04/17/2025
“Isn’t it just better assessment(s) & diagnostics?”
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Sure, that’s probably part of it.
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“Isn’t it genetic?”
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Perhaps.
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But don’t let anyone gaslight you!
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Something is going on. Maybe diagnosis has gotten better 🤷🏻♂️, but I am old enough to be a product of the 80s & 90s, & growing up having had zero kids in my classes that expressed the characteristics that would today be diagnosed with Autism. And if I were to think about it for a while I might be able to recall a few, out of the thousands of kids at my High school, that might have had un or under diagnosed Autism.
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Now, in California, statistically, there is at least one child in every class that’s been diagnosed with Autism.
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And, as for genetics… while there’s been some trait characteristics noted, where are all the grandparents & parents with Autism? And even if they are out there, which I’m sure there are some… there must be an external factor or force driving the change in genetic expression at some point… whether in recent or past history.
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And, why are we not allowed to ask questions about it? That’s as unscientific as anything there is… literally by definition, that’s unscientific.
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I don’t have a lot of answers, but I have some… & I have absolutely zero judgement for any parents or families in the in the midst of it, wherever they are on the spectrum.
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This isn’t an outsiders perspective.
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This is personal.
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I am a dad of a kid that WAS given that diagnosis nearly 20 years ago, when the criteria was much more stringent, and we did reverse & get removed the diagnosis as he “no longer qualified for any services”… and is absolutely thriving in every way today. And, as a clinician, I get to witness kids do things their families were told would never happen… yes, including diagnoses being removed on occasion.
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So please don’t think that I’m not writing this through teary eyes & with a heavy heart.
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I just want more answers. You, we, deserve them! ❤️
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