Comments on: What’s in a name: The “Hidden Horde,” TV, and a Diagnosis Called Autism

By: Another Hidden Hoard?: Vaccine Court, Better Diagnosis, and Another Concession

Another Hidden Hoard?: Vaccine Court, Better Diagnosis, and Another Concession — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:28:07 +0000

[...] epidemic,” caused by an environmental factor, going on now and ask “where is the ‘hidden hoard‘ of adults with [...]

By: Mercurys Rising in Nature Medicine

Mercurys Rising in Nature Medicine — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 04:32:06 +0000

[...] or bankrupt the future of our children and our society with the “tsunami/tidal wave/visible horde” of “full symptom autistic children” who will be such a “burden” upon [...]

By: Autism Vox

Autism Vox — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 14:38:03 +0000

[...] It is also stated that “Extrapolating from the number of cases it found, the study suggested that some 560,000 Americans age 21 or under struggled with such disorders.” This statement gives the impression that only, or primarily, children have autism—-and there are plenty of autistic adults, many most likely undiagnosed and their numbers difficult to count. [...]

By: Autism Vox » Autism is an epidemic, New Jersey is toxic, and other urban myths

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:03:38 +0000

[...] As for there not being “thousands of adults with autism in state institutions”—some “hidden horde” of autistic adults—a question to ask is, how many thousands of adults with autism are living in our communities among us and we do not even know it? Before you go to click on the “comment” button and write “what do you mean? I don’t see any non-verbal adults flapping their arms living across the street from me on my block—-no one would not have missed seeing all these autistic kids today,” consider this: There are no established and reliable way to screen adults for autism and what we understand, define and identify as autism today may well have been called something else not too long ago. Look at the evolution of the DSM criteria for diagnosing autism to see that separate criteria for autism were not published by the APA until 1980. We have not been able to see all the autism that has always been around us because we did not even know to look for it. As I wrote yesterday in The Meaning of Autismland: Why I see autism everywhere: We have simply not been looking for the symptoms of autism because we did not even know that we had to. We simply did not know that we were in Autismland until we found that we were already there and had indeed bought real estate and secured our green cards and started to study a new language. [...]

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:58:42 +0000

Sometimes I wonder what might happen if the whole “history of the world” were rewritten with autism in mind.

By: mcewen

mcewen — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 20:23:09 +0000

I would be interested to know how many people that have been described as ‘recluse’ or ‘hermit’ were people who just decided that ’society’ was more trouble than it was worth. Best wishes

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 06:52:54 +0000

Barb, Very good to hear from you! How old is your Charlie?

By: Autism Vox » Be Not Afraid: On parenting an autistic child

Autism Vox » Be Not Afraid: On parenting an autistic child — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 05:24:34 +0000

[...] This kind of panicked thinking in parents of young children like Kristin Scott of Blogging Baby is what happens as a result of irresponsible reporting of any information about autism, especially if it as provocative as something like “TV causes autism,” living in places where it rains more, infertility, agèd dads, etc… Such alarmist language—being “terrified” of one’s TV—implies that having to “deal” with autism, that being the parent of an autistic child, is itself awful (if not terrifying). [...]

By: mcewen

mcewen — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 18:05:28 +0000

Flagrant self promotion I know, but it may just give you a giggle if you also have a warped sense of humor – check out ‘the dreaded telly’ – http://whitterer-autism.blogspot.com and see if we have any common ground. Cheers.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 20:12:16 +0000

Barb, so great to “meet” you—–we live in New Jersey now but spent two wonderful years in St. Paul. (I used to teach at the University of St. Thomas ; Charlie was diagnosed at the Minneapolis Children’s Hospital.) How olf is your Charlie? It’s tears and joys, yes, and so often all together—