Anti-vaccine influencers still don’t understand why more children and adults have been getting diagnosed with autism in recent years and why that's a good thing.
My daughter, born in 2003, did not get diagnosed with moderate autism until 2015. Her psychologist thought she was autistic in 2013 but it was neuropsych who formally diagnosed her in 2015. All her “quirks” and communication issues made sense after that diagnosis! They weren’t ignored proir to 2013. It was just that she was a girl and she was quiet and her stemming was gentle and her need to get away from society. Every afternoon was quiet. She did not present like the stereotypical autistic boy. She had speech issues and she went to speech therapy as a toddler, but then she got over them.
I grew up with two people who probably would be diagnosed autistic today. One was my mother’s age so she was born in the 1940s and she lived at home with my grandmother’s best friend her whole life. Her name was Carroll and for some reason whenever we visited grandma she and her mom were there and so we grew up with Carroll. Carroll was diagnosed with the R word back then but I think she probably was also autistic. I remember her doing a lot of repetitive movements and everybody just thought she was crazy. Because they didn’t know any better because there wasn’t any other diagnosis. There were two options for her back, then: live with her family or living an institution. I also had a neighbor who had a child who had all sorts of behavior issues and social issues and now that I look back I think he probably would be diagnosed autistic today. His mother was a teacher so she just basically kept him home and taught him herself. He was born in the 1980s and the last I heard he was still living with his parents.
Anybody who was like my child would’ve been deemed weird. We had a lot of weird kids in school. Period kids too today. I know it would be diagnosed with ADHD or autism. But back then, in the 1970s and 80s, they were behavioral problems and they were kicked out out of school. Or they were just weird and quiet. I remember one boy I went to high school with who was very weird and quiet and today he has his own business working at home as a software engineer. Perfect job for an autistic person who does not want to be around people.
So to Peter and Dell, and all the other nimcomdoodles, autistic people have always been here. They’ve always been around. Autism is not new.
My daughter, born in 2003, did not get diagnosed with moderate autism until 2015. Her psychologist thought she was autistic in 2013 but it was neuropsych who formally diagnosed her in 2015. All her “quirks” and communication issues made sense after that diagnosis! They weren’t ignored proir to 2013. It was just that she was a girl and she was quiet and her stemming was gentle and her need to get away from society. Every afternoon was quiet. She did not present like the stereotypical autistic boy. She had speech issues and she went to speech therapy as a toddler, but then she got over them.
I grew up with two people who probably would be diagnosed autistic today. One was my mother’s age so she was born in the 1940s and she lived at home with my grandmother’s best friend her whole life. Her name was Carroll and for some reason whenever we visited grandma she and her mom were there and so we grew up with Carroll. Carroll was diagnosed with the R word back then but I think she probably was also autistic. I remember her doing a lot of repetitive movements and everybody just thought she was crazy. Because they didn’t know any better because there wasn’t any other diagnosis. There were two options for her back, then: live with her family or living an institution. I also had a neighbor who had a child who had all sorts of behavior issues and social issues and now that I look back I think he probably would be diagnosed autistic today. His mother was a teacher so she just basically kept him home and taught him herself. He was born in the 1980s and the last I heard he was still living with his parents.
Anybody who was like my child would’ve been deemed weird. We had a lot of weird kids in school. Period kids too today. I know it would be diagnosed with ADHD or autism. But back then, in the 1970s and 80s, they were behavioral problems and they were kicked out out of school. Or they were just weird and quiet. I remember one boy I went to high school with who was very weird and quiet and today he has his own business working at home as a software engineer. Perfect job for an autistic person who does not want to be around people.
So to Peter and Dell, and all the other nimcomdoodles, autistic people have always been here. They’ve always been around. Autism is not new.
Well stated.