Your thoughts on autism?

My opinion is it is terribly overdiagnosed. This is not saying that I do not believe that there are people who are truly autistic, what I am saying is like ADD/ADHD it seems to be the answer to everything.

Looking here through answers ever other question is "Is my child autistic". Half the time when you read it the child is doing completely age appropriate things. (Is my child autistic? He's 13 months old and only says about 20 things)

I think you are right to approach any diagnosis with caution. You don't want your child to be unfairly labelled BUT you don't want to ignore the truth if he is on the spectrum either. Part of the problem with a young child is that some of the indicators are very close to typical fickle toddlerness.

Good luck!

My son has high functioning autism. He was diagnosed around 4 years of age.

Certainly, some kids can be "quirky" and grow out of idiosyncrasies, but others (1 in 88 is it?) genuinely are on the autism spectrum.

Mind you, it IS a spectrum disorder. You will see or hear of kids on the spectrum whom you may regard as being "obviously" autistic, nothing at all like you see your son. I know when I heard my son's Early Intervention teacher talk about her two sons who had autism and how my son was similar in behavior to them, I was offended and didn't want to admit that maybe there was something "going on" with my son..

I don't think autism is being diagnosed arbitrarily. I think there is truly something strange going on in our world these days. However, I do think that older people (the "quirky" ones) should have been diagnosed when they were younger, but autism wasn't thought about back then. We have a family friend (a women in her 40s) who was just diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome.

This is a perfect question for me. My younger brother is autistic and super violent. If he does not get his way or if it is out of the routine he will hit and kick. That is nothing.... If he bites that is the worst and he won't let go which as happened to me. He was diagnosed too as a small child and is verbal but his comprehension is the problem. Otherwise he would not be doing these things to us. He also has a look in his eyes, like he is planning his next move. He can look at you with such hatered and if looks can kill.....

I try to stay away from his as much as possible and I am never allowed to be home alone with him. I am so lucky to have a father who is a cop and two older brothers who do there best to keep me safe from him. They daily, have to restrain him. Of course an easy solution would be to put him in a home. I would be happy.I can never trust him. But my mom and dad won't do that. They want him home with us and plus he attends a school during the day and he is quite smart. He loves to read and is able to read books like harry potter and lord of the rings but cannot at all socially interact. He instead lashes out:( I try hard to bond with him, we all do, he is my brother after all but it is draining and can be dangerous too.

Its a very sensitive subject. I read in a newspaper recently these two people were diagnose with this, an they been married for very long time. I would say my opinion its going to be tough but he will be great as a person. People dont look at it that way, but as a parent of your child I can see why you asked. Who knows he could be a genius in the making or will come up with some very clever that no one else has. Plus as long as he happy then everythings great. Hope this helps.

Sorry sweetie, but he is showing classic signs of Autism. It isn't a life sentence, and with early intervention you can help him in so many ways. Indivual sports...swimming, running, wrestling...also there are some awesome interventions.

it depends on how severe it is. If it is mild like Asperger syndrome I can cope with it. My friend has it and we get along fine. However the more severe the more it freaks me out. You should be there for your kid regardless though.