To think Jo Frost (Supernanny) was wrong to post inflammatory comments

[Margot78]

Jo Frost shared this on her FB page. I’m
not sure why, I was quite baffled by it. Surely she knows that parents of children with asd/adhd/ocd will be offended at the suggestion that they are chasing a label for their child? Not sure what she was trying to achieve with this!

It's a diagnosis when it's given by a professional qualified to diagnose. Given by anyone else; it's a label.

No it was not a label prior to my daughter having a diagnosis. She was autistic from birth.

I want to talk about wheelchair users for a while.

I can’t believe how many there are these days, I’m sure loads of parents are just saying they’re disabled so they don’t have to parent them properly and schools give them an easy time. And what about all of the changes that need to be made do they can access things?! Who’s paying for all of that I want to know?! They should just get on with it like the rest of the kids. It’s ridiculous how many wheelchair users there are - none of us are in perfect health and we could all do with a bit of help sometimes. It’s pathetic that they’re given this label and treated as special. And parents should stop telling doctors they think their child might need a wheelchair. I know they’re the ones around their child all the time and the only person who can accurately report the child’s day to day symptoms, but they need to butt out and just stay quiet.

Oh…..what’s wrong? Does that sound horrible?

Replace wheelchair user with autistic or neurodiverse and yet somehow it becomes magically ok. All of those things - or the equivalent - have been said on this thread. Neurodiversity is a disability, sometimes mild, sometimes severe, and it deserves the same kindness and respect as other conditions. We’re not some kind of target for everyone to take aim at.

I see her clips regularly on Facebook touted as the "right" way to parent. But honestly a lot of the time her parenting techniques are rather cruel and militant. I just saw one this morning where a toddler was cosleeping and her way of stopping it was to have his mother sit in his room with her back to him while he cried and begged for her to acknowledge him until he fell asleep with exhaustion. How could he possibly understand that all of a sudden the thing he'd been doing his whole life for comfort and safety now wasn't allowed and that him mum was now ignoring that he was upset. Honestly vile tbh.

@SpidersAreShitheads Would it surprise you to know that there cases of people faking needing a wheelchair?
But of course using a wheelchair is not a diagnosis so it is not comparable. A comparable comparison is comparing wheelchair users to someone who uses a fidget spinner.

@OriginalUsername3 There are always long explanations of what is going to happen. The TV programme deals with families at crisis point.

I don't like Supernanny's way of dealing with poor behaviour. However, some children are just naughty and not because of any syndrome or condition. It's mostly poor parenting in a lot of cases.

I used to work for a team that investigated benefit fraud. I’m acutely aware that there are a small number of cases of fraud.

But thanks for ignoring the point spectacularly and for proving my point with your flippant comment about fidget spinners. Literally no respect at all for neurodiversity.

Do you know how hard it is to get a diagnosis or how long it takes even when it's pretty obvious a child has adhd? Waiting lists are huge too.

children are born with autism and adhd.

Yes and just as those wheelchair users ND children deserve an appropriate, accurate and proffessional diagnosis to determine the cause of their behaviours. Not their parent guessing autism because it fits the Google search they did. It can be so damaging.

I actually tried the old Supernanny technique of taking my 3 year old quietly back to bed every 5 mins for 3 hours last night. Did he learn anything? Nope. He will continue to wake me every 5 mins tonight no doubt. Did I learn anything? Yes, Supernanny spouts a load of BS.

There’s all this talk about parents apparently desperate for a ‘label’ for their children. All I see is loads of people on threads like this that seem to have given themselves the label/title of wannabe psychiatrist or psychologist where in reality they no fuck all about this subject.

The amount of people talking nonsense telling everyone that ‘in a lot of cases it’s....’ or ‘it’s just
<insert made up bullshit based on no evidence> here is quite something.

It is very dismissive and unpleasant "every other ABCD". Jo Frost ignores the need for support services, which may only be unlocked with an official diagnosis. Furthermore, there are children who likely have ASD whose parents have run from a diagnosis, so rather than getting support those kids can be unfairly labelled as naughty, stubborn, antisocial, etc.

Spoken with the naivety of someone who has never worked with parents who disable their children by buying them equipment aids such as wheelchairs, special shoes, walkers etc, or who say that they have a number of food allergies, or who push on them that they are trans children, or who invent various illnesses and disorders for their child.

I am not saying you should or should not do this. But 3 hours in one night is not long enough for a determined three-year-old.

Are you making fun of her lisp?

“Münchausen syndrome by proxy.”

Eerie and cruel.

Yes they are. Apparently a lot of MN women find a speech impediment hilarious.

No they don't. They want the diagnosis so they can access the right help and support for their child!

@DaughterofDawn you were 9. You don't know that it was a quick apt at the doctors that got you diagnosis.
There were probably lots of other appointments/observations/ meetings/reports that had also happened.

“Yes and just as those wheelchair users ND children deserve an appropriate, accurate and proffessional diagnosis to determine the cause of their behaviours. Not their parent guessing autism because it fits the Google search they did. It can be so damaging.“

Not as damaging as children treated, educated and parented the wrong way with their neurodiversity not catered for.

Many professionals treat as if there is a diagnosis before one is given. Many parents know more about neurodiversity than professionals. I think the NHS is particularity woeful. The ignorance and lack of awareness shown by some professionals we’ve come across is inexcusable.

It's true for some parents. I used to know one such parent.

And there are adults who are desperate for a diagnosis too. Yet, there's nothing wrong with them. I used to know someone who claimed he was autistic because he was good at maths. I know autistic people who are average at maths and better at art based subjects.

It was long enough for me to realise that I don't care enough to spend all night messing about. I'd rather he just came in with us and slept and we slept and everyone was sleeping.

Many professionals treat as if there is a diagnosis before one is given. Many parents know more about neurodiversity than professionals. I think the NHS is particularity woeful. The ignorance and lack of awareness shown by some professionals we’ve come across is inexcusable
This is exactly why my friend left the profession. She was spending more time arguing with parents convinced that they knew better because they saw desperately wanted a particular diagnosis, they had managed to completely convinced them even when every scientific assessment said differently. How can you deal with parents who think they know better and inky expect the professional to act as their PA, just writing what they dictate them to to suit their intentions.

The NHS is rolling out a lot of training re autism. There is a reason for that.

Its not about arguing for a diagnosis. It’s about there being woeful autism awareness across the NHS.

Your friend was in the wrong job.