active and they are becoming strong enough to force scientists to look seriously for causes and cures. We are even going to have to take a real look at the role childhood vaccines play. That will get the most resistance of all.
Not all scientists or physicians agree. Yesterday I watched a program on PBS featuring a panel of experts. One member was a retired professor of pediatrics who averred that in forty years of practice he had seen maybe two cases of autism. He thinks parents of normal children are having them diagnosed with autism just so they can get benefits. The children will be needlessly stigmatized for the rest of their lives. I was so angry I could have spit. He is typical of the doctors my son and daughter-in-law have been dealing with in the five years since they realized their child had autism. Weston’s symptoms are plain to see but most pediatricians still don’t see them, I suppose because they aren’t taught them in medical school. Nor do they see the equally obvious digestive and immune system issues Weston has. Most children with autism have such issues as any of their parents will tell you but to this day when doctors will diagnose autism at all they almost always treat it as strictly a behavioral problem. None of the experts on yesterday’s panel mentioned the related medical factors.
The CDC now says 1 in 150 eight year olds in multiple areas of the United States have autism. How much it has increased over the last three decades is hard to measure. It’s diagnosed more often partly because of increased awareness and partly because the autism spectrum has been broadened to include Asperger’s syndrome, a disorder that was not included until relatively recently. People with Asperger’s typically function at a relatively high level and aren’t diagnosed until later, around age six. Weston’s autism became apparent at about eighteen months, a common age for “autistic disorder” symptoms to be noticed. Nevertheless, the idea that we’ve always had large numbers of children with autism in our schools is simply not credible. It can’t possibly be true, else we would have large numbers of adults with autism today and they just aren’t here.
Get ready for it. For most people autism is a lifetime disorder. Effective treatment requires a lot of intervention and it needs to start early. It’s expensive too. Insurance doesn’t usually cover it and most of the affected families are broke. Intransigence doesn’t stop with my friend from the panel of experts. Twenty years ago there was very little treatment to be had at any price. A lot of these people are going to have to be institutionalized, just to get the “benefits.”
It’s encouraging to see so much attention being paid. I suspect there is more and more interest because by now almost everybody knows at least one affected family. They are becoming more politically active and they are becoming strong enough to force scientists to look seriously for causes and cures. We are even going to have to take a real look at the role childhood vaccines play. That will get the most resistance of all.
posted by Onfoot at 4:03 PM
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