- Share This Post
- Pin It
- 2
-
Sparkle (0)
Today, I was given a link to conservative talk show host Michael
Savage's recent broadcast about Autism and what he called it's over
diagnosis. Less than twenty seconds in and Mr. Savage's ignorance has
me seething.
Mr. Savage,
I
appreciate anyone who wants to do something to further the cause of
autism research and understanding. You sir, have done neither. I have a
piece of advice for you: stick to what you know before running off your
mouth.
Last week, you claimed that 99% of those out there
diagnosed with autism are 'fakers'. (similarly, you say that if you
can't SEE the disability when someone has a handicapped placard, they
also are fakers. That's a battle for another day).
You ask why
the definition of autism has been changed to include autism spectrum
disorders. It is because research has been done and those who were
classified as 'odd' or 'different' even ten years ago now can receive
treatment to better help them understand and assimilate into society.
That's the hope, anyway.
The medical community is overdiagnosing
autism? Let me give you another situation-would you say that doctors
are overdiagnosing cancer? I seriously doubt it, but the tools used to
discover both have improved over the last 50, 20, even 10 years. Many
cancers were not diagnosed until they were stage 4 and the patient was
too far gone to benefit from chemotherapy or radiation. Take a look at
cancer survival rates if you don't believe this.
My son is a
faker, and his doctors have overdiagnosed him. So you say. Have you met
him? Have you spent more than ten minutes with ANYONE diagnosed on the
autism spectrum before you made such a bold pronouncement?
Tell
you what, I've got a great idea. How about you come to my house and
spend a week with us. No, wait a minute, let's make it two weeks. The
first week, you can spend with my son, Gameboy, without benefit of any
medication that in your expert option has been over prescribed. Then
the second, he'll resume his medications.
I'll clue you in on what your days will be like, just so you're not coming into this completely blind:
You
will awaken way too early to find that Gameboy has raided the pantry or
fridge and either eaten a whole bag of hamburger buns, a half bag of
cereal, a bag of corn chips or most of a bag of bread. As a result, we
don't have these items in our house very often-sucks to try to make
sandwiches or burgers.
Next, you'll fight him to brush his
teeth, wash his face, change into clean clothes and take his
medication. Oh right, the first week, you won't have that part. Gameboy
will start his first round of badgering you to let him play games-that
is, if he hasn't already snuck the games into his room and hidden under
the bed.
Next, he'll complain that he's starving. Never mind the
fact that he ate 6 portions of cereal, or 8 buns or something else that
isn't suitable. He expects you to make all his meals (oh yeah, previous
experience as a short order cook might help here.)
Any time
you tell this child "no", he'll whine loudly, state "But I wanted" or
"NOOOOOOOOO" or "You said I could..." even when you didn't. No amount
of talking rationally helps here, he'll still whine and complain until
you scream loudly that he's going to lose more game time or tell him
that he has to go to his room.
He's only this way because we're
so permissive, right? Tell that to my neighbors who hear him crying all
day long, and me or my husband yelling. We believe in corporal
punishment, so that argument won't work, either.
Let's move to
lunch. Don't forget his medication. Oh, and figure out something he'll
eat. Autism spectrum children are known for their extremely picky
eating. We're lucky, Gameboy will eat a larger variety of foods than
most, but still not a lot. Factor in here that many ASD kids also have
food dye allergies and it makes meal prep interesting if you aren't a
diligent label reader. Luckily, what's in our pantry is 99% appropriate
for Gameboy.
By this time, you will have probably begun to
notice how much he talks about games. All. Day. Long. Everything
pertains to games. You'd probably get along great, you both monologue
on something nonstop, frequently things you known nothing about.
Telling him to knock it off doesn't help. This is where his OCD over
rides everything else. He has to finish saying what he's started to say
and will drive you crazy. Oh wait, he's a faker, so I guess it won't
bother you much, right?
We're still
