Anyone else noticing the uptick in open hostility towards people with ASD?

[FFSakeDrinkSake]

As the title says. It feels like it's open season recently. In the last few weeks alone I've seen many threads questioning the validity of Asd, the credentials of those diagnosing the condition, the 'explosion' of diagnosis', the 'fact' that you qualify for extra benefits if you are autistic and/or have ADHD, the apparent drain on resources kids with ASD have on the educational sector depriving others and most recently the idea that someone (self diagnosed) can 'outgrow' autism. Most of which contain the worst misinformation about what we're trying to deal with on a daily basis and making it sound like we're just trying to .. i dont even know tbh.. scam our way through life?

Disclaimer NATAAT.

We can only dream! ❤️😂

I think with the people I see with ASD you can see it and it’s not hidden it’s there to be seen.
Also recent tests have seen that the gait of someone with ASD is often different and as I said hypotonia ( which is a physically tested and seen condition) eczema and asthma ( all physical) as well as motor coordination disorder are all closely associated with people with ASD. Add in language disorder and bowel disorder again all tangible and empirically assessable things. There are also tests for executive functioning and working memory etc which would be hard to fake.

The reason people don’t want to wait until secondary school is because by secondary school it’s too late and kids are already refusing school or so behind they’ll never catch up. It’s a fuxking travesty to say you need to wait until then to diagnose ASD, there is no reason for it. It’s not your friends fault, but it’s not the fault of parents who want their kids to get the help they need either.

It is well known that trauma can cause autism like symptoms. My DS was seen by CAMHS first to rule out the effect of trauma before he was passed to the child development centre to assess for autism.

Eczema, asthma and bowel disorders are incredibly common. I have also never noticed an unusual gait in most people I know with autism, or hypotonia - floppy baby syndrome in any of their children.

Hypermobility is really common in autistic people. As are motor skills issues.

That's interesting to know. CAMHS has not been mentioned and when school tried to refer my eldest to them for anxiety they said they couldn't see him because of the bereavement...it was very soon after but he was anxious before dad died!

My ds was unable to support his head and was 11 months before he sat. He also didn't crawl, though did commando crawl from a very young age.

Hypermobility is very common with 10% of the population thought to have it.
There may end up being a connection between these incredibly common conditions and ASD, or it may just be coincidence given how common they are.

All of these tangible conditions may well be linked to autism but they are also prevalent in the so called NT population. That's my point really.... ASD isn't 'there to be seen' at all as a NT brain cannot be differentiated from an ND brain even with sophisticated technology. We may well see physical trends and associations but none of them are strong enough to be used as diagnostic criteria.

There are some well known comorbitities for autism that occur in much higher rates for autistic people.

it doesn't mean ever single autistic person has them.

Conversely to you all the autistic people I know have a noticeable gait and bowel issues.

Which is why people we know isn't a good measure!

But there are things like learning disability, epilepsy, mental health disorders, ehler-Danos and bowel issues that occur in much higher rates in autism and are well documented as such.

Autism society say common co morbidities are -

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Epilepsy
• Gastrointestinal and immune function disorders
• Metabolic disorders
• Sleep disorders

GI issues include chronic constipation and IBS which are closely associated with anxiety and poor diets.

I can imagine, best of luck but don't waste your energy on a school that will exclude her, if she can't go on a trip what else is she missing? I have a feeling sossen maybe closed or reduced times over the Summer. They have a Facebook page and both they and ipsea have really good websites with loads of info.

Be kind to yourself but don't take that kind of rubbish.

From what I understand the prevalence in autistic people is much higher than in the general population.

Do you have a link for that?

And the diagnosis will have come via a multi agency team.

EPs by themselves cannot diagnose autism or ADHD.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8847158/

Yes, I know. I was saying that they can diagnose as part of a MDT. You seemed to suggest they couldn't diagnose at all.

I think it's all disabilities,the conservatives whipped up that look what they're getting that you aren't sentiments all the while claiming their bloated expenses.

The figures with autism are much higher than 10%. I’ve seen 80% mentioned .

Interesting post. I had a conversation with a friend recently about both our combined friendship group and separate ones. We realised that our children (we both have one) are the only ones we are aware of who are not diagnosed/suspected neurodivergent. We are talking out of 35-40 children. Seems statistically unlikely to be accurate.

Yes DD has an odd gait and hypotonia. She also faints a lot. The hypermobility has also been formally diagnosed along with dyspraxia/DCD and we have to work hard at activities that help (she does a lot of swimming). It's super common.

@TheOriginalEmu you're absolutely right that it is neither parent or my friends fault it's the system (well where she is) that is just shitty all round for everyone. It's just frustrating (and upsetting when she is on the phone in floods of tears) because parents don't understand she does not control the system and there is only so much she can do.

In her area the SENDCO at the other Primary school (there are three Primary schools) is stepping down the other SENDCO is going into SLT (who also teaches so not sure where he will find the time to do all three roles) and slightly further afield the SEND team is being disbanded from a team of 14 to 6 due to funding.

Worrying times in SEND and school funding.

Do you know what the fainting is linked to? As I faint a lot too so interested. Also what is the difference in the gait?

Myself and my DC are all hypermobile.

I don’t know much about autism, but I just googled the symptoms of autism among adults and got this from the NHS:

Main signs of autism
Common signs of autism in adults include:

• finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling
• getting very anxious about social situations
• finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on your own
• seeming blunt, rude or not interested in others without meaning to
• finding it hard to say how you feel
• taking things very literally – for example, you may not understand sarcasm or phrases like "break a leg"
• having the same routine every day and getting very anxious if it changes

Five, maybe six of these apply to me. Does that mean I’m autistic? Or am I just a control freak with poor social skills and major social anxiety?