How do people not "believe" in Autism?

[MissPollyHadADolly19]

Just that really, bit of a rant more than anything.
It's not the tooth fairy or Santa, it's a recognised disorder!!

Relative struggling with her DC who's on the spectrum and partner believes it's just shit parenting (obviously not from him cos he's perfect, only the mother gets blames of course )

How do people really not believe in Autism? Or any mental illness for that matter.

DS1 has autism, and a number of other issues including recenttly diagnosed dyspraxia. When I told his teacher this year that despite the fact he had had (literally) over 80 swimming lessons in his life yet still could not swim a stroke her response was ' You see. I would say that was a parenting issue'.

I will not tell you what my response was. But it was not pretty.

I actually remember during the eighties when unemployment was high that research found that some older people who had worked all their life when made redundant, were claiming out of work disability benefits for the first time. The report said these disabilities were real, but had been pretty much ignored by those older people, until they were unemployed.

@JapaneseBirdPainting
What a stupid ignorant teacher I would complain about her. Stupid bitch

Mitzicoco sorry about your mum

I have never heard anyone dispute Autism as a genuine condition but I hear a LOT of people deny ADHD is real...

I did Ellie. It was the last straw of several straws to be honest.

But the school year end was coming up soon so we were told to just sit it out.

But if their child had cancer for example, they'd seek out treatment straight away even if they found it hard to accept.
Cancer is a disease, autism is a difference and doesn’t need curing.
So why should a child be denied medication to manage a condition because their parent can't accept their ASD?
As far as I know there are no medications recommended to treat autism, it’s not an illness.

Not 'told' just it was agreed with the Ht that the best course of action was to sit it out. I have no idea if she was spoken to otherwise.

whiteroseredrose while almost naive, it's an interesting question with a lot of debatable factors. Firstly, the right to an education for children with additional needs is incredibly recent and it was very easy for schools to push unwanted children out of the mainstream system. And I think society itself has changed and whilst we are far more aware and accepting of differences, I'm not sure we're as set up for them. (I apologise for the stereotyping here) but if you picture that child with adhd in your head, in the 70s they wouldn't have had to deal with the current school system where they are set up to fail, continuous tests and pressure to succeed, having to be in education until 18. They would have been allowed to play in the woods, run around the streets, and would have been pushed very early in to an apprenticeship and taught practical skills where they could shine. Those traits that we see today in a classroom as 'naughty'would have been harnessed in to physical labour. Ken Robinson does a great, short Ted talk which mentions the epidemic of adhd in america and the correlation to a school system that is not suitable for children.

I was once told by a social worker (children with disabilities team) that I should teach my child to not be autistic. I went absolutely ballistic, made an official complaint. Another teacher who told me that she know all about autism, and that children with asd are not affected by sensory issues around diet, noise and touch.
I think some arseholes people will just say whatever they can to attack parents

I remember in the late 80s, we had special education classes within my mainstream comprehensive. There was one particular boy, who although was popular with a lot of us, was quite vulnerable, very trusting and a bit naive. Looking back he was definitely on the spectrum, but most probably un diagnosed. Sadly, he took his own life during the school holidays.
So it did exist, but was not diagnosed.

The autism umbrella is bigger now too, isn't it? Fifty years ago people who presented a certain way would have been labelled as "mentally retarded" and shipped to an institution, and on the other end of the spectrum, people who presented a different way would have just been seen as a bit odd. There's a reason why stamp collecting and train spotting was a stereotype of sorts.

I also think, in some ways, it was easier for some people with autism to fly under the radar in the bad old days. Living in the same town or village, close to family, lots of repetitive routine based jobs avaliable eg factory work, agriculture. Less expectation to job hop,retrain, get promoted or get an education beyond a certain point. More obvious rules around social status, class and manners. No sensory overload in school because the walls are covered in ten tonnes of primary coloured paper. Personal relationships easier to navigate - perhaps marrying someone you've known since childhood rather than having to negotiate the shark infested waters of today's dating. I'm not saying it was some golden age, or necessarily better than nowadays, but I can see how it would be easier to "mask" and live a life that would appear normal/socially acceptable.

I do wonder if at some point in the future, research will find that some autism can be influenced by environmental factors in ways we are currently unaware of. I absolutely don't mean parenting, but for example, i live less than twenty miles from a nuclear power plant. My village has been in the news for the high rates of cancers occurring in people, especially around the ages of 30-40 and especially brain cancers. There are also many, many children with autism in the area, a really large amount given the relatively small size of the village. The children are quite severely autistic rather than the Aspergers type. Some families have had the genetic testing done but it came back clear. Of course there has been a lot of talk about whether the power station could somehow have caused the issues, I know some of the parents are absolutely convinced that is the case. On balance I know it's unlikely, but I can see why they feel there must be a reason behind it, because the numbers in our area are notably higher than any UK wide statistics

Oddly enough I was having this same conversation with my dad today. he is a retired Head teacher and educational psychologist who still mentors post-grads. He was very angry because one of his mentorees had come out with that 'refrigerator mother' bullshit regarding autism. This a relatively newly qualified teacher. I despair to be honest.

Because they are ignorant but what worries me is the amount of teacher who don’t “believe” in it. See also dyslexia.

I worked with a retired headteacher in the 1990s who came out with, ", There's no such thing as dyslexia, it's just lazy children". JFC...

I remember when I did my teacher training 40 years ago, SEN children were labelled ESN children. Educationally Sub-Normal.

it was agreed with the Ht that the best course of action was to sit it out. I have no idea if she was spoken to otherwise.

Best course of action for who @JapaneseBirdPainting? Call me cynical but my bet is the HT couldn't be arsed with dealing with a complaint so close to the end of term.

I was being naive.

One of my many primary schools had an 'open air' school next door. I suspect that is where non NT children, or those that couldn't hold it together during school hours, went.

But other local schools wouldn't have been aware of it. Hence for most of my peers, non NT children would have been out of the public eye. If you don't see it maybe it doesn't exist.

Most children now diagnosed with lower level autism would have been undiagnosed and in mainstream schools. There certainly were in my family. And I had classmates that looking back probably had autism.

I think it’s mainly ADHD that attracts sceptics. I do hear people being scathing about it and I think it’s ignorance or probably from the media as ADHD is associated with “naughty boys”. My friend and her son both have it and do not fit the stereotypes. In fact I strongly suspect I have it and am considering investigation because things seem to be getting worse now I’m peri menopausal (which is apparently well known for women).
It’s so misunderstood and I bet many people struggled in the 80s. They hid it well and were thought of as awkward I imagine.
I often wonder if in a more primitive society ADHD would just be a “personality variable” whereas in modern society the person with it struggles because of the way modern society is structured. In a primitive society would it be noticed as much?

I went to school in the 1970s . At age 7 I had a friend who lived over the road and who went to a special school. By 7 he had been weeded out of mainstream ...and that’s why you didn’t see them

Me too. My friend was absolutely classic ASD. She stimmed under stress (rocking and flapping) non verbal at times if she felt pressured. Had meltdowns. And was a lovely girl and I loved having her as a friend. I was gutted when she was labelled deficient and shipped off to ‘special school‘ I rarely saw her after that.

I still think of her ( she died in a tragic accident in her late teens) and hope that the school suited her. It was a residential place, in a lovely purpose built building in a tiny village surrounded by beautiful countryside, i like to think she got more compassion and understanding from the staff there than she was getting at the bog standard suburban primary (ie none. Bastards)

DD1 has high functioning autism and often comes across as being bright, very friendly and a bit quirky. However there are often times in public where she is unable to control her emotions and can seem spaced out and rude which to ppl who don't know her I guess can look like we're bad parents.
Even though DD is high functioning it dominates our lives. Makes my blood boil when people fail to understand or acknowledge that it's a genuine condition. As parents we are just trying our best to manage without being judged.

I work with children with severe autism I am sure their parents would absolutely love it just to be their bad parenting, these children will never be independent or live anywhere near a “normal” life.

@5zeds they're different yes, but both hard to accept. Yet treatment for the former would be sought out even in the process of accepting. Why should autism be any different when without support/treatment it causes suffering? It may not be an illness but being on the spectrum can be pretty damn debilitating when it's not understood, especially by a parent.
The relative of mine has been told her DC can be prescribed tegretol which is a mood stabilizer. Funnily enough before I was diagnosed formally I was also given the same!
Autism doesn't need curing but as with many mental health conditions it does need managing, medication can sometimes help.

Also to the PP who mentioned ADHD, I think that's where ignorance started tbh. Just branded badly behaved children. Although ADHD can definitely be misdiagnosed alot, especially at younger ages, unfortunately.

As for teachers not believing in it, it scares me half to death and I like to think it's only the minority that don't but in this day and age I truthfully don't know how people can be so ignorant.

@sweetkitty my relative has said exactly the same thing, she wishes it was her parenting because atleast then there's a cause, a reason and maybe a way for it to go away. Her DH is a POS in my opinion, infact most of our family members dislike him for the same reason.
After nearly 5 years of CAMHs and trying to get a diagnosis, he still is so fucking blind.

There are people who ‘don’t believe ‘ in many things
Autism
Dyslexia
IBS
The moon landings
The Holocaust
The fact that the earth is actually ROUND
That leaving the EU is a good thing
Vaccines
Sigh............