Autism.

[Keithmac]

First off this may not be in the correct section so please move if required.

We ran a Scout night a few years back on Mental Health and Disability, was great to get all of them talking about it.

Then we did a section on Autism and bloomin heck the penny dropped for me!.

Taking a task to exhaustion, overthinking, social gatherings hard work, procrastination etc. I have an unusual knack with wiring, fault finding and seems it all marries up.

Obviously doesn't make any difference now but I wonder how many are autistic (ti a degree) and don't know it.

Thinking back at some of the things I've done over the years (learning assembly language to reprogram an ECU because the Idle Control wasn't as good as it could be), it all makes sense now. Still do it all the time, focus on a task, to the point I can't just "get on with it".

Worse thing was my wife worked as a SEN teacher at the time and when I got home I mentioned I thought I might be borderline autistic and she just said "I know you are".

Just some food for thought.

 

[ahebron]

I think we are all on a spectrum of some sort. I know I have a few peculiarities that if I was a teenager these days would have raised a few flags. But all my school reports mentioned was could do better.

 

[bricol]

I think anyone creative in any way is to some degree or other.

 

[frank horton]

It’s in the water
My daughter is an ambulance tech in Essex
She says 80% of her call-outs involve it someway or other

 

[Other Daniel]

The spectrum is indeed very broad.
I also consider that it may be in most of us, to various degrees.

 

[oldbikedavey]

A sign of higher brain function.
Don't think that either earthworms or estate agents suffer from it.

 

[brewdexta]

My wife thought I was on the spectrum, turns out she is and both daughters are. I'm the least on the spectrum of the family according to a simple online questionnaire. Since then all 3 have seen specialists. My youngest daughter has it the most, probably why she finds maths a doddle.

 

[Keithmac]

I think it might have helped me a lot in my younger years if I had been diagnosed but seems you just learn to work around it.

Social gatherings are by far the worst for me, though I was just generally miserable but there is more to it than that..

 

[RichardM]

I'm probably a bit OCD, I couldn't live with Pete's socket - I'd have to put it level!

 

[skotl]

We need to be wary about talking about "there is a spectrum" and "everyone is on the spectrum" because, clinically, there is no longer a diagnosis of "autism" precisely because there is a wide spectrum of related conditions that can be tracked across that spectrum, including ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, social communication disorder, etc.

As there is no single diagnosis this becomes a huge barrier to getting help, especially for kids at nursery or school, which is what happened with our son who is now 19. Without a "label" additional support could just not be unlocked and it took several years, and my wife in particular working hard with the school, NHS, and social work departments to finally get diagnoses of dyspraxia, communication and learning disorders. At that point, a tap was opened and we finally got the help he needed, probably five years later than would have been most helpful.

So I agree with all of the posts above but please don't fall into the trap of "I have these behaviours, so I must be autistic" - it's nowhere near as straightforward a diagnosis as that.

If you want a happy ending, by the way, I don't have one - he's 19 and really struggling.

 

[8ob]

I don’t think children should be labelled unless whatever they have is debilitating or holding them back. My nephew was tagged as autistic, pretty sure he is just fastidious in everything he does. He found his niche, joined the navy and is loving it.

Bob

 

[Keithmac]

We need to be wary about talking about "there is a spectrum" and "everyone is on the spectrum" because, clinically, there is no longer a diagnosis of "autism" precisely because there is a wide spectrum of related conditions that can be tracked across that spectrum, including ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, social communication disorder, etc.

As there is no single diagnosis this becomes a huge barrier to getting help, especially for kids at nursery or school, which is what happened with our son who is now 19. Without a "label" additional support could just not be unlocked and it took several years, and my wife in particular working hard with the school, NHS, and social work departments to finally get diagnoses of dyspraxia, communication and learning disorders. At that point, a tap was opened and we finally got the help he needed, probably five years later than would have been most helpful.

So I agree with all of the posts above but please don't fall into the trap of "I have these behaviours, so I must be autistic" - it's nowhere near as straightforward a diagnosis as that.

If you want a happy ending, by the way, I don't have one - he's 19 and really struggling.

Hope it gets better for your son, sad to see there wasn't the support when he needed it most.

 

[brewdexta]

We need to be wary about talking about "there is a spectrum" and "everyone is on the spectrum" because, clinically, there is no longer a diagnosis of "autism" precisely because there is a wide spectrum of related conditions that can be tracked across that spectrum, including ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, social communication disorder, etc.

As there is no single diagnosis this becomes a huge barrier to getting help, especially for kids at nursery or school, which is what happened with our son who is now 19. Without a "label" additional support could just not be unlocked and it took several years, and my wife in particular working hard with the school, NHS, and social work departments to finally get diagnoses of dyspraxia, communication and learning disorders. At that point, a tap was opened and we finally got the help he needed, probably five years later than would have been most helpful.

So I agree with all of the posts above but please don't fall into the trap of "I have these behaviours, so I must be autistic" - it's nowhere near as straightforward a diagnosis as that.

If you want a happy ending, by the way, I don't have one - he's 19 and really struggling.

We went private for diagnosis as the NHS waiting list was years. Cost about £500 per kid IIRC. Once we had diagnosis it was relatively easy to get support for them at school. The youngest needed a quiet space and a bit more understanding from teachers. The wife knows more about the steps taken as I was working away several days a week, she met with teachers to sort it out.

 

[Rannsachair]

We need to be wary about talking about "there is a spectrum" and "everyone is on the spectrum" because, clinically, there is no longer a diagnosis of "autism" precisely because there is a wide spectrum of related conditions that can be tracked across that spectrum, including ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, social communication disorder, etc.

As there is no single diagnosis this becomes a huge barrier to getting help, especially for kids at nursery or school, which is what happened with our son who is now 19. Without a "label" additional support could just not be unlocked and it took several years, and my wife in particular working hard with the school, NHS, and social work departments to finally get diagnoses of dyspraxia, communication and learning disorders. At that point, a tap was opened and we finally got the help he needed, probably five years later than would have been most helpful.

So I agree with all of the posts above but please don't fall into the trap of "I have these behaviours, so I must be autistic" - it's nowhere near as straightforward a diagnosis as that.

If you want a happy ending, by the way, I don't have one - he's 19 and really struggling.

One of my grand daughters was struggling, would not speak to anyone bar close family, no eye contact, fidgets all the time. The school were not interested, so we had to pay for diagnosis and support: this was 5 years ago when she was 8, now 13 and doing pretty well, top of her class in some subjects and will talk to folk. I no longer worry about her.

 

[ajlelectronics]

I don’t think children should be labelled unless whatever they have is debilitating or holding them back. My nephew was tagged as autistic, pretty sure he is just fastidious in everything he does. He found his niche, joined the navy and is loving it.

Bob

Quite, nothing negative about that at all. However modern fashion seems to demand a label for everything, which is often used as a "badge of honour". That may be acceptable for some people, but when you start handing out "badges" to children it gives them a reason not to achieve.

 

[MattF]

So I agree with all of the posts above but please don't fall into the trap of "I have these behaviours, so I must be autistic" - it's nowhere near as straightforward a diagnosis as that.

It's not that straightforward. Nowhere near, but, it does help people if they can put some, even if incorrect name to it, if they know they're different.

 

[Keith 66]

I can see a bit of it in me & my son but it isnt a problem.
A friend a lot more so, he is same age as me 63 & procrastinates & over thinks to the point of never finishing anything.
Trouble is he "Self medicates" with skunk weed to the point that he can barely function. He has convinced himself that the weed helps his mental health issues. Delusional & borderline pschycotic to the extent most of his mates just dont want to be around him babbling garbage.

 

[MetalMonkey]

Everybody is to some degree, it is very much a sliding scale.

Most people within engineering/technical roles have many traits to a greater or lesser degree which align with Autism.
It can be a blessing and a curse, but I think it should only have a label if it is significant enough to adversely impact your life.

 

[julianf]

If a kid has only one leg, nobody mentions "handing out badges to children it gives them a reason not to achieve".

The (hypothetical) kid has one leg missing.
Everyone can see they have one leg missing.
Everyone knows that they are likely to have trouble running up the steps etc.

You don't say "we shouldn't build a wheel chair ramp because that will just give them a reason not to achieve".

...it's just f*#inf obvious. They've only got one leg.



A missing leg is easy to see. It causes some (but not all) things to be significantly more difficult for that individual.


What if...

The individual has a different change that causes some (but not all) things to be significantly more difficult for that individual?

...but you just can't see it with your own eyes?


I mean, really?

 

[skotl]

Re “badges” it’s utterly unimportant what we think about this because it comes down to the system requiring some kind of label before support can be unlocked.