It seems common practice nowadays to label anyone, regardless of age, that exhibits behaviour, quirks or idiosyncrasies that do not fill the die-cut 'normal' mould.
I read and interesting comment from a school teacher in the 'States' about this same phenomonom and I have to say, 'Here, bloody here!'.
Posting by anonymous;
Jan 05, 2012
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by: Anonymous
I hate to say this, because I know it will probably be unpopular, but as a parent and teacher, the people I get most upset with are those parents of autistic kids who insist that your child must be autistic also and you are in denial if you say they aren't. I'm not saying ALL of them are this way--I have many friends who have autistic children. However, there seems to be a group of them that troll the internet daily trying to diagnose other people's children. One thing they always fail to realize or acknowledge is that autism spectrum disorders are always a constellation or collection of issues, not just one, two, or even several. It also depends upon the severity of those issues and their impact upon a child's ability to function socially.
I have taught kids with autism, asperger's, ODD, ADHD, OCD, and everything in between. However, all the NT kids I teach exhibit their own little quirks . . .some of them bounce, some flap, some rub things on their face or stick something in their ear for comfort. Some of them hate certain textures of food, or insist on always using and wearing a certain color. None of them are autistic, but they are unique individuals. I am glad my generation didn't have to grow up under the type of judgement that kids grow up with nowadays. If they are anything but middle-of-the-road, cookie-cutter, fit-in-the-box AVERAGE children, they are given a label. And what does the label mean? In many cases, nothing. I disagree with MANY ASD/PDD labels nowadays, because they are given for anything and everything it seems. I wish we'd just get it over with and say we're all on the spectrum and continue giving services to those children who truly need them. What "services" would a child who bounces and flaps need? "Services" to "fix" him so he will fit our definition of what is socially acceptable? It's getting out of hand. There is nothing wrong or bad about being autistic, but there IS something wrong with giving a child the label just because they may have one or two "quirks." We ALL have them. I guess I would have been labelled on the spectrum because I flapped as a child. I am an intellegent, social college graduate who has acted and directed in plays for many years, coached speech team, taught, played in a church worship band, led Sunday School worship, and on and on. I have never had any problems functioning in society, in fact, I am more social than most people I know, but I may have been labelled anyway. Why? I have my theories, but I will save that for another day, since I've gone on long enough.
Can you please send me the study, Dr. Freeman? I would love to be able to refer to it, especially with coworkers and parents who are constantly wanting to label children as "on the spectrum" if they flap/spin/bounce or any other stereotypies.
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I read and interesting comment from a school teacher in the 'States' about this same phenomonom and I have to say, 'Here, bloody here!'.
Posting by anonymous;
Jan 05, 2012
Rating
Labels
by: Anonymous
I hate to say this, because I know it will probably be unpopular, but as a parent and teacher, the people I get most upset with are those parents of autistic kids who insist that your child must be autistic also and you are in denial if you say they aren't. I'm not saying ALL of them are this way--I have many friends who have autistic children. However, there seems to be a group of them that troll the internet daily trying to diagnose other people's children. One thing they always fail to realize or acknowledge is that autism spectrum disorders are always a constellation or collection of issues, not just one, two, or even several. It also depends upon the severity of those issues and their impact upon a child's ability to function socially.
I have taught kids with autism, asperger's, ODD, ADHD, OCD, and everything in between. However, all the NT kids I teach exhibit their own little quirks . . .some of them bounce, some flap, some rub things on their face or stick something in their ear for comfort. Some of them hate certain textures of food, or insist on always using and wearing a certain color. None of them are autistic, but they are unique individuals. I am glad my generation didn't have to grow up under the type of judgement that kids grow up with nowadays. If they are anything but middle-of-the-road, cookie-cutter, fit-in-the-box AVERAGE children, they are given a label. And what does the label mean? In many cases, nothing. I disagree with MANY ASD/PDD labels nowadays, because they are given for anything and everything it seems. I wish we'd just get it over with and say we're all on the spectrum and continue giving services to those children who truly need them. What "services" would a child who bounces and flaps need? "Services" to "fix" him so he will fit our definition of what is socially acceptable? It's getting out of hand. There is nothing wrong or bad about being autistic, but there IS something wrong with giving a child the label just because they may have one or two "quirks." We ALL have them. I guess I would have been labelled on the spectrum because I flapped as a child. I am an intellegent, social college graduate who has acted and directed in plays for many years, coached speech team, taught, played in a church worship band, led Sunday School worship, and on and on. I have never had any problems functioning in society, in fact, I am more social than most people I know, but I may have been labelled anyway. Why? I have my theories, but I will save that for another day, since I've gone on long enough.
Can you please send me the study, Dr. Freeman? I would love to be able to refer to it, especially with coworkers and parents who are constantly wanting to label children as "on the spectrum" if they flap/spin/bounce or any other stereotypies.
****
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone