I have a daughter with autism. She is subject to hurt herself if she gets upset .Now they say 1 in 166?

Question

children have autism. Some of these children have trouble concentrating on their homework. I sympathize with them but at the same time it hurts my feelings. My daughter can bite her hand until it bleeds. Do you think I have the right to be upset when the autism society puts a child that has trouble doing homework in the same category as my daughter that does things to physically hurts herself. Again I feel for the parents and children that have those problems but the only solution I can come up with is to block it out of my mind but that doesn't solve my problem and it will always cause me problems untill I find out a way to really solve it.

Answer 1

I know what you are talking about. My niece is autistic. I watch these specials on autism & see a child running around, talking appearing normal & the perfectly normal looking mother says "& I just found out that I am autistic, too." And I get frustrated with them being put in the same catagory as my niece who can't talk & is only semi-potty trained! (Yes, I know these people have problems - but not many compared to my neice!)

I think we need to stop using the broad term "autism" for these high-functioning individuals & refer to them as "Asperger's" instead. If we could get people used to the terms "Kanner's" or maybe "classic autism" for those like your daughter & my neice, that would help with the confusion.

Another problem with the broad definition of autism is that there is now a cry going out "WE DON"T NEED A CURE." This is high function ing individuals who resent being told they need a cure. "We just need acceptance."

Check out one such question here & my answer to the question.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Akp.I9jVs5ASSuXCSqRdXGvsy6IX?qid=20070204200238AABSp5A&show=7#profile-info-AA11247439
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ai.fGUTvIXVHgV0X2LTL7FXsy6IX?qid=20070204200327AAZl2kE&show=7#profile-info-AA11247439

But don't let it get too you. It's not worth it. Just educate people when they ask questions like "Have you ever taken her to Vegas?" (Rainman is 99% fiction) and "Do you think she may be like Bill Gates?" People do need a lot of educating!

Answer 2

It has now actually lowered to 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism. I know it is tough, one of my former bosses has a child with autism, but there are different severities of the syndrome the same way there are different severities in the level of say Down's Syndrome.
So while you feel that other children with learning disabilities are being lumped into the autism category with your daughter who might be more impacted by the syndrome, you cannot let that affect you. It might not seem fair and is upsetting to you, but the best thing you can do for yourself and her is to concentrate on your daughter and her therapies.

Answer 3

There are many different severities of autism and some very severe forms in the spectrum. My daughter does the chewing on her hands until they bleed also...she has Rett Syndrome which is in the spectrum and the most severe. So, I agree with your frustration that everyone is all lumped together. So little is known right now about autism and causes of most in the spectrum, so too early to separate everything.

Answer 4

I in 166!!! isn't that a load of bullshiit.

yeah, I sympathize. My sister is severely autistic. She will scratch herself until it bleeds, my mom has to keep her nails clipped all the time. her mind is like a 3 year old. she even talks like a small child and she is almost 22. She will throw violent fits and tear her clothes to pieces. recently she had to be put on seizure medication.

I agree with you to the nth degree. I hate it when society takes a kid who is having a little trouble catching up and labels him as having ADD or Autism. (Personally I believe ADD is a made-up fake condition that does not exist...but that's another subject)

I think you have every right to be upset, I know it pisses me right off!

Good luck with your daughter.....

I always say this to anyone who thinks they have it rough:
"if you think you got it bad, talk to the parent of a handicapped child, and you will realize how good you actually have it."

Answer 5

You asked if you had the right to be upset - of course you do! Especially when it comes to your special needs child. But there are different levels of autism....varying from mild to severe. I think the issue that needs to be addressed is what we, as these beautiful children's parents, need to do to help them lead productive lives.
Take that anger you have and use it to advocate for your child.

Answer 6

My son used to bang his head or drop to the ground hard when he was upset. They do it for the attention because if you are telling them not to do something or that it's time for bed, they know that hurting themselves will make you stop yelling and go comfort them..Try to ignore it because chances are she's not really hurt. Eventually she will see that hurting herself is not a good way to get your attention and it will stop. My son is 2 now and only did that for a couple of months and I haven't had to deal with it anymore. Good luck

Answer 7

i agree with you. it seems that these days if a child isn't a perfectly behaved "normal" child that they have to have something wrong with them. the easiest diagnosis is autism because it is very broad and no one knows what causes it. i work with several children that have autism and it does not seem fair to just lump them all into one large category.

Answer 8

My daughter also has autism(PDD) and she has several stimming actions. One of which she will bite herself, just not until she bleeds. This is there way of letting out stress. I wish I knew how to break this habit.

Answer 9

Every child's condition is different, and I think that they should be treated according to their condition. Not grouped into one category.

Answer 10

Here is a website that tells you how to deal with the problem.
http://www.arcwa.com/