Autistic children really brats

[IDrinkaRum]

I thought my daughter was normal. Just a little slow. It was just me & her and not much contact with children of her own age. She had a speech delay (she's only been talking since July, 2007), she doesn't make eye contact, she only said "Mama" and tha meant everything (I'm tired, I'm hungry, change me, I love you, etc.), she did pick up 2 two word phrases, but after 4 months of saying those, she stopped saying them, she didn't recognize her own name, she didn't know how to play "properly" with children her own age or a little older, she twirls around in a circle until she literally falls down with dizziness & then gets back up again.

So, I talked to her pediatrician. I also was told about Child Find, a program in my county that helps children who are developmentally delayed. After the age of 4 or 5 (or when they get to kindergarten), the diagnosis of developmentally delayed needs to be replaced with something (down's syndrome, autism, etc.). That was when I had her officially diagnosed. No, I don't carry around a copy of her doctor's diagnosis letter (though maybe I should). I do have some "fancy" (I made them myself) cards explaining that my daughter's behavior may not always be "normal" or "appropriate" but it's because she's autistic. I've also put in the card a definition of autism and the physical address/website of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Autism Society of America.

Also, thank you to all who have recommended books for me to read. I'm going to look them up at Borders & pick them up.

[daleduke17]

I do agree with part of what Savage was saying. There is a number of doctors calling it ADHD, Autism, etc., etc. Also, what happened to kids being tested in schools to see if they are just bored with classes because they are ahead of the work, instead of saying "Oh, you're kid has ADD" and pumping them full of drugs?

Are there obviously people out there that really have the disorder? Yes. I'm in the same group as SIGE in being upset over people being lazy and "diagnosing" the kid as something when really the parents have made a lazy ass for a kid.

[IDrinkaRum]

Maybe it's my anxiety taking over, but I do sometimes feel as if I mention my daughter's Autism, I think people are thinking bad things about me like: "Your daughter's really a brat and you're making excuses".

At first, when my daughter was diagnosed, I couldn't even say the word "Autism" or "Autistic" in relation to my daughter. All I could think about was Dustin Hoffman in Rainman and his idiosyncrasies. I was scared. Even now, for me to say, "Look, my daughter is autistic" takes a lot of gumption for me. I do wear 2 buttons at work ("April is Autism Month" and "1 in 150 children are diagnosed with Autism each year. I'm proud to say one of them is mine."). It gets me talking about it. But for me to shout, as my daughter is having a meltdown because of something that is completely out of hers & my control, "Hey! People! Trust me, watching an autistic child have a meltdown is not much fun, please keep your eyes to yourself" is just not something I can say. I might have to make tons of little business cards and hand them out all the time.

[MystyGlyttyr]

But for me to shout, as my daughter is having a meltdown because of something that is completely out of hers & my control, "Hey! People! Trust me, watching an autistic child have a meltdown is not much fun, please keep your eyes to yourself" is just not something I can say. I might have to make tons of little business cards and hand them out all the time.

And trust me, HAVING a meltdown like that in public is no fun, either. There's nothing more humiliating than losing control and starting to cry and freak out for no visibly apparent reason, all the while mentally screaming at yourself to calm down and shut up, but not being able to do it. Believe me, I don't WANT to have a fit because someone turned on a vacuum cleaner without warning me first, it's not something I can stop.

At least now that I have my MP3 player, the overnoise isn't so great and I can get along pretty well, but there's still times at work where I have to just get up and leave my desk and go hide in the bathroom. I thank God everyday I work with the great people I do who are understanding and sympathetic and don't hold it against me.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I couldn't agree more; mine are usually in private, but I've had a couple at work before and it was awful both times. Once was this girl who was just being a bitch to me for no reason; I started screaming and swearing at her and ended up with a horrible headache. The other time was when I saw an article in the local paper about my friend's death. Both times, my workmates understood; I'm lucky in that.

[protege]

The same thing goes for AHDD and Aspergers; to some people, they are just convenient labels to hang on their nasty, bratty children so they can let them do what they like in public without having to discipline them... and if anyone complains, they can just scream prejudice.

That's what the problem is. Too many idiots apply those labels to their kids (who do not have the disorder)...since it's easier than actually *parenting* them. All that does is lessen the suffering of people who *do* have it.

As to Rush and his ilk...they're just assholes. Most conservatives, at least the ones I know...do *not* think that way. Rush and his buddies are saying that stuff to stir up controversy and to gain ratings. That's the *only* reason.

[Xanthina]

Like someone said earlier, my parents raised me and my siblings... my brother and sister are normal, I am not. It is horrible to listen to people tell me that my condition does not exist, or that I don't have it because I don't act like "that"

I don't act like 'that' because in the past 24 years I've learned to control my outward behavior, to a point. But when I leave the party early, it's because I know if I stay, I won't be able to control my symptoms anymore. I've lost too many friends from that. And just because my outward behavior is seemingly normal, my head is not. It just keeps going and going and going.

Diagnosis was not a fast thing for me, but months of testing and retesting, to diagnose and confirm the diagnosis.

I have ADD and Dyslexia. I mix up right and left. My brain just thinks right. When someone tells me to turn left, my brain says right-left. When someone tells me to turn right, my brain says right. It's taken my husband years and he's starting to understand. I can't help it, I've tried.


Over diagnoses of a disorder does not mean it's not real, and it doesn't mean that me having it is not real.