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.

@Chouetted It is not that long ago that there was no treatment for asthma. So not surprising it was under diagnosed.

I do get sick and tired of children who are just badly behaved, (and badly brought up,) being given the label of ADHD, when it's just bad parenting.

Autism and ADHD are not labels, they are clinically diagnosed conditions and they are not just "given". It is very difficult to obtain a diagnosis, it takes years and multiple rounds of assessment. The stress is enormous with your home life and parenting picked apart, school observations, cognitive assessments, etc. You don't just rock up to the clinic and then walk away with a diagnosis.

I have seen parents punch the air with joy when ADHD was 'diagnosed by a 'specialist.' Because it gets them off the hook.

Where are you hanging out that you see this? Because I call bullshit.

Also, many children who are out-of-control, and badly behaved, seem to come from the same type of family and environment

I don't see what this has to do with autism or ADHD? Neither condition is caused by parenting or home environment.

Also a good point someone made, is that no-one seemed to have food allergies some 35-40 years plus back either!

Allergies have always existed but back in "the olden days" the people with serious allergies would have died of anaphylaxis only they didn't know what anaphylaxis was so it would have been recorded as apoplexy, swelling sickness, poisoning, etc. In earlier history it wouldn't have been recorded at all. A lot of babies with CMPA or children with coeliacs, etc would have died, think of all the times in history where you've read about infants failing to thrive, being sickly or frail, and eventually wasting away. We have writings dating all the way back to Roman times discussing allergies and observing that which sustains one man is poison to another as well as writings discussing "spring time rhinitis" (aka, hayfever).

I am just stating my opinions

Which have no basis in fact.

I believe autism and ADHD are genuine conditions. I just don't believe every person diagnosed with one of these conditions, actually has it.

Substitute the words "autism" and "ADHD" for cancer or diabetes or epilepsy and you will see how ridiculous you sound. I presume you have mo medical training? You are not a neurologist or a paediatric neurodevelopment expert?

Depends if it’s a formal diagnosis or not. A lot of kids with noticeable and profound problems get diagnosed with Autism / ADHD (usually privately because NHS referrals are ridiculously hard to obtain) because doctors don’t know what the problem is. Should Autistic traits as a result of oxygen starvation / medical malpractice at birth be classed as ‘Autism’ in the same way as a child without any of that history presents at 4/5? Many medical professionals disagree and I’m sure in 20 years what we think of as ‘Austism’ would be a dozen or so disorders.

oh absolutely i do get frustrated with all the romanticising of ASD, a lot of what people would call aspergers, many children are acidemically average or acute learning difficulties. my youngest PDA displays amd it dominates everything, having a child with certain types of ASD can really fuck a family into the ground. my eldest who is what u describe as mild ASD is a walk inthe park in comparison

The stuff about people with allergies simply dying is bullshit. Yes happened rarely. But when I was young I knew no one who had an allergy, and I also knew not one child or baby that died except one of cancer.
Serious allergies do seem to have increased. There is a lot of scientific research about this. What is probably true is that mild allergies were not diagnosed or people simply did not go to the Drs about them. It surprises me the things people go to the Drs with these days.

Substitute the words "autism" and "ADHD" for cancer or diabetes or epilepsy and you will see how ridiculous you sound. I presume you have mo medical training? You are not a neurologist or a paediatric neurodevelopment expert?

I was not agreeing with the poster, but it has been recognised in the past that lots of people were wrongly diagnosed with epilepsy who were faking it. Talk to any police officer, it is not unusual for people to fake epilepsy. The difference is now days there is a test that can establish whether someone does have epilepsy or not.

I am not the type to go on about ADHD or autism being made up. But the reality is that people do fake all kinds of illnesses from cancer to epilepsy to depression. Sometimes for financial gain, sometimes to get sympathy. And the medical literature around this recognises that there does seem to be "fashions" in which illnesses get faked.

@jennymanara Very true. My great-grandfather did get formally diagnosed quite a while after my grandmother left home - I'd guess 1950s or later - but her anecdotes about his troubles with his weak chest go back to her childhood, and do sound so very textbook astthmatic.

My Mother thinks a lot of mental illnesses such as bipolar and also a lot of allergies/intolerances are made up. She also thinks ADHD is an excuse for bad behaviour.

She is a bit numb to say the least but yes, people think this way.

My friend’s son has autism and a woman once asked if she’d tried to ‘cure it’ with a gluten free diet .

When I was three, my parents were told my a child psychiatrist that I couldn't be autistic because I was a girl and had a good vocabulary. That I was just naughty and had they tried smacking me.

I was diagnosed with ASD in my 20s.

All the allergy naysayers, did you not realise an allergies can be detected via blood and skin prick tests?

Or do you think we get our kids diagnosed to jab them with a massive Epi pen needles just for our own entertainment?

Perhaps you should have a word with the NHS doctor who ordered these tests and enabled my hysterical parenting. You are obviously better qualified.

Before the NHS what would have been the point of paying for a GP to diagnose asthma? There was nothing the GP could do, just give common sense advice about wrapping up warm in the cold. Although there were attempts to invent inhalers before then, the modern inhalers were not invented till 1955. And most ordinary people would not get any asthma treatment until after that invention.

I think people forget the impact the NHS had. Similarly why if you are not well off pay for a diagnosis of autism when there was no therapy except blaming the parents? It is why lots of diagnosis were simply not sought, no point. And that attitude carried on in some of the older generation even when the NHS did exist.

In terms of food allergies the other thing to remember is that people ate a much more limited diet.

There are plenty of people out there who believe adhd and asd are down to bad parenting.

While bad parenting can amplify these conditions, it is not the cause of them.

IME many parents are in denial about their dc being on the spectrum.

They can come and see my 14 year old walking up and down making high pitched noises and flapping and having the speech and understanding of a child in early primary but also being unable to to simple things for himself such as washing/bathing himself or brushing his teeth if they 'don't believe in autism' .

whattodowith - I was told to give him cannabis oil, which I know is very good for some conditions/illnesses but it can't 'cure' autism. and when I said that it wouldn't work they said I was 'choosing to keep him autistic'

my ds is high functioning ASD, I always knew there was something 'wrong', he had speech delay and didn't talk until >4. He missed most milestones. Unfortunately no one believed my concerns and you have to jump through hoops to get a diagnosis. He was diagnosed aged nine and things have improved since then mainly because he gets some support in school.I have had strangers sneer at me in the street when he was 'playing up' and I was made to feel like the worst parent int he world. It is so bloody hard to get a Dx and they have to see a qualified paediatrician so it is definitely a real condition.

@jennymanara - in the past neonatal deaths and so called ‘Sudden death’ syndromes were much more common. Also, what most people don’t realise, is that Excema / Asthma / can often be an allergy symptom (dairy usually). It’s probably no coincidence that that earlier allergy identification has gone hand in hand with a reduced neo-natal / ‘SIDs’ death rate.

Parents of disabled children can be very isolated, it impacts on every aspect of your life and support is often the key to getting through it. In the absence of adequate NHS support, social care, and local support groups it makes sense that they would turn to online communities.

Chouetted
So sorry to hear you went through that at Uni.

that is a huge part of how I rest up and recuperate my energy. I think that's what DS is doing now because he's been through a really tough time too (and that's with a diagnosis)!
Glad to hear you're rebuilding your life and best of luck with your OU course.

@ShimmeringWaffle Do you not get that MN is an amazing resource for those people trying to parent their DC with SN? That it has a great SN board? That support in RL is very poor? That on MN you can get help from very knowledgeable parents and adults with their own disabilities and differences? That those parents with DC with ASD might be drawn to comment on thread about it? That there are obviously more parents on MN with DC with SN than in the general population? That they can make their voices heard on an Internet forum? Are you really so naive and ignorant that you don’t understand this?

I just don't believe every person diagnosed with one of these conditions, actually has it.

The level of ignorance on this thread is astounding. To get a diagnosis of autism you have to fit certain criteria. It took us five years to get a diagnosis for DS. And he definitely has autism . It was obvious from the age of 3.

@MissPollyHadADolly19 Thanks for the info on Tegretol

I see there have been yet more comments about private diagnosis and parents allegedly paying for someone to diagnose their child.

I would ask everyone who repeats this as a "fact" to do us all a favour and report the doctors who are allegedly doing this diagnosis-for-cash racket to the GMC.

You see, parents don't go to a GP - first point of referral and sometimes also needed for private dx - and say 'I'd like an autism/ADHD diagnosis for my child' because the system doesn't work like that. they can ask for a referral to a NHS or private specialist (usually) team of medical professionals e.g. Paed, OT, SLT and Ed Psych that carry out several specific tests on their child, do observations at their premises and often also in school, ask for school and nursery input. After that has been completed, the team will discuss their separate findings and ONLY IF a child meets the diagnostic criteria with the right scores from all the tests will a diagnosis be given. Children who do not meet the cutoff scores are not given a diagnosis. If that is the case, their report will say they show traits, but do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis.

Also very importantly, many professionals who are qualified to diagnose autism, ADHD etc. work in both private practice and in the NHS.

Anyone suggesting that any medical professionals, but especially professionals who work in this capacity will give a diagnosis to their private clients simply because they paid for it really needs to back up their allegations with facts. Not post on internet forums about how easy it is to get a diagnosis of ASD/ADHD etc. if you pay for it.

@ShimmeringWaffle
What a disgusting comment, probably one of the worst I've read on MN.
How about it is easier to discuss online.
Obviously you have no idea to see your DC peers pass them out, see them treated as the weird kid, it is good to be to be to discuss with others in the same position.

What a disgusting comment,

It's a gf. Don't rise to it, nobody is that ignorant and willingly makes out they're a bit thick. Nobody.

@gamerchick Very true