Dachel Media Update: Labels, Healthcare and Bullying
Jan 11, 2013, WMFD TV Mansfield, OH: Governor Signs Bill Requiring Autism Insurance Coverage
Jan 11, 2013, US News: Bullying Harms Kids With Autism, Parents Say
“About 1 in 88 children have autism in the United States and they are somewhere on this spectrum.”
The two doctors here, Dr. Freedom Perkins, a pediatric neurologist at Dell Children’s Medical Center and Dr. Caron Farrell, an assistant clinical professor at the University of Texas’ Southwestern Medical Center, aren’t worried about the DSM 5 changes. They say the new way of diagnosing autism will be an improvement. Dr. Farrell said that “doctors will no longer have to spend time trying to figure out which label fits the patient” with the elimination of Asperger’s and PDD-NOS. Of course the cause of autism never even came up in this piece. I posted comments.
"The ... cost to do a full-time treatment for a child with autism averages anywhere between $75,000 and over $100,000 ..."
Announcer: "Autism is becoming increasingly common, with one in eighty-eight children being diagnosed with it.
"Medical scientists have many theories, but the cause of autism is still not known."
We’re hearing endless stories about the “flu epidemic” and PREVENTING IT. Why doesn’t anyone ever want to prevent autism? Why are we so accepting of the nightmare? How can it be “increasingly common” with no explanation? There was no place for comments on this.
Maybe the jaw-dropping cost will get someone’s attention.
“Nearly 70 percent of children with autism suffer emotional trauma as a result of bullying, according to a new study.
“The study also found that many children with autism fear for their safety at school and that those with autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or depression had the highest risk of being bullied.”
How about if the media tells us something we don’t already know about autism. This is just more of the since-autism-is–so-common-we-better-have-some-answers news on autism. It’s very similar to the research showing ASD kids don’t make eye contact. I posted comments.
Anne, I share your frustration that the autism crisis that is affecting 1 in 88 families is not being taken more seriously. Much of the blame can be attributed to the selfishness and greed of Big Pharma, the government, and their cronies in the mainstream media. Yet, what we often fail to see is that these parties succeed because of the greed and selfishness of another forgotten party -- yes, the majority of the other 87 families who do not have children on the spectrum. For these families, autism is certainly not important to them. And why should it be? They have neurotypical kids with bright futures ahead of them. Their children have been vaccinated and they can rest assured that their kids will be safe from vaccine preventable diseases. Setting aside the argument that they should not feel so assured that their kids are fine or will remain so, these families fail to see that their peace of mind was obtained at the expense of autistic families whose kids took one for the herd and now damaged. We neurotypical families owe autistic families, so what compensation are we willing to offer? Will we agree to give up more of our tax dollars for autistic kids? Will we get to know our autistic neighbours and offer to lend a hand here and there? Will we join the push for safer vaccines? No! We will do none of these things. Its much easier to ignore autism and see it as someone else's problem. And, it is certainly much easier to dismiss the quacks, loony parents who are disturbing the peace.
Posted by: Greg | January 12, 2013 at 09:20 AM