Autism on video
Wed Oct 17, 2007 at 04:24:46 AM PDT
There's a new web-based "Autism Glossary". It provides side-by-side videos of children with Autism and related disorders and typical children, and shows very clearly some of the early symptoms of autism. I've watched most of it, and think it's interesting and balanced. The target audience (in addition to parents) is professionals who can make early referrals for service. There's alot we don't know about autism, but one thing we do know is earlier access to services is better.
But leave it to the media to make this a "mom scare" controversy!
Yet some researchers fear the video glossary is certain to be troubling for the parents of children without autism, too, because the behavior of kids without the condition can resemble that depicted in the videos.
Rather than saying how cool it is to put a real face to these symptoms, let's float the idea that parents (face it, they mean us helpless moms) can't deal with this information in a reasonable way! They picture us running with our healthy kids to pediatricians and wanting to see autism.
In reality, the truth is the opposite. It's more likely that either parents don't recognized the early, subtle signs, or that the parents 'know' something's wrong but the doc doesn't see it or doesn't listen.
But Amy Wetherby, a professor of communications disorders at Florida State University who helped create the site, said the site would embolden parents to persist when doctors don’t listen to legitimate concerns about a child’s behavior. As she told the Associated Press, sometimes “parents are the first to be concerned, and the doctors aren’t necessarily worried,'’ she said. “This will help give them terms to take to the doctor and say, ‘I’m worried about it.”’
Emboldening parents! What a radical idea!!
