Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I hear that a kid is in OT and PT and is language delayed, I think the kid probably has cerebral palsy like my kid. Why the hell would I take my kid to an autism appointment?

Why swear? Why so outraged? Unless you think autism has some kind of stigma, then yeah, you shouldn't be offended if someone suggests an autism assessment knowing nothing more than that the child is in OT, PT, language delayed, doesn't seem to be interested in other kids, AND has repetitive behaviors. Generally the posts that elicit suggestions of ASD screenings involve "red flags" of autism, like social skills, melt-downs, repetitive behaviors.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
(And moreover, it's absolutely a thing that people avoid autism evaluations out of fear of stigma. It took me three years to do it for my own kid. Aggressively reacting to the suggestion of a screening is absolutely related to autism stigma. And for those of us with autistic kids ... yes, this is hard to see.)

You are just going to have to accept that assuming everyone is doing this and repeatedly hammering your position is not helpful and is contributing to making this forum less useful than it used to be.

That's not what I intend to do. TBH it would be nice if you would also model empathy here. Autism stigma is real.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
(And moreover, it's absolutely a thing that people avoid autism evaluations out of fear of stigma. It took me three years to do it for my own kid. Aggressively reacting to the suggestion of a screening is absolutely related to autism stigma. And for those of us with autistic kids ... yes, this is hard to see.)

You are just going to have to accept that assuming everyone is doing this and repeatedly hammering your position is not helpful and is contributing to making this forum less useful than it used to be.

Anonymous wrote:
(And moreover, it's absolutely a thing that people avoid autism evaluations out of fear of stigma. It took me three years to do it for my own kid. Aggressively reacting to the suggestion of a screening is absolutely related to autism stigma. And for those of us with autistic kids ... yes, this is hard to see.)

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I hear that a kid is in OT and PT and is language delayed, I think the kid probably has cerebral palsy like my kid. Why the hell would I take my kid to an autism appointment?

Why swear? Why so outraged? Unless you think autism has some kind of stigma, then yeah, you shouldn't be offended if someone suggests an autism assessment knowing nothing more than that the child is in OT, PT, language delayed, doesn't seem to be interested in other kids, AND has repetitive behaviors. Generally the posts that elicit suggestions of ASD screenings involve "red flags" of autism, like social skills, melt-downs, repetitive behaviors.

And here we have the perfect example of what I am trying to stop. The original post gets completely ignored and we now have a debate about whether a failure to get an autism evaluation is a sign that autism being stigmatized. Remember that the entire point of the original post was to NOT HAVE THIS DEBATE. The previous poster clearly understands her child's condition. She does not need to be told to get an autism evaluation. Even more, she does not need to be told that she is stigmatizing your child by not doing so.

Jeff, with respect, the "what the hell" poster was in my mind a CLEAR example of someone who is reacting in a derailing manner against the suggestion of autism, not the other way around. It's hard to have this conversation in the abstract, but the main point is: people (including me 4 years ago!) frequently post here with questions exactly like this: "my three year old is having behavioral problems in preschool and is in OT for fine motor skills and likes to jump around in circles, what should I do?" The answer "have you gotten him evaluated for autism at KKI or Childrens?" is a perfectly acceptable answer, if it's phrased correctly.

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I hear that a kid is in OT and PT and is language delayed, I think the kid probably has cerebral palsy like my kid. Why the hell would I take my kid to an autism appointment?

Why swear? Why so outraged? Unless you think autism has some kind of stigma, then yeah, you shouldn't be offended if someone suggests an autism assessment knowing nothing more than that the child is in OT, PT, language delayed, doesn't seem to be interested in other kids, AND has repetitive behaviors. Generally the posts that elicit suggestions of ASD screenings involve "red flags" of autism, like social skills, melt-downs, repetitive behaviors.

And here we have the perfect example of what I am trying to stop. The original post gets completely ignored and we now have a debate about whether a failure to get an autism evaluation is a sign that autism being stigmatized. Remember that the entire point of the original post was to NOT HAVE THIS DEBATE. The previous poster clearly understands her child's condition. She does not need to be told to get an autism evaluation. Even more, she does not need to be told that she is stigmatizing your child by not doing so.

Jeff, with respect, the "what the hell" poster was in my mind a CLEAR example of someone who is reacting in a derailing manner against the suggestion of autism, not the other way around. It's hard to have this conversation in the abstract, but the main point is: people (including me 4 years ago!) frequently post here with questions exactly like this: "my three year old is having behavioral problems in preschool and is in OT for fine motor skills and likes to jump around in circles, what should I do?" The answer "have you gotten him evaluated for autism at KKI or Childrens?" is a perfectly acceptable answer, if it's phrased correctly.

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I hear that a kid is in OT and PT and is language delayed, I think the kid probably has cerebral palsy like my kid. Why the hell would I take my kid to an autism appointment?

Why swear? Why so outraged? Unless you think autism has some kind of stigma, then yeah, you shouldn't be offended if someone suggests an autism assessment knowing nothing more than that the child is in OT, PT, language delayed, doesn't seem to be interested in other kids, AND has repetitive behaviors. Generally the posts that elicit suggestions of ASD screenings involve "red flags" of autism, like social skills, melt-downs, repetitive behaviors.

And here we have the perfect example of what I am trying to stop. The original post gets completely ignored and we now have a debate about whether a failure to get an autism evaluation is a sign that autism being stigmatized. Remember that the entire point of the original post was to NOT HAVE THIS DEBATE. The previous poster clearly understands her child's condition. She does not need to be told to get an autism evaluation. Even more, she does not need to be told that she is stigmatizing your child by not doing so.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I hear that a kid is in OT and PT and is language delayed, I think the kid probably has cerebral palsy like my kid. Why the hell would I take my kid to an autism appointment?

Why swear? Why so outraged? Unless you think autism has some kind of stigma, then yeah, you shouldn't be offended if someone suggests an autism assessment knowing nothing more than that the child is in OT, PT, language delayed, doesn't seem to be interested in other kids, AND has repetitive behaviors. Generally the posts that elicit suggestions of ASD screenings involve "red flags" of autism, like social skills, melt-downs, repetitive behaviors.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Bringing it back to the point of this thread: this is a general, anonymous website. So when someone posts a question along the lines of "my child is in OT and PT and seems really anxious and plays with his fingers a lot" .... yes, the response will be "go get an autism assessment." That convo should not derail into "you think everyone has autism you crazy lady!". If someone posts "my child has SPD and keeps on getting kicked out of preschool what should I do?" then yes, people will validly say "SPD is not a disgnosis used by the people your kid needs to be evaluated by." This can all be done without derailing the conversation.

When I see OT and PT, I think DCD, so no, not everything automatically circles to autism. The point of this thread that that we should directly address the concern of the OP, not push our own agenda.

DCD is one of those diagnoses that people seek out to avoid autism. OT and PT plus "seems anxious and is language delayed and does this weird thing with his fingers" = autism assessment needed. If OP states outright "my child has a DCD diagnosis from [reputable place] that I think is correct and I'm not seeking advice along those lines" then yeah, it's not the place to debate it, although people might be interested to hear exactly how they got the DCD diagnosis and what went into that.

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, I understand and appreciate your prescriptive. I do think it’s hard for many of us to view those discussions objectively. For example, my child does not have autism, but I do see the posters that insist autism is over diagnosed as being very insensitive. They really are contending that those children that have autism are far more impacted than their own children. That’s often not the case at all. Also, it’s not fair to tell someone that they simply accepted an over diagnoses condition. The reason I think these posters need to be responded to is because they make parents struggling with diagnosis and sadness etc. lose years and get caught up and confused by insisting it’s not a bigger condition and going to see the one specialist they approve of. There are hundreds of excellent professionals here in the DMV. Avoiding them in favor of shopping for a preferred diagnosis is a problem. There’s no way around that.

Regardless, I don’t think it’s fair at all to all of the excellent and caring therapists we have worked with to not appreciate that they don’t go by a diagnosis but rather what the child needs.

Anonymous wrote:When I hear that a kid is in OT and PT and is language delayed, I think the kid probably has cerebral palsy like my kid. Why the hell would I take my kid to an autism appointment?

Anonymous wrote:Jeff, I understand and appreciate your prescriptive. I do think it’s hard for many of us to view those discussions objectively. For example, my child does not have autism, but I do see the posters that insist autism is over diagnosed as being very insensitive. They really are contending that those children that have autism are far more impacted than their own children. That’s often not the case at all. Also, it’s not fair to tell someone that they simply accepted an over diagnoses condition. The reason I think these posters need to be responded to is because they make parents struggling with diagnosis and sadness etc. lose years and get caught up and confused by insisting it’s not a bigger condition and going to see the one specialist they approve of. There are hundreds of excellent professionals here in the DMV. Avoiding them in favor of shopping for a preferred diagnosis is a problem. There’s no way around that.

Regardless, I don’t think it’s fair at all to all of the excellent and caring therapists we have worked with to not appreciate that they don’t go by a diagnosis but rather what the child needs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Bringing it back to the point of this thread: this is a general, anonymous website. So when someone posts a question along the lines of "my child is in OT and PT and seems really anxious and plays with his fingers a lot" .... yes, the response will be "go get an autism assessment." That convo should not derail into "you think everyone has autism you crazy lady!". If someone posts "my child has SPD and keeps on getting kicked out of preschool what should I do?" then yes, people will validly say "SPD is not a disgnosis used by the people your kid needs to be evaluated by." This can all be done without derailing the conversation.

When I see OT and PT, I think DCD, so no, not everything automatically circles to autism. The point of this thread that that we should directly address the concern of the OP, not push our own agenda.