Katie Grant from The Times appears to have about as much understanding of autism as my cat.

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\link{http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-2177218,00.html\sigh}. Idiots like this make my life 100 times harder. "No love when I say he;s autistic I don't mean he fidgets a bit I mean he can't talk at all aged 7, and has social understanding of a 12-18 month old if that, and will require 24 hour care for the rest of his life, so bog off".

There that feels better. Silly cow.

Snow leopard- i think "us lot" are saying that this woman seems to have not done any research surrounding the differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals. There is for example a thread on B and D at the moment about some research done recently on brain imgaging showing differences. Dozy Katy appears not to realise that that work will have been done on high functioning individuals as its impossible to do on people like my ds1- so it will have been done on the people she is slagging off.

The article is offensive as she suggests we're all off demanding dx in return for 80 quid a week. Without an autistic child I'd be looking to earn 500 quid a week by now. When my son was dxed I collapsed to the floor and 5 years later I am still grieving- that's why this sort of crap is so offensive. I'm not sure what you mean by mentioning that Charlotte Moore is making money from her children either. If she didn't have her sons she would be able to work pretty full time by now. Instead she has to be in every day to run her sons ABA program. Which costs money, and is not provided by the State.

This woman doesn't even know what autism is. It isn't about being clever, or bookish or realising you can get away with things (ds1 doesn't begin to understand that). I'm one of the mothers I guess who should be cross at people getting dx. I'm not because I can see how much HFA children and adults struggle - especially with ignorance. What makes me cross is journalists thiking its OK to write this sort of trash without doing any research. Honestly she has done none, and there's no excuse for that, there's a lot of information out there, it doesn't take much to find out a little about the senosry problems for example. She's not even good at her job if she thinks its OK to write without research.

Here we go again, blame the parents What a load of c##p. My ds can be naughty just like any other NT child, but is he being naughty when he screams the place down because he becomes so frustrated that he can't understand the games that other childen play, or when he bangs his head against the table because he gets so terrified when new foods are introduced.

I find it hard enough when people who don't know of my ds's ASD, look down on me because if you didn't know any better, it looks like my ds is controlling me, not doing what I say, that but he's not being naughty, he has so much to contend with daily that he's constantly frustrated, which shows itself with really challenging behaviour. This annoys me no end

A lot of HFA children can be the best behaved in the class as well. Autism isn't about behaviour its about sensory issues. DS1 at the moment can't stand the noise of doors closing and has to have his hands in his ears if as door is going to shut. He was "badly behaved" at the party the other day because he didn't behave in the wayu that was expected socially. He can't. Full stop. If you have a 7 year old with the social understanding and language of a 12-18 month old how would you expect him to behave in a social situation. Like a 7 year old or like a 12-18 month old. Add in sensory overload and a noisy environment and....

Actually this silly bint should read the first half of Finding You Finding Me by Phoebe Caldwell, the sensory stuff applies across the spectrum, she might understand why she is so utterly utterly wrong as well.

DS1 is deliberately naughty. And I've finally understood why. He likes a) strong responses and b) predictable responses. Which is why when he pinches or pretends to he shouts "an an" (hands down) because he wants me to play the game/ play my role which is to say "hands down". Yes he knows he shouldn't do it, but he doesn't understand why and he has no concept that pinching someone is naughtier than emptying his cup of water on the floor (which he also does shouting "an"- no - as he does it).

The other thing she seems utterly ignorant of (or if not ignorant, then blindly dismissive of, which is worse) is exactly the agonising struggles and doubts over their "parenting skills" that parents with non-NT children will have had, before getting a diagnosis. Those parents didn't need anyone to tell them that what they were doing with their child wasn't "working" - they will have been frantic about it from the earliest days.

My son, who is a borderline limbo case, probably settling into the dyspraxic camp (there's another thread on this elsewhere at the moment) is exactly one of those children who might've been given an ASD diagnosis if they were being handed out fashionably and recklessly. But they are not, and I've seen exactly how carefully they are NOT given.

snowleopard- the latest figures are that about 7-10% of autism cases are triggered by MMR. The majority of parents do not blame MMR. Those that do usually blame it because their child had seizures within a few hours of it, strange screaming followed by regression. If the parents go down the biomedical route they find that their children tend to be a bit different from a lot of autistic children, they have different urine test results from the autism research unit for example.

Parents don't just jump on any passing bandwagon. Incidentally the mopther of the child I know locally who had massive seizures following his MMR and is now severely autistic (non verbal, age 7, still in nappies) - was told by her son's paediatrician that his autism was probably triggered by the MMR.

Snowleopard- ASD dx are given out by specialists. Not generalists which makes it less likely that there will be mistakes. In my firedn's experience I would say they urge on the side of caution and tend to "wait and see" rathert than dx. I know 2 children personally who are in that situation (both scremaingly autistic imo). DS1 was dxed after 6 weeks of observation from a multidisciplinary team. I didn't pop down the GPs, get the dx then rush home to fill in my DLA form. DS1's autism has cost us far far far more financially than his DLA. Mainly through us providing basic services (speech therapy, education when he was in mainstream and receiving none, and a suitable diet).

I wonder if KG would be prepared to give up writing her crappy articles and her current income in return for life with a child with autism and £80 per week. Of course that £80 would depend entirely on how well she was able to fill in the DLA application and all the other hoops you have to jump through.........

\link{http://www.scottishmediamonitor.com/articles2.cfm?ID=147\well here's an article about Ms Grant} Apparently she's "Mrs Katie Grant, that Catholic, English, Conservative religionist, hated by readers; beloved by commissioning editors, especially from The Scottish Daily Mail, The Sunday Times Scotland, The Scotsman and even BBC Scotland"

I've had a browse of her stuff. She's very right wing, and very stupid.

I think it's the Scottish Times socci, I've been looking for an email contact for her- to email her this link, but can't find anything.

I bet after paying for ABA you have loads left over from your DLA to buy shoes :o It's laughable really. TBH I was so down yesterday that the outrageousness of this article cheered me up no end!

The Behavioural thing person we saw on Friday masquerading as Ed Psych told us that where you 'get lots of clusters of ADHD or like you know (presumably AS) it's not the kids, it's the parents and the professionals jumping on a bandwagon'.

This was before saying SAm was deffo not AS without having ever met him ([anger]- he did meet him later but we don't know what happened) or wishing to see any of the reports such as speech therapy which clearly indivate he has speech disorders, or indeed seeing that he has fine motor control problems (something we only realised recently).

there are some bloody idiots about.

we are seriously considering dropping out of the 'system' as paeds have said they will only DX if backed up by school, and school being just- as someone said on another thread- incompetent. all the dismissal is getting us down as much as Sam's behaviour (although the prescribed parenting classes might work- or they might frustrate sam to the point his siblings end up in hospital AGAIN. I know which I think is likely)

people like this. AAARRRRGGGHHHHHHHHH

omg! I understand you guys getting angry, but i just pmsl, i really did.

bad behaviour!

"ds1 how naughty, stop sticking your finger up your bum to pull out your own feaces and smearing it on your face this minute or you will go straight to bed!"

"ds2 how many times do i have to tell you it is naughty to spend 2 hours solid screaming at a pitch so high the local dogs are all howling"

god that woman makes my arse laugh.

A diagnosis is hard to get, they dont hand them out like smarties! however, i have heard of people going "yeahbutnoutyeahbut, it aint little levi's fault he's got that wotsit, y'know that adhd thing innit?" - no professional involvement, no diagnosis, and yes, sorry, used as an excuse for the fact that the kid is so badly parented he is ruddy feral! - could that be what she is meaning?

As for the money aspect, well! it justs keeps rolling in! i light my gas rings with £20's.

HA! by the time you pay for the -

repairs, replacements and constant redecorating, all the cleaning equipment, the pants you buy because you would rather chuck the poo filled ones in the bin than try to scrape it all out! Plus the sn holiday clubs, and the extra help eg music/art etc therapies that really help but arent available unless you pay! all the specialist toys/equipment etc that you read about and are told is sooo helpful so of course you buy it all!

• you have spent the dla 5 times over!!

yup MTP, we don't get DLA and never will but we still have to cover BIBIC (funding running out), we lost deposit to last house with damage done by Sam, special diets, childminder in holidays for ds3 so we can spend time on sam's education, replacements for the clothes he tears..... cheap it isn't

ok have just e-mailed the times and told them how disgusted i was that they saw fit to publish such shit.i suggest others do the same.the address is ; [email protected]

I must be hormonal, I read that looked at ds and my eyes went hot! I guess it's a case of two steps fw and one back like everything else. ASD is becoming more widely understood but you will still get silly cows like that around. ds doesn't yet have a dx, is high functioning, but is extremely socially immature. He isn't capable of being naughty, although he might appear to be. He is learning about social interactions now, and at nearly 4 years old has started yelling 'HELLO' at the top of his voice to complete strangers. If they ignore them he persists again and again until he gets a hello back or I drag him off. If they say hello back he is satisfied and they get ignored. Most of the time they jsut look uncomfortable. I hate the looks I get and because he isn't strongly affected I know people are probably thinking I'm a bad mother. Writers like this contribute to that and it isn't fair on kids like ds.

What a lovely character she appears to be. She seems to feel that being right wing gives her the right to put down anyone who isn't part of the Aerian Race.

I wouldn't bother sending her any comment. She is, no doubt, the type of woman who thrives on it.

Last time they did this (published an article indicating that a teenager's murdering was caused by his AS) I wrote and got a reply that they were going to look at how they could inform their staff better- obviously couldn't be arsed.

I would write to Quentin Letts on the Daily Mail. He has an autistic son and I'm sure he could say a few things about her article in his column.

Kelly- they think it of people who are severely affected as well. DS1 is without doubt severely autistic, one of the most "purely" autistic in his school (other children have learning difficulties etc) and we still have to run the ganutlet of comments and tuts every time we go out. I no longer say "he's autistic" to people tutting these days, I either ignore them (rhino hind) or just say "he can't talk". Don't let them get to you. Ignore them.

Ive been trying to explain it, but I'm already getting tired of going through it all every time he comes into contact with somebody. I guess I'm going to have to learn to ignore ppl. The twins attract people though, and then they get ds1 in their face.

Im not even going to say a thing or I may loose it. Shame as Im in the mood for a fight!!!
I want her to try and feed my ds and then tell me he is just being naughty. She needs a bloody good smack!