Ryan Unumb a 7 year-old boy that like millions of others around the world, is normal, cute, and inquisitive youngster. However being diagnosed with Autism, the challenges of his young life may not seem apparent to him, but to his mom and dad, Lorri and Dan, it is all too real. Presently, most states don't have medical coverage for Autism, although it is slowly changing the financial burden for this semi-epidemic can be staggering. Dan and Lorri are lawyers that wrote a bill to change the law in South Carolina, and with the support of families and State Legislators, Ryan's Law will be in effect in July. "Ryan's Law mandates that insurance companies provide up to $50k a year for behavioral therapy up to the age of 16. It also prohibits insurers from refusing other medical care to children because of their Autism. It doesn't, however, apply to people or companies who are self-insured, such as the Unumbs." Read
I will be the first to admit that I don't know much about Autism. However, I have seen all the statistics that warn about its significant increase in recent years.
My questions are:
1) Is autism *really* becoming a huge problem or is it more like ADD/ADHD where it's just obscenely overdiagnosed? (If it's overdiagnosed, that annoys the hell out of me that legitimate cases are being trivialized.)
2) For the legitimate cases, of which I am sure there are many, is it a new problem that is only recently being observed, or has it been a problem for ages and is only just being diagnosed?
I ask these, because really what I want to know is-- if it's becoming a more common problem now, what is causing it? Is it lifestyles? Environmental conditions? Drugs? Any/All/Other?
I'm not trying to ruffle any feathers, and I realize this isn't the best place for the answers. At the same time, I pose the questions, because the medical community as a whole tends to dramatize many issues, and I hope to make people consider the seriousness of the problem without trivializing it by "oh, I think my kid has that."
Posted by: GoodThings2Life | April 02, 2008 at 07:48 AM
Alll of these questions you ask are indeed valid. And your second sentence under your second question is in my opinion, the heart of the problem, a combination. China has a veritable explosion of autism, and it has been reported but not enough attention is placed on the severity. Although I don't know you personally, from your many comments on our site, you strike me as a thoughtful, personable, and very intelligent person and you do have a point about the medical community, the pain of the whole matter is the unsurety of pinpointing an answer. It is not as though autism never existed, but the struggle and pain of the parents that face autism is real. Is it possible that what is considered autism could be a more extreme form of ADD/ADHD? It is possible but I am not sure how probable that may be. I can only encourage you to seek out answers for yourself, who knows, you just might stumble onto something life changing. Thanks buddy!
Posted by: jasen G | April 02, 2008 at 10:50 AM