Do you ever question your kid's ASD diagnosis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read the DSM criteria - it requires pretty significant funcational impairments across settings.

If someone in your family has ASD, you know it and it doesn't take long before anyone who interacts with them can tell something is different about them too.

TikTok autism (that so many seem to have now) is a whole different ballpark and isn't a clinical diagnosis.

Kids and adults have weaknesses, imperfections, vulnerabilities, unique characteristics, etc. That is part of being human. Those should not be psychopathologized. A diagnosis means you have substantial clinical symptoms that cause functional impairment across settings and that you require support / intervention to function.

This is a 12:00 private poster.

My point is that the DSM (and clinicians) might be viewing variations from the mean as impairments when, in the past, they were viewed as personality characteristics and quirks. In other words, the impairment bar is set really low. In the alternative, clinicians are being generous in defining impairment to get insurance coverage for kids who might need support but don't have ASD.

What makes you think what was done in the past was better? Who, specifically, is suffering more in the current model and in what specific ways does the current model harm them? What are your observations based off of? Many autistic people report their diagnoses they received later in life were literally lifesaving. Are you questioning those diagnoses of people you have never personally me

I didn't say it was better in the past. I'm wondering about the current DSM and how it is applied.

I think everyone should be diagnosed accurately. If a kid had a diabetes diagnosis, and it turned out that the kid didn't need treatment (because the standard was so low) or was misdiagnosed (because the clinician applied the standard too broadly), the parent would presumably want to know that.

I'm not talking about anyone in particular. I'm not asserting that autism diagnoses are fake.

You assume that the DSM is accurate and all diagnoses are correct, and that I am contending that ASD diagnoses are fake. I'm questioning whether too many people are swept in. I fully concede that the DSM correctly diagnoses many people and that the diagnoses have helped them, both in finding support and understanding who they are.

You seem really defensive. Like, because you are your kid was diagnosed with ASD, everyone with an ASD diagnosis must have ASD. I'm not advocating for taking people's diagnoses and accommodations away. Sheesh.

Bad comparison as with diabetiess there are blood tests - both through a lab, and at home or a device that can tell you exactly what the numbers were. With ASD, there is no blood test or genetic test (maybe in the future though).

It is a behavioral condition, so no, there will never be a blood test.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why does that matter? Seriously, why are you so hostile? If you disagree, then do so, and explain why.

We got a medical diagnosis from a professional, a very real diagnosis, and not one we were expecting but which definitely fits our kid. People like you empower others to dismiss that diagnosis because it isn't obvious to them.

At least, if you have an opinion about ASD and whether thousands of other people's kids really have it, tell us what that opinion is based on. What personal experience do you have to paint every kid that seems "normal enough" to you as having been over diagnosed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why does that matter? Seriously, why are you so hostile? If you disagree, then do so, and explain why.

We got a medical diagnosis from a professional, a very real diagnosis, and not one we were expecting but which definitely fits our kid. People like you empower others to dismiss that diagnosis because it isn't obvious to them.

At least, if you have an opinion about ASD and whether thousands of other people's kids really have it, tell us what that opinion is based on. What personal experience do you have to paint every kid that seems "normal enough" to you as having been over diagnosed?

I literally never said that every kid who appears "normal enough" has been over-diagnosed. You are responding to everyone who has questioned your kid's diagnosis. That must be painful, and I really mean that. If you want to vent at me, OK. Happy to be your punching bag. Seriously. I bet you and your kid have been through a lot, and I bet it sucks that people don't realize that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why does that matter? Seriously, why are you so hostile? If you disagree, then do so, and explain why.

We got a medical diagnosis from a professional, a very real diagnosis, and not one we were expecting but which definitely fits our kid. People like you empower others to dismiss that diagnosis because it isn't obvious to them.

At least, if you have an opinion about ASD and whether thousands of other people's kids really have it, tell us what that opinion is based on. What personal experience do you have to paint every kid that seems "normal enough" to you as having been over diagnosed?

I literally never said that every kid who appears "normal enough" has been over-diagnosed. You are responding to everyone who has questioned your kid's diagnosis. That must be painful, and I really mean that. If you want to vent at me, OK. Happy to be your punching bag. Seriously. I bet you and your kid have been through a lot, and I bet it sucks that people don't realize that.

No, I'm responding to your statement that "It feels like any kid who isn't socially adept has ASD," and have asked you to explain how you got this impression. That doesn't make you my "punching bag," that means I want you to support this statement because it doesn't match with what I have observed or experienced and usually when I hear people say this is is because of vibes they got from some trolling magazine article or social media post.

[Anonymous]

Fyi, IME therapists hate to tell parents they suspect autism. Oftentimes they will try to hint at it but won't say it outright. The notion they are going around telling parents of any kid that is a little quirky that they should get evaluated is utterly preposterous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, IME therapists hate to tell parents they suspect autism. Oftentimes they will try to hint at it but won't say it outright. The notion they are going around telling parents of any kid that is a little quirky that they should get evaluated is utterly preposterous.

I don’t think that’s true at all, and if so, that’s a really bad therapist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, IME therapists hate to tell parents they suspect autism. Oftentimes they will try to hint at it but won't say it outright. The notion they are going around telling parents of any kid that is a little quirky that they should get evaluated is utterly preposterous.

I don’t think that’s true at all, and if so, that’s a really bad therapist.

Whelp we had multiple therapists who danced around it or waited to volunteer it until we asked them directly. They have each helped our kid a ton and I definitely don't think they are bad therapists. You may disagree but you've never met them so...

[Anonymous]

Oh and shout out to the early intervention therapists that dismissed borderline results on the M CHAT

[Anonymous]

And if you don't have a kid diagnosed with ASD, how would you know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fyi, IME therapists hate to tell parents they suspect autism. Oftentimes they will try to hint at it but won't say it outright. The notion they are going around telling parents of any kid that is a little quirky that they should get evaluated is utterly preposterous.

I agree! After my dc was dx by the neuropyschologist (2 day eval including ADOS), their OT, speech and pediatrician all basically said 'Yeah we concur'. But no one had said, hey your kid might be autistic.

[Anonymous]

I do sometimes. But his peers in multiple different areas of his life consistently despising him despite him not ever being "mean," well that has to come from somewhere. His not seeming to care what people think of him until they exclude or outright bully him, well that has to come from somewhere. His only occasionally, at age 15, being upset he doesn't have any friends, well that has to come from somewhere

I don't think of him as autistic because he seems fine at home and adhd can explain a lot. But adhd can not explain his social struggles, which are stark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh and shout out to the early intervention therapists that dismissed borderline results on the M CHAT

my kid failed that too and our ped said "eh" he's fine. I knew at the time he wasn't fine but it was almost a decade till be got the dx.