Vaccine court, the “epidemic,” and autism education
June 11, 2007 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
The publicity surrounding the “vaccine court” that opens today “will only drag out debate about whether past trends indicate we face an autism ‘epidemic,’” write Paul Shattuck of the Washington University School of Social Work and Maureen Durkin of the University of Wisconsin in A Spectrum of Disputes in today’s New York Times. Shattuck and Durkin note a number of factors that have contributed to create what some say is an “epidemic” of autism: changes in the diagnostic criteria for autism over the years; greater awareness (if not determination) to find, diagnose and monitor cases of autism; changes in federal criteria for classifying children in special education. In explaining how “diagnostic substitution” can be said to have contributed to more children being labeled as being on the autism spectrum, they write:
……. as information on new autism classifications has gradually spread, the label “autistic” has been used more commonly for children who previously would have been labeled something else. Our analyses demonstrated that from 1994 to 2003, in 44 of 50 states, the increase in autism was completely offset by a decrease in the prevalence of children considered “cognitively disabled” or “learning disabled.”
Those who “deny” that there is an “epidemic” of autism have been harshly inveighed against by some parents of autistic children in part, I think, because parents fear that, if school districts do not think that there is a large and growing number of autistic children, they will not provide the services and the specialized education that children like my son Charlie need. But we do not need an “epidemic” of autism to call for such services, as Shattuck and Durkin note in closing:
Research to discover what causes autism, including possible environmental triggers, must be a top priority. However, autism is not purely a medical puzzle — as we invest in new ways of understanding autism, we have a corresponding responsibility to invest in the capacity of our schools, medical centers and social workers to provide up-to-date treatment for those with the condition and support services for their families. In the end, we should not have to deliver a verdict on whether there is an epidemic to fulfill these obligations.
We should not—-who would not agree with the judgement of educating autistic children now?
CCHR is a Scientology front organisation.
I hadn’t been planning on posting more about John Travolta who is now, via his lawyers, said to be “[firing] back” at those who say he and his wife are “lying about his son’s alleged autism” due to their Scientologist views [source] — a mention here is as good as anyway else.
“Children with autism get day in court” is already one of the most popular news on Yahoo/AP for the day.
Although schools are supposed to base educational services ont ehindividual child, and not the label they carry, in practice, this is often not the case. The label of autism can make a huge difference in the kinds of services a child can (or can’t) get. Teachers are looking for very different kinds of progress and response from an autistic student than from an MR or even an ED student. Having the label can be a blessing, if you have a system prepared to deal with ASD, or a curse (especially if you’re tossed aside as “high functioning.”) There is a rather heated local debate here abotu whether or not to push for diagnosis and ASD categorization at all, since sensory issues are ignored anyway, and there is an attitude that “high functioning” ASD students don’t require support that they WOULD get if categoized DD or LD. The result? More parents talking about rising numbers and epidemics, to get their point across, instead of sticking to truths, or skewing the terms: “We have an educational epidemic!” which raises the specter of disease while keeping it on school terms. Very strange.
An educational epidemic—-would that mean that education is a sort of sickness (not what was intended, I would think!), or that the school system is in need of a wellness program—-