Latest CDC number 1 in 36 children diagnosed with autism

[Anonymous]

Pp, the majority of ASD diagnoses do not have ID. Are you saying that even ASD w/o ID would have been labelled MR?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the increase mostly in mild forms? Because that's where most diagnostic progress has been made. If we see an increase in severe forms, then that's cause to worry about environmental causes.

Even if it is, shouldn’t we still question why so many kids are diagnosed and whether any of it can be prevented?

+1

Autoimmune disorders are on the rise, allergies are on the rise, asthma is on the rise.

I wonder if we are going to get to 1 in 5 kids with autism and people will still say it's all better detection, broadening definition and mild forms. When will it be enough for people to care about environmental triggers?

and science tells us this is an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the increase mostly in mild forms? Because that's where most diagnostic progress has been made. If we see an increase in severe forms, then that's cause to worry about environmental causes.

Even if it is, shouldn’t we still question why so many kids are diagnosed and whether any of it can be prevented?

+1

Autoimmune disorders are on the rise, allergies are on the rise, asthma is on the rise.

I wonder if we are going to get to 1 in 5 kids with autism and people will still say it's all better detection, broadening definition and mild forms. When will it be enough for people to care about environmental triggers?

None of these are comparable and all have medical evidence and often genetic.

I think they are comparable. There are doctors who believe these are all related to autoimmune disorders. Kids with ADHD and autism are much more likely to get PANS/PANDAS. There’s a high correlation between Celiac and ADHD, etc.

It seems related to me. Kids with ASD have GI issues, disproportionately. There’s the interesting fever effect, in which some kids become more “typical” behaviorally, when they have a fever. There is also a pallor that I see in kids with ADHD and ASD—nobody has been able to explain to me what it is, but it’s noticeable.

Oh ffs. Yes, the pallor. That’s because they are actually vampires.

Look, there was a big story recently about a woman who noticed that patients with Parkinson's had a distinctive odor (her husband had Parkinsons and she smelled it in waiting rooms with other patients. She had to push and push, and finally someone studied it and it is true and potentially useful to early diagnosis:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/23/820274501/her-incredible-sense-of-smell-is-helping-scientists-find-new-ways-to-diagnose-di

I have spent a lot of time around kids with ASD and notice that they often "look" less healthy looking than their siblings who don't have ASD. I have seen it on a lot of kids, including my own. Yet IME, once ASD is diagnosed, nobody is interested in any physical issues. Low vitamin levels, constipation, eczema -- it's all treated individually as having nothing to do with the ASD. Yet there are clearly things going on in the kid's body that are atypical. I hope someday we'll know.

I can’t even express how stupid that is. Yeah sure let’s dx kids with autism because they are pale because of some crap research that claims you can smell Parkinsons.

I just can’t even. I cannot.

The poster is saying that the common physical characteristics should be studied, nit a diagnosis. Calm down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is downright depressing - just goes to show how unaware we are about this and how much we are caught on labels. It is hard though and I empathize because we want to know the causes and some sort of treatment - both of which are still up in the air. The whole mom blame thing is also a bunch of nonsense. I wasn't at an old maternal age, I was healthy, no underlying issues, nor obesity, blah blah, was extremely careful with what I ate, no history of ASD, but one of my kids turned out ASD Level 1 - we're still stunned sometimes because it came as a shock and yes we plan to reassess but we've just learned to let go of the label, the articles, the nonsense in the media - yes including Elon Musk and just focus on whatever needs our kid needs right now - and if you open your eyes there are plenty of NT kids which are getting plenty of supports in school and a lot of NT kids who aren't assessed at all or will be later on --- it's just a very isolating journey frankly...except in forums like this where it's every man for himself.

+100

Add to this about the mom guilt. I was extremely healthy and 30 when I gave birth to my autistic son. My mom was 38 and 41 and had gestational diabetes when she had my sister and brother. And neither of them are autistic and honestly have both always been very popular and socially successful. Every generation there is some mom blame-y explanation starting with the original “refrigerator mother” theory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The historical perspective seems to be lacking here. There was a time not very long ago (1990s, when I was in school), when an autism diagnosis was extremely rare. It was only given to the very most impacted children, as in “Rain Man.” I volunteered at a residential school for autistic teens.

At that time, people may be surprised to hear, a much more common diagnosis was “mental r-tardation.” Huge numbers of kids were put into that category. Here is a document: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00040023.htm

The kids haven’t changed. They are being labeled differently.

My kids are diagnosed with ASD and have IQ (GAI) of 125 and 145. They aren't MR.

DH's family has ADHD and my family has quirky, but our kids have more ADHD and quirky than any older family members. Is it genetic? Seems likely. Is it environmental? To me, also seems likely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pp, the majority of ASD diagnoses do not have ID. Are you saying that even ASD w/o ID would have been labelled MR?

The less impacted kids wouldn’t have been diagnosed with any disability, and the most impacted kids I do think would have been diagnosed with ID. Here’s a recent summary of that history: https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/measuring-iq-autism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is downright depressing - just goes to show how unaware we are about this and how much we are caught on labels. It is hard though and I empathize because we want to know the causes and some sort of treatment - both of which are still up in the air. The whole mom blame thing is also a bunch of nonsense. I wasn't at an old maternal age, I was healthy, no underlying issues, nor obesity, blah blah, was extremely careful with what I ate, no history of ASD, but one of my kids turned out ASD Level 1 - we're still stunned sometimes because it came as a shock and yes we plan to reassess but we've just learned to let go of the label, the articles, the nonsense in the media - yes including Elon Musk and just focus on whatever needs our kid needs right now - and if you open your eyes there are plenty of NT kids which are getting plenty of supports in school and a lot of NT kids who aren't assessed at all or will be later on --- it's just a very isolating journey frankly...except in forums like this where it's every man for himself.

+100

Add to this about the mom guilt. I was extremely healthy and 30 when I gave birth to my autistic son. My mom was 38 and 41 and had gestational diabetes when she had my sister and brother. And neither of them are autistic and honestly have both always been very popular and socially successful. Every generation there is some mom blame-y explanation starting with the original “refrigerator mother” theory.

Looking at maternal characteristics associated with autism is not blaming the mother. Like most diseases, it is likely partly genetic — in some cases 100 percent — and partly environment interacting with genes. Researchers study the latter because, while you cannot modify genetics (yet), you can change the environment.

Your children have different genes than your siblings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, the majority of ASD diagnoses do not have ID. Are you saying that even ASD w/o ID would have been labelled MR?

The less impacted kids wouldn’t have been diagnosed with any disability, and the most impacted kids I do think would have been diagnosed with ID. Here’s a recent summary of that history: https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/measuring-iq-autism

In conclusion, it's not diagnosis substitution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, the majority of ASD diagnoses do not have ID. Are you saying that even ASD w/o ID would have been labelled MR?

The less impacted kids wouldn’t have been diagnosed with any disability, and the most impacted kids I do think would have been diagnosed with ID. Here’s a recent summary of that history: https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/measuring-iq-autism

I went to a school for smart kids and we had a lot of the high IQ kids that would likely get an ASD diagnosis now, but has no diagnosis (except maybe anxiety if their parents were really attentive, which most 80s parents weren’t). But I still think that the occurance is much higher now. Maybe that’s in part due to kids not masking as much. But I also think it’s an epigenetic explosion caused by something in the environment, which is also happening with other neurological conditions.

I understand some PPs saying none of this matters, but in the very long term, I think it will matter to future generations and I hope that researchers of good faith continue t try to figure this all out. My personal gut sense is that there are probably a few different conditions here that are all being lumped together. Like someone that coughs a lot — could have TB, could have allergies, could have CF, could have COPD. Each is probably nenefitted by similar things (nebulizers, fresh air, etc.). But for a lot of reasons, the causes of the cough matter and we are all better off when science can figure stuff out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is downright depressing - just goes to show how unaware we are about this and how much we are caught on labels. It is hard though and I empathize because we want to know the causes and some sort of treatment - both of which are still up in the air. The whole mom blame thing is also a bunch of nonsense. I wasn't at an old maternal age, I was healthy, no underlying issues, nor obesity, blah blah, was extremely careful with what I ate, no history of ASD, but one of my kids turned out ASD Level 1 - we're still stunned sometimes because it came as a shock and yes we plan to reassess but we've just learned to let go of the label, the articles, the nonsense in the media - yes including Elon Musk and just focus on whatever needs our kid needs right now - and if you open your eyes there are plenty of NT kids which are getting plenty of supports in school and a lot of NT kids who aren't assessed at all or will be later on --- it's just a very isolating journey frankly...except in forums like this where it's every man for himself.

+100

Add to this about the mom guilt. I was extremely healthy and 30 when I gave birth to my autistic son. My mom was 38 and 41 and had gestational diabetes when she had my sister and brother. And neither of them are autistic and honestly have both always been very popular and socially successful. Every generation there is some mom blame-y explanation starting with the original “refrigerator mother” theory.

Looking at maternal characteristics associated with autism is not blaming the mother. Like most diseases, it is likely partly genetic — in some cases 100 percent — and partly environment interacting with genes. Researchers study the latter because, while you cannot modify genetics (yet), you can change the environment.

Your children have different genes than your siblings.

Oh come on. They study the “maternal environment” in great part due to the historical focus on women as responsible for childrearing. And there is no reason to believe changing the “environment” to prevent autism is any more feasible than genetic engineering it away. The most likely outcome for this mind of research is a prenatal test for autism which will result in humankind eliminating its engineers and mathmeticians before birth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, the majority of ASD diagnoses do not have ID. Are you saying that even ASD w/o ID would have been labelled MR?

The less impacted kids wouldn’t have been diagnosed with any disability, and the most impacted kids I do think would have been diagnosed with ID. Here’s a recent summary of that history: https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/measuring-iq-autism

I went to a school for smart kids and we had a lot of the high IQ kids that would likely get an ASD diagnosis now, but has no diagnosis (except maybe anxiety if their parents were really attentive, which most 80s parents weren’t). But I still think that the occurance is much higher now. Maybe that’s in part due to kids not masking as much. But I also think it’s an epigenetic explosion caused by something in the environment, which is also happening with other neurological conditions.

I understand some PPs saying none of this matters, but in the very long term, I think it will matter to future generations and I hope that researchers of good faith continue t try to figure this all out. My personal gut sense is that there are probably a few different conditions here that are all being lumped together. Like someone that coughs a lot — could have TB, could have allergies, could have CF, could have COPD. Each is probably nenefitted by similar things (nebulizers, fresh air, etc.). But for a lot of reasons, the causes of the cough matter and we are all better off when science can figure stuff out.

there is absolutely no evidence that the actual incidence of autism is increasing. Just the identification.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, the majority of ASD diagnoses do not have ID. Are you saying that even ASD w/o ID would have been labelled MR?

The less impacted kids wouldn’t have been diagnosed with any disability, and the most impacted kids I do think would have been diagnosed with ID. Here’s a recent summary of that history: https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/measuring-iq-autism

I went to a school for smart kids and we had a lot of the high IQ kids that would likely get an ASD diagnosis now, but has no diagnosis (except maybe anxiety if their parents were really attentive, which most 80s parents weren’t). But I still think that the occurance is much higher now. Maybe that’s in part due to kids not masking as much. But I also think it’s an epigenetic explosion caused by something in the environment, which is also happening with other neurological conditions.

I understand some PPs saying none of this matters, but in the very long term, I think it will matter to future generations and I hope that researchers of good faith continue t try to figure this all out. My personal gut sense is that there are probably a few different conditions here that are all being lumped together. Like someone that coughs a lot — could have TB, could have allergies, could have CF, could have COPD. Each is probably nenefitted by similar things (nebulizers, fresh air, etc.). But for a lot of reasons, the causes of the cough matter and we are all better off when science can figure stuff out.

there is absolutely no evidence that the actual incidence of autism is increasing. Just the identification.

Yes, there is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the increase mostly in mild forms? Because that's where most diagnostic progress has been made. If we see an increase in severe forms, then that's cause to worry about environmental causes.

Even if it is, shouldn’t we still question why so many kids are diagnosed and whether any of it can be prevented?

+1

Autoimmune disorders are on the rise, allergies are on the rise, asthma is on the rise.

I wonder if we are going to get to 1 in 5 kids with autism and people will still say it's all better detection, broadening definition and mild forms. When will it be enough for people to care about environmental triggers?

None of these are comparable and all have medical evidence and often genetic.

I think they are comparable. There are doctors who believe these are all related to autoimmune disorders. Kids with ADHD and autism are much more likely to get PANS/PANDAS. There’s a high correlation between Celiac and ADHD, etc.

It seems related to me. Kids with ASD have GI issues, disproportionately. There’s the interesting fever effect, in which some kids become more “typical” behaviorally, when they have a fever. There is also a pallor that I see in kids with ADHD and ASD—nobody has been able to explain to me what it is, but it’s noticeable.

Oh ffs. Yes, the pallor. That’s because they are actually vampires.

Look, there was a big story recently about a woman who noticed that patients with Parkinson's had a distinctive odor (her husband had Parkinsons and she smelled it in waiting rooms with other patients. She had to push and push, and finally someone studied it and it is true and potentially useful to early diagnosis:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/23/820274501/her-incredible-sense-of-smell-is-helping-scientists-find-new-ways-to-diagnose-di

I have spent a lot of time around kids with ASD and notice that they often "look" less healthy looking than their siblings who don't have ASD. I have seen it on a lot of kids, including my own. Yet IME, once ASD is diagnosed, nobody is interested in any physical issues. Low vitamin levels, constipation, eczema -- it's all treated individually as having nothing to do with the ASD. Yet there are clearly things going on in the kid's body that are atypical. I hope someday we'll know.

I can’t even express how stupid that is. Yeah sure let’s dx kids with autism because they are pale because of some crap research that claims you can smell Parkinsons.

I just can’t even. I cannot.

The poster is saying that the common physical characteristics should be studied, nit a diagnosis. Calm down

You mean like phrenology?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, the majority of ASD diagnoses do not have ID. Are you saying that even ASD w/o ID would have been labelled MR?

The less impacted kids wouldn’t have been diagnosed with any disability, and the most impacted kids I do think would have been diagnosed with ID. Here’s a recent summary of that history: https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/measuring-iq-autism

I went to a school for smart kids and we had a lot of the high IQ kids that would likely get an ASD diagnosis now, but has no diagnosis (except maybe anxiety if their parents were really attentive, which most 80s parents weren’t). But I still think that the occurance is much higher now. Maybe that’s in part due to kids not masking as much. But I also think it’s an epigenetic explosion caused by something in the environment, which is also happening with other neurological conditions.

I understand some PPs saying none of this matters, but in the very long term, I think it will matter to future generations and I hope that researchers of good faith continue t try to figure this all out. My personal gut sense is that there are probably a few different conditions here that are all being lumped together. Like someone that coughs a lot — could have TB, could have allergies, could have CF, could have COPD. Each is probably nenefitted by similar things (nebulizers, fresh air, etc.). But for a lot of reasons, the causes of the cough matter and we are all better off when science can figure stuff out.

there is absolutely no evidence that the actual incidence of autism is increasing. Just the identification.

support for that?

Yes, there is.

[Anonymous]

People who are in the field are generally in consensus that the majority of the increase is due to progress in our ability to diagnose and identify people with autism in a broader spectrum than used to be possible," Estes says. "But then there is this portion of an increase that is not accounted for in a lot of statistical studies that are done.

https://www.science.org/content/article/autism-rates-are-it-really-rise