Reply to Is ASD a useful label or is it we don’t know we will lump it under an umbrella term?

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Is ASD a useful label or is it we don’t know we will lump it under an umbrella term?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Many of the terms we use to describe disabilities describe a wide variety of symptoms.  I'm a special ed teacher, I've got several kids with a CP diagnosis on my caseload.  Some have high tone (spasticity) some have very low tone, some have tone that fluctuates.  Some have problems with every muscle in their body, one has problems with only one hand.  Some also have other conditions like cortical vision impairment, intellectual disability, seizure disorder or autism, and some don't.  Some need constant adult support and highly specialized technology like an eye gaze communication devices and a power chair with tilt in space feature, and some travel independently in the community and only need a few minor pieces of technology like the keyboard on their iPhone set for one handed typing.

Having the CP diagnosis is helpful, because it helps them gain eligibility for special ed services, helps connect them to the right doctors and therapists, and communicates to new professionals what it isn't (e.g. while a kid with CP and a kid with JIA both may have stiffness and limited range of motion, they require very different treatments. So, if a kid with stiffness and limited range of motion comes into the ER, knowing that they have a CP diagnosis can help you decide whether to call for a rheumatology consult).

But that doesn't mean that knowing that a kid has CP tells you what they need, or how to treat.  It just tells you where to start that search.  ASD is similar. [/quote]

I mean, this is not really a clarifying comment.  In fact, CP is divided into many subcategories (spastic, ataxic, athetoid).  I think what I and others are saying is that ASD is now just a big umbrella, and doesn't really seem that helpful when totally different kids have the same diagnosis.  [/quote]

And ASD in the DSM is divided into categories too, both in terms of support needs, and whether it does or doesn't come with things such as ID or a speech impairment.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics