There are some good informative answers here. I just want to add, as a special education behavioral teacher most kids with Autism do not have behavior problems. Their issues are more social , developmental, neurological possible dependeing on the severity. Some could have behavioral issues just as people with MR or even regualr kids with no disabilities but usually id they do it is in relation to another diagnosis that they just happen to have with Autism. I would suggest reading up more on the various diagnosis that are related to behavior issues. You will find that Autsim is not one of them…

No it is not. Autism is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Not every person with autism has a behavioral problem..my son don’t. Think about for a minute..years ago if you had a child with a behavioral problem such as autism..they were taken from their parents and put into a home/mental facility. My son has autism..if this was years ago and I knew he would of been taken away from me..I would never mention it to a soul that I thought anything was wrong with him. I think one of the reasons why we have seen such an increase over the years is because we have a better understanding as to what autism is. How to get the proper care and treatment for them instead of locking them up some place and hiding them from society. Many people with autism can lead normal lives and a lot excel in areas such as math, music, and art. I would love for my son not to have autism, but is something I have accepted and he’ll have for the rest of his life. All we can do is love, support and help him in anyway we can. And his diagnosis of autism wasn’t something that came easy..he was evaluated for a month before he was diagnosed with it. The sad thing about autism is it affects more people than diabetes does and yet so many know so little about it. I would suggest reading up more on the subject.

Keep in mind that autism is a spectrum disorder. Those dianosed can range anywhere from having severe autism, PPD or asperger’s syndrome. When a child suffers from something like asperger’s syndrome, they may seem perfectly normal at first. But please don’t be fooled, these children are coping with severe social and communicative deficits. Research is being done to investigate the growing prevalance of the disorder, but at this time the cause is still unknown. Thus far research has indicated that the “connections” that take place in the brain are not functioning the same way.

A dianosis is NOT an excuse. This condition is largely out of the child (and the parent’s) control. However, with therapy and in the right environment vast improvements can be made.

You have got to be kidding me!

Become a little more educated about autism and you will learn that autism spectrum disorders are way more complex and involved than just having “behavior” difficulties.

To be diagnosed by a PROFESSIONAL, individuals must meet several criteria from the DSM manual…most of the identifying characteristics have been around for decades. Many individuals with autism also have other difficulties like obsessive compulsive disorder (about 30% co-existence), anxiety disorders, depression, major sensory difficulties, social difficulties and isolation, mental retardation, limited or no verbal communication, and so on.

There are many beliefs why the condition/diagnosis is up (1 in 150 births), and I will not get into that debate, however one thing is for sure…educators, doctors, and others in the field are better trained and able to recognize early characteristics more than ever before.

I don’t think that you meant to be controversial, but your question is very offensive to those that work with, care for and love, are parents to, relatives or friends of individuals on the spectrum. These individuals are highly unique and in many ways “see” the world in a way that we can not even imagine.

Ask any parent who has had a child diagnosed…it is the most painful thing they will probably ever go through. All your ideas about how a child should be are out the window…

To have an excuse for behaviors, I think not! Did you know:

According to one recent study only 3% of Aspergers/HFA individuals will lead fully independent lives, only 10% could manage daily living without assistance, only 2% on the low end of the spectrum and about 12% on the high end work full-time, paid jobs, 31% have no social involvement outside of their families, divorce rates of parents to children with autism are higher, and so on. The cost to treat a child with autism is astronomical! The ABA method of treatment costs over $40,000 out of pocket and requires a large part of your home to be fully dedicated to treating an individual.

Get educated on autism…change your ridiculous thinking!

ADHD, and ADD, I think are overdiagnosed, and sometimes misused. Autism, however, is near impossible to diagnosis (or at least to get the diagnosis on paper). Both of my children are on the spectrum. My son has had “autistic characteristics” for some time, along with a severe speech delay (which impairs behavior because of the lack of communication), I’ve been told he may have a little OCD, sensory issues, but I still can’t get an offical diagnosis. My daughter has aspergers, and no it is NOT an excuse for the way she acts. It DOES explain why she acts the way she does, it does explain why she needs to touch other peoples hair (even strangers), it explains why I can’t take her to the mall, and also explains what is going on for her. People are so quick to assume that the child throwing a tantrum in the grocery store is just brat. Years ago children with Autism were mislabeled and locked up.

I think that in mild cases there could be an argument for your scenario.. However, as a father of an autistic son… no it is not just an excuse. When properly diagnosed, it is possible for children to be treated and actually get better. My wife and I have worked with our son non stop so that he will begin talking. He is 8 years old, and does talk some now, but he still has a ways to go. When we go to new places, he is afraid of big crowds, it makes him nervous and he hides behind a mask and sunglasses. As he is in the area for a while, he does take off the mask, but it is only after he feels safe and gets an understanding of what is going on around him that he removes the mask.

ADHD would be a better example of a diagnoses that allows for excuses… Ask a parent of an ADHD child if their child can play a video game for more than 2 hours non stop. If the answer is no, then they probably have an ADHD child… otherwise it is selective attention deficit.

No! Several issues here:

1) Children’s’ attitudes & behaviors have become worse, recently. Partly, that’s a result of the 60’s, when the adults of today rebelled against blind authoritarian parenting, so they wanted to raise their children more liberally. Partly, it’s because of the poor economy, with two-working parents & latchkey kids, often unsupervised, or poverty, with discouraged & some weak parents. Partially, it’s a result of drug & alcohol-ingesting parents, too, who parent poorly.

2) Some conditions, like ADHD and Autism, are gene-related. They also may be related to each other, genetically. If parents have ADD, they tend to have children YOUNGER, so they have MORE CHILDREN in the long run. That leads to bigger families, over the years, with more ADD genes, with more children, etc. So, the number of kids with ADHD is RISING.

3) If ADHD has ANY genetic relationship to Autism Spectrum Disorders, then there will consequently be more of the kids with those disorders, as well!

4) SOME, but VERY FEW, parents, use ADHD as an excuse, as a way to get SSI for themselves. I have NEVER seen a parent use Autism as a way to get SSI, or in any way as a type of excuse. The disability is just too debilitating, to play games like that!

Autism is a real affliction…and has varying degrees of severity. From Asperger’s Syndrome, which is autism that allows the child to be high-functioning to severe autism, which limits functionality to a very high degree. There are many symptoms ranging from learning disabilites to tactile and vision abnormalities, sensory confusion, and physical symptoms like walking “high”..on the tips of the toes…..Autism in the last 20 years is now being recognized and diagnosed because earlier many, many children were just hospitalized and left to suffer. in their own “little worlds”. Many, now can attend public schools (sometimes with the supervision of an aide or without) attend college and later on go on to lead productive lives. The mystery still prevails as to whether autism is triggered by vaccinations in the early years……Autism is no excuse for bad behaviour…by any means!

Teacher’ assistant for High School Special Education Dept

Two things to address. The first is that adults have been complaining about the youth behaving worse than they did for thousands of years, Shakespeare himself wrote about it over and over, as did several Greek philosophers. It’s a matter of perspective, and I for one know that for the most part children are just as loving and well behaved as always. Perspective has changed of what’s acceptable….I mean, 400 years ago it was okay to swaddle your newborn and hang them on the wall all day. Obviously they appear to be much less trouble that way!

The second is the claim that an autism diagnosis is an excuse for the way children act. Children with autism do not CHOOSE behavior, their behavior is a response to their inability to cope with sensory issues or inability to communicate. Those are the two primary deficits, and the two primary causes of nonfunctional behavior. If anything, it reflects on the acceptance of people around them, and the assistance that the child has in short-term coping skills and long term behavior modification. People who have children with autism do not use that dx as an excuse for behavior, but it does allow others to know that the family is working on the behaviors and that it is not conceivable to expect this child to act within certain preconceived notions.

With that question, it is obvious you do not work with children with this disorder. I agree that some of the over diagnosing of ADD/ADHD is due to parents lack of control of their children, but true diagnosis’ of ADHD or autism, emotional disturbance or other behavior disorders are innate; something that is not caused by lack of parenting skills or children’s bratty attitudes. Diagnosis for autism has gone up in recent years due to a better understanding of the red flags, more public awareness, and better detection methods by doctors. More children are getting help from Mental Health at earlier ages as well, with the First 5 initiative, so while behaviors and disorders are connected, diagnosing one is not necessarily the cause of the other.