Anonymous wrote:I'm an elder millennial (born in '82). I was diagnosed as autistic in my 20s. My therapist first broached the topic with me and suggested testing.

Guess what? When I went through the test, got the diagnosis, and brought it up with my boomer parents, my mom said "Yeah, we know. We didn't submit your results to the school because we didn't want you labeled and stigmatized." And not only that, but my pediatrician back then suggested that approach because I was so smart. She told my parents that if the test results were shared with the school, I'd get pulled from my mainstream class and put in a small class. My mom said the doctor's words were "she's not short bus material" and "it'd be different if she was low-IQ and struggled to read or write."

I've found so many other adults my age who were diagnosed as autistic and/or ADHD/ADD later in life. And their parents have similar "we thought/we were told...but didn't want the official diagnosis on record" stories.

The instances of autistic people has not increased. The testing and ability to recognize it has, which is why it seems like so many more people are autistic or have ADHD these days.

This is simply not true. The rates have been surging. The diagnostic criteria got *harder* to satisfy with the DSM-V compared to the DSM-IV. The rates of diagnosis are much higher in children, something that would be very unlikely if this disease were just really subtle and hard to spot and the rates weren't going up.

You can criticize RFK all you want. But to pretend that there is not a true increase is just anti-scientific pedantry from people who think they're smarter and more enlightened than they are.

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't we be able to compare rates for autism for children that are not high functioning. When RFK Jr made his comments he was obviously referring to people with autism that cannot function normally. I understand that there is the potential that high functioning autism is on the rise due to potential better diagnosis etc but shouldn't the numbers for non-verbal / non-functioning cases be much clearer due to the fact that even 25 years ago these individuals would have been clear or where they diagnosed with something completely different?

DP. While some people like to say that the incidence of autism is not increasing, that it is instead diagnosis substitution or changes in the DSM, there are real increases in both high-functioning autism and severe autism, which is more obvious and not debatable. Both of these should be investigated, whether they are the same label, as they currently are, or separated into two entirely separate diagnoses, which might make sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how two people on the spectrum or ADD or known abnormal genetic markers think, hey, let’s procreate. Advancements in genetic testing uncovers new findings every year and added. People should automatically get genetic testing done well before considering pregnancy.

The majority of people with ADHD or autism have perfectly normal genetic testing. The people have children now were 80s and 90s kids and I can assure you are Boomer parents didn’t care to get us diagnosed so people are procreating who don’t realize they are neurodivergent until their children are diagnosed.

Also, and most importantly, these are not reasons to not have children. There’s nothing wrong with neurodivergence. In fact, these are the people who’ve given us some of the greatest creations and discoveries in our history. Get rid of neurodivergence, and you’re also going to lower the average IQ, too.

Heaven forbid. Think about the IQs. Do you know how insane this thinking is? I bet parents of neurodivergent kids beg to differ. If they can prevent it, they would. If two adults with known ADD and/or Autism or a known familial genetic anomaly chose to do nothing, it’s child abuse.

So you admit that you aren't a parent of a kid with neurodivergence. And you purport to speak for us. Sorry, bigot, take a seat. I am an ADHD parent of a kid on the spectrum. My kid has low support needs and a very high IQ. They are going to make the world a much better place than you ever could. And ADHD is many people's super power. I hope when they are researching a cure for autism they will also discover a cure for lower IQ people like you. Though, I guess the world still needs the middle class worker drones that aren't smart enough to do anything other than clock in and out to their pointless jobs.

Ditto.

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't we be able to compare rates for autism for children that are not high functioning. When RFK Jr made his comments he was obviously referring to people with autism that cannot function normally. I understand that there is the potential that high functioning autism is on the rise due to potential better diagnosis etc but shouldn't the numbers for non-verbal / non-functioning cases be much clearer due to the fact that even 25 years ago these individuals would have been clear or where they diagnosed with something completely different?

Maybe. But it won’t. Because exactly no one in the neurodivergent community trust RFK to follow the science, act in good faith or protect their data. And he only has himself to blame.

Shouldn't we be able to compare rates for autism for children that are not high functioning. When RFK Jr made his comments he was obviously referring to people with autism that cannot function normally. I understand that there is the potential that high functioning autism is on the rise due to potential better diagnosis etc but shouldn't the numbers for non-verbal / non-functioning cases be much clearer due to the fact that even 25 years ago these individuals would have been clear or where they diagnosed with something completely different?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on clips I have seen of RFK speeches, I am not sure he even knows what autisim is. My sense is he is confusing being on the spectrum with profound disability.

Since it is a spectrum, there are definitely people with ASD who have very low cognitive functioning.

I hate to defend him, but if you believe vaccines cause autism (I don't), then the anecdotal stories he's hearing to support that premise are the kids who are nonverbal, etc. He's not concerned with high functioning autism. He's talking about those kids who hurt themselves, hurt others, and aren't toilet trained. If RFK can figure out what's causing the far end of the spectrum, more power to him. I just don't think he will.

But parents of kids with HFA should be careful about not dismissing the reality of parents with kids who aren't high functioning.

PP here. 100% agree with all you said. I evaluate kids for special ed services and have seen how hard life can be for some families who can't even find a babysitter for an evening out. It's a 24/7 struggle until they reach school age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on clips I have seen of RFK speeches, I am not sure he even knows what autisim is. My sense is he is confusing being on the spectrum with profound disability.

Since it is a spectrum, there are definitely people with ASD who have very low cognitive functioning.

I hate to defend him, but if you believe vaccines cause autism (I don't), then the anecdotal stories he's hearing to support that premise are the kids who are nonverbal, etc. He's not concerned with high functioning autism. He's talking about those kids who hurt themselves, hurt others, and aren't toilet trained. If RFK can figure out what's causing the far end of the spectrum, more power to him. I just don't think he will.

But parents of kids with HFA should be careful about not dismissing the reality of parents with kids who aren't high functioning.

Anonymous wrote:Based on clips I have seen of RFK speeches, I am not sure he even knows what autisim is. My sense is he is confusing being on the spectrum with profound disability.

Since it is a spectrum, there are definitely people with ASD who have very low cognitive functioning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on clips I have seen of RFK speeches, I am not sure he even knows what autisim is. My sense is he is confusing being on the spectrum with profound disability.

And he is also convinced that autism comes from vaccines. Which is wrong, because I know of people who were on the autism spectrum who grew up unvaccinated.

He is also still hanging in the miasma theory of disease, so I’d say his concept of cause and effect is questionable at best.

Everything about him is questionable at best. He shouldn’t be anywhere near decision making for the rest of us.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on clips I have seen of RFK speeches, I am not sure he even knows what autisim is. My sense is he is confusing being on the spectrum with profound disability.

And he is also convinced that autism comes from vaccines. Which is wrong, because I know of people who were on the autism spectrum who grew up unvaccinated.

He is also still hanging in the miasma theory of disease, so I’d say his concept of cause and effect is questionable at best.

I'm an elder millennial (born in '82). I was diagnosed as autistic in my 20s. My therapist first broached the topic with me and suggested testing.

Guess what? When I went through the test, got the diagnosis, and brought it up with my boomer parents, my mom said "Yeah, we know. We didn't submit your results to the school because we didn't want you labeled and stigmatized." And not only that, but my pediatrician back then suggested that approach because I was so smart. She told my parents that if the test results were shared with the school, I'd get pulled from my mainstream class and put in a small class. My mom said the doctor's words were "she's not short bus material" and "it'd be different if she was low-IQ and struggled to read or write."

I've found so many other adults my age who were diagnosed as autistic and/or ADHD/ADD later in life. And their parents have similar "we thought/we were told...but didn't want the official diagnosis on record" stories.

The instances of autistic people has not increased. The testing and ability to recognize it has, which is why it seems like so many more people are autistic or have ADHD these days.

Anonymous wrote:Based on clips I have seen of RFK speeches, I am not sure he even knows what autisim is. My sense is he is confusing being on the spectrum with profound disability.

And he is also convinced that autism comes from vaccines. Which is wrong, because I know of people who were on the autism spectrum who grew up unvaccinated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how two people on the spectrum or ADD or known abnormal genetic markers think, hey, let’s procreate. Advancements in genetic testing uncovers new findings every year and added. People should automatically get genetic testing done well before considering pregnancy.

The majority of people with ADHD or autism have perfectly normal genetic testing. The people have children now were 80s and 90s kids and I can assure you are Boomer parents didn’t care to get us diagnosed so people are procreating who don’t realize they are neurodivergent until their children are diagnosed.

Also, and most importantly, these are not reasons to not have children. There’s nothing wrong with neurodivergence. In fact, these are the people who’ve given us some of the greatest creations and discoveries in our history. Get rid of neurodivergence, and you’re also going to lower the average IQ, too.

Heaven forbid. Think about the IQs. Do you know how insane this thinking is? I bet parents of neurodivergent kids beg to differ. If they can prevent it, they would. If two adults with known ADD and/or Autism or a known familial genetic anomaly chose to do nothing, it’s child abuse.

And you would be wrong. I have ADHD. So does DH. I had a diagnosis when we had kids— but only because I fell apart in grad school when the demands got to be too much and had an excellent MD. We had kids 20 years ago and genetics of ADHD wasn’t really common knowledge. DH was diagnosed because DS was for the exact same behaviors DH has/had. We are both high functioning professionals. We only caught DD in ES because we did know the genetics and watched for it. Otherwise it probably would have been mid to late HS.

We didn’t get to decide “not to procreate”. And ADHD isn’t screening for Huntingtons. It’s complex and shows up a lot of possible places. We don’t know how to screen out ADHD or Autism. It would have been choosing not to have kids. Bright, funny, creative, musical, empathic, amazing kids who have brought us so much joy. And yes, sometimes, challenges. But it’s not like neurotypical kids don’t get knocked up or have drug abuse issues or fail classes or become flaming a@@holes. No one is faulted a perfect kid. And there much worse problems than needing extended time to take math tests. Speaking of which, I’m assuming alcohol is should never reproduce? Also genetic.

Because we have ADHD, we had good insight into how to support and treat our kids. We weren’t the Boomer solve it with a belt parents. We supported them, the way any good parents supports their kids when they have challenges and they are thriving. And good people. The world will be a bit better because they were born.

Your premise is deeply offensive. I’m trying to skip the eugenics thing and give you the benefits of the doubt. But you act like ADHD is this horrible thing. And it just isn’t. I’ve seen some many great, smart, kind, talented HFA and ADHD kids grow up to become amazing adults with great jobs and families of their own. Who are not and never were a burden on their parents or society.

And since we can’t effectively screen for ADHD and ASD, you really need to rethink the “let’s sterilize people with ADHD” posture. As I said, deeply offensive.

Based on clips I have seen of RFK speeches, I am not sure he even knows what autisim is. My sense is he is confusing being on the spectrum with profound disability.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand how two people on the spectrum or ADD or known abnormal genetic markers think, hey, let’s procreate. Advancements in genetic testing uncovers new findings every year and added. People should automatically get genetic testing done well before considering pregnancy.

The majority of people with ADHD or autism have perfectly normal genetic testing. The people have children now were 80s and 90s kids and I can assure you are Boomer parents didn’t care to get us diagnosed so people are procreating who don’t realize they are neurodivergent until their children are diagnosed.

Also, and most importantly, these are not reasons to not have children. There’s nothing wrong with neurodivergence. In fact, these are the people who’ve given us some of the greatest creations and discoveries in our history. Get rid of neurodivergence, and you’re also going to lower the average IQ, too.

Heaven forbid. Think about the IQs. Do you know how insane this thinking is? I bet parents of neurodivergent kids beg to differ. If they can prevent it, they would. If two adults with known ADD and/or Autism or a known familial genetic anomaly chose to do nothing, it’s child abuse.

So you admit that you aren't a parent of a kid with neurodivergence. And you purport to speak for us. Sorry, bigot, take a seat. I am an ADHD parent of a kid on the spectrum. My kid has low support needs and a very high IQ. They are going to make the world a much better place than you ever could. And ADHD is many people's super power. I hope when they are researching a cure for autism they will also discover a cure for lower IQ people like you. Though, I guess the world still needs the middle class worker drones that aren't smart enough to do anything other than clock in and out to their pointless jobs.