Anonymous wrote:

It's not an epidemic. It's gross misdiagnosis/overdiagnosis/sloppy diagnosis to get services.

Also, they did not use the DSM 5 -- and that will cut autism dxs by a third.

Oh please. Enough with this urban legend of entree into the magic land of services!
Our diagnosis produced ZERO covered services. Insurance company stated "not medically necessary" in the early years and then turned to "it's an academic issue" that school should cover...school said the grades are good, so uh, no....
So, years of private pay we underwent.
Also didn't pave the way for an IEP or 504 one bit. Finally determined eligible after nearly a year lawyer/advocate involvement.

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of studies that say that many kids with ASD/Asperger's are NOT getting diagnosed and NOT getting the services and supports that they need and are entitled to.

Studies? I've seen none of those. Opinions, yes.

Links?

9:21 here. We are in DC with CareFirst BlueChoice. Tough finding psych or OT. PT easier.

There are a lot of studies that say that many kids with ASD/Asperger's are NOT getting diagnosed and NOT getting the services and supports that they need and are entitled to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Twenty years ago we thought of autism with intellectual disability. We never looked at children who had normal intelligence" -- doctors never considered that high-functioning children had autism too, says Goldstein.

Wiznitzer believes written reports can't definitively determine whether a child has autism. You need to see the child to complete a diagnosis, which the CDC experts did not have the opportunity to do.

"This report tells us that there's a significant number of children in the states where they were assessed that have social differences and a pattern of behaviors that can be represented by ASD, but may also be due to other conditions that superficially can have similar features, such as social anxiety, ADHD with social immaturity and intelligence problems," he says.

Probably because Asperger's, now HFA, wasn't recognized as a disorder until 1993.

Asperger's is a diagnosis that is supposed to be rare. The doctors who put in in the DSM IV are on record as saying it was a mistake to do so, as it is being diagnosed incorrectly.

Do you have any links? I haven't seen studies that said Asperger's is being diagnosed incorrectly by doctors. In the twenty yrs, ADOS and ADI-R has become the gold standard in diagnosing ASD including Asperger's.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"Twenty years ago we thought of autism with intellectual disability. We never looked at children who had normal intelligence" -- doctors never considered that high-functioning children had autism too, says Goldstein.

Wiznitzer believes written reports can't definitively determine whether a child has autism. You need to see the child to complete a diagnosis, which the CDC experts did not have the opportunity to do.

"This report tells us that there's a significant number of children in the states where they were assessed that have social differences and a pattern of behaviors that can be represented by ASD, but may also be due to other conditions that superficially can have similar features, such as social anxiety, ADHD with social immaturity and intelligence problems," he says.

Probably because Asperger's, now HFA, wasn't recognized as a disorder until 1993.

Asperger's is a diagnosis that is supposed to be rare. The doctors who put in in the DSM IV are on record as saying it was a mistake to do so, as it is being diagnosed incorrectly.

Anonymous wrote:"Twenty years ago we thought of autism with intellectual disability. We never looked at children who had normal intelligence" -- doctors never considered that high-functioning children had autism too, says Goldstein.

Wiznitzer believes written reports can't definitively determine whether a child has autism. You need to see the child to complete a diagnosis, which the CDC experts did not have the opportunity to do.

"This report tells us that there's a significant number of children in the states where they were assessed that have social differences and a pattern of behaviors that can be represented by ASD, but may also be due to other conditions that superficially can have similar features, such as social anxiety, ADHD with social immaturity and intelligence problems," he says.

Probably because Asperger's, now HFA, wasn't recognized as a disorder until 1993.

These numbers the CDC throws out are always faulty. First, they are looking at records. Second, they use school labels as well and states vary widely on what they consider autism. That's why you see the wide swing in numbers. Not all these children have actual diagnoses from doctors.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/27/health/cdc-autism/

However, experts such as Wiznitzer and Goldstein are concerned that the new CDC report is not describing the same autism that was present and diagnosed 20 years ago, when the numbers first shot up.

"Twenty years ago we thought of autism with intellectual disability. We never looked at children who had normal intelligence" -- doctors never considered that high-functioning children had autism too, says Goldstein.

Wiznitzer believes written reports can't definitively determine whether a child has autism. You need to see the child to complete a diagnosis, which the CDC experts did not have the opportunity to do.

"This report tells us that there's a significant number of children in the states where they were assessed that have social differences and a pattern of behaviors that can be represented by ASD, but may also be due to other conditions that superficially can have similar features, such as social anxiety, ADHD with social immaturity and intelligence problems," he says.

Where are you, pps? We have been in the SN world for a decade and I know some providers in network, but it is so location specific.

NP here. My insurance also pays for OT, PT, psych. The touble is finding ones that are in network and have spots. They don't want to take insurance. But that's a different problem from diagnosis. No autism diagnosis here but I've been referred to autism resources several times. Diagnosis within last year, post DSM V.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's not an epidemic. It's gross misdiagnosis/overdiagnosis/sloppy diagnosis to get services.

Also, they did not use the DSM 5 -- and that will cut autism dxs by a third.

So you are saying that there are a bunch of kids who are getting services they don't need? That parents are in cahoots with doctors to get their kids services they don't need. Why would they do that?

...so that insurance will cover therapy - that's why. Many therapies for kids on spectrum also help kids with ADHD, Sensory issues, MERLD

My insurance does not give a shit that my kid has autism. We get a certain amount of sessions for OT or ST or PT no matter what the disability. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to find top notch clinicians near us who take insurance and don't have massive waitlists.

Same and if the pp can give some referrals for any SLPs, OTs, developmental pediatrician, and child psychologists that take insurance, I'll appreciate it. For sure. Or name what insurance she has that pays for these therapies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Also, the rates are soaring in places like Africa.

Is this true? I haven't read up recently on the diagnosis rates in other countries, but would be interested. I think examining autism in other environments can help us see some commonalities and hopefully eventually a cause for the dramatic increase.
Can you cite any sources?

I heard this on TV, but perhaps it was anecdotal because I am not finding much about prevalence online. The sad thing is autism tends to be diagnosed very late.

http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4614-4788-7_151

I look at the label for the higher functioning kids as the catch-all being too lazy or not able to fully figure out what is going on with these kids. We lost our autism code with the transition and lost our speech therapy and now have to private pay until we get it straightened out. The doc just changed it after years of insisting he was autistic. Many families like us are in a catch 22 as without the diagnosis we cannot get insurance to pay for services, so now many are going to go without as they only decide some things are medically necessary and a general developmental/speech/fine motor/gross motor delay is not enough anymore to get insurance help. I have given up caring what they call it. All I know is my child greatly benefits from the services he gets.

So sorry you are in a rough patch, pp. We had a really bad sleeping phase last year this time that only got better when the weather warmed up and my guy got a lot more morning sunshine. We used a combo dose of regular melatonin with the extended release melatonin and it did help some.

Are adults being screened for autism? I wonder if adults are also "getting" autism.