Nov 6, 2019, Irish Times: Why are so many children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders? https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/parenting/why-are-so-many-children-being-diagnosed-with-autism-spectrum-disorders-1.4055335 Why are so many more children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) than 20 years ago? Galway-based consultant speech and language therapist Karen O’Connor suggests it’s time to progress the conversation nationally and internationally about this “autism epidemic”. Although there have been many studies on the epidemiology of ASD internationally, uncertainty remains about the true prevalence of ASD globally. The World Health Organisation estimates that one in 160 children has an ASD, but some well-controlled studies have reported figures as high as one in 59 children…. Based on epidemiological studies conducted over the past two decades, the prevalence of ASD does appears to be increasing globally. However, some experts argue that the rise in the number of diagnosed cases does not necessarily mean that the condition is becoming more widespread, but may be due to improved awareness, expansion of the diagnostic criteria, better diagnostic tools and improved reporting. The Department of Health’s report Estimating Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Irish Population: A Review of Data studies and Epidemiological Studies, November 2018, points out that, in many countries – including Ireland – a diagnosis of autism gives children greater access to specialised services and special education services such as special needs assistance than do diagnoses of other conditions. “This benefit makes clinicians more likely to diagnose a child with autism, even those who are on the borderline of the clinical criteria,” the report notes. Misdiagnosis Karen O’Connor, consultant speech and language therapist and director of services at the Child Development Centre in Galway and Dublin, believes one of the reasons for the increase in the number of ASD diagnoses over the past 20 years may be that many children are being misdiagnosed with ASD when they have sensory processing disorder (SPD), a similar but different condition. … “It’s time to start a conversation nationally and internationally about this. Why are so many children being diagnosed with autism now compared with 20 years ago? Are we missing something? Are we looking at all the pieces of the developmental jigsaw? Why are so many children being diagnosed with autism when it could, in fact, be sensory processing disorder, often exacerbated by biomedical factors such as allergies and intolerances? Sensory integration and biomedical interventions are two critical pieces of the jigsaw that are not being looked at for so many children.”… However, her vast experience working with children and families both on and off the spectrum in public and private settings over the past 20 years has left her firmly convinced that at least half the children she sees at her clinics either with or awaiting a diagnosis of autism do not actually have autism. O’Connor has seen children with a range of challenges – including ASD, SPD, learning disabilities, speech and language difficulties and reading and writing difficulties – improve significantly through the LiFT sound therapy programme she uses in her clinic. …
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Loss of Brain Trust features over 9,000 news stories published worldwide since January, 2017
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
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What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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