Medical Model of Autism Embraced by Neurodiversity Blogger Kev Leitch?

- Comment by Neurodiversity Blogger Kev Leitch of LBRB on the recent paper indicating that children have been compensated for what, based on an analysis of the symptoms, appear to have been autism disorders.

Neurodiversity, to the extent that it has any meaning at all, opposes the medical model of behavioral and intellectual disorders.  Kev Leitch of LBRB has been a prominent Neurodiversity autism blogger.  It came as a pleasant surprise to me to see that Kev does in fact accept that autism is a medical disorder despite his ND leanings.  Kev has always been solidly in the autism is a gift ND Camp ( Or as Estee Klar argues autism is a joy):

"Autism, Respect and the Mercury Militia

http://kevinleitch.co.uk/wp/?p=299

To cure what? Good question. Some believe that autism and its attendant comorbidities are interchangeable. That constipation and a different way of looking at things are the same thing. That dyspraxia and a lack of imaginative ability are the same thing. Others believe that the two things are quite separate. That the comorbidities that are attendant with autism in some people cannot be used to define autism. That the condition of being autistic bequeaths gifts as well as troubles (and it does bequeath troubles, lets not pretend it doesn't) and that keeping the troubles is a small price to pay for keeping the gifts.

Kevin Leitch"

It is difficult for me to rationalize the view that autism is a gift with the concept that autism is a medical disorder for which one must receive a medical diagnosis  before being considered autistic.  Admittedly I lack Kev's intellectual flexibility.  He might well be able to reconcile these diametrically opposed concepts but I can't do that.  I can't embrace two diametrically opposed concepts as both being true.  I have always viewed Neurodiversity ideology as inherently irrational.  

If autism is a gift why does someone have a medical  diagnosis? People don't seek medical attention because they have a gift.  We sought medical attention for our son 14 years ago because, even at 15 months of age, it was clear that he was not developing ordinary speech for a child his age and was not even acknowledging our presence when we tried to play games like peek a boo with him.  We were not seeking an autism diagnosis for him, I did not even know what autism was.  We wanted to know if he had medical issues. Ultimately after observation and testing he was diagnosed with an autism disorder.   Our son is a gift. We enjoy our every minute with him, even the challenging times. But his autism disorder itself is not a gift. It is a medical disorder which limits very seriously his ability to enjoy an independent life or to understand the world in which we live.

I can not reconcile the concept of a medical disorder, obtained because of serious functional and developmental limitations, with the concept of a gift.  Perhaps ND ideologue Kev Leitch is finally moving away from his embrace of the contradictory mess known as  Neurodiversity.  Perhaps.

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Absurd Social Models of Autism Ignore Severe Autism Realities

Restigouche Regional Hospital, Campbellton New Brunswick

Centracare Long Term Mental Health Services Center, Saint John New Brunswick

As the father of a severely autistic boy I am repulsed by attempts to redefine autism from being a medical concept, a neurological disorder to a social model based on variations in personality and modes of thinking. At its most benign the social models of autism are inherently self contradictory. People who have received a medical diagnosis of autism wish to be thought of as autistic, they are proud of their autism, BUT they do not want "their" autism to be known as a medical condition. Autism, however, has no meaning other than as a medical disorder. A person acquires the label autistic because they have received a medical diagnosis. They received the diagnosis because of significant behavioral, communication and social deficits. At its worst though the social model of autism is a dangerous delusion.

The social model is dangerous because it requires that we close our eyes to the realities of autism, particularly the more severe manifestations of autism. There are many persons with high functioning autism and Aspergers for whom it is fine to ponder autism as a social construct. After all many can attend university, have careers, get married and otherwise function independently in society.

For many low functioning persons with autistic disorder life is quite different. For them the future is one of dependent living in group homes and institutional facilities. For some lower functioning autistic persons language is a severe deficit. Not just speech but understanding or using language by any mode. For some, intellectual deficits accompany their autistic disorder.

Here in New Brunswick I have been involved with autism advocacy since my son's diagnosis 11 years ago. With many other parents, I fought for pre-school autism intervention and autism trained teacher aides for autistic students. These resources have been helpful for many New Brunswick children with autism disorders including some with Aspergers. These special resources were dedicated to helping these children because they needed the extra resources, the specialized intervention. They needed these interventions because of the deficits which defined their medical disorders, their autism spectrum disorders.

I have also fought alongside other parents for the continuation of a tertiary care program for autistic children which had been threatened with termination. The plan to close the program arose not because it was unnecessary, quite the opposite. The autism pediatric tertiary care program was being closed because it was placing such demands on the resources of the facility which provided the program that it was threatening other programs. The announced closing prompted a strong reaction from parents of autistic children. The program, with the involvement of the facility's professional staff, and then Health Minister Brad Green, was saved.

I have also visited two mental health facilities where some autistic adults in New Brunswick live. New Brunswick has a privately operated group home system badly in need of many improvements. For some autistic adults though even a group home is not the reality. Some are too severely autistic, present too many complex challenges, to live in a group home. For some institutional care is the future.

I visited the Centracare facility in Saint John several years ago with a friend, a father whose adult autistic son was living in the facility. At the time my son Conor was only a child. Last week I visited the psychiatric building of the Restigouche Regional Hospital in Campbellton. I was particularly interested in the treatment of the autistic adults living there. The people from the hospital were competent and caring individuals. They do what they can for all their residents including the autistic adults. For me it was reassuring to meet such people but it was still disturbing to see what may be my son's future.

Conor is older now, he will turn 13 this Thursday. His future is much closer. His future may well mean life in a group home, or in an institution like Centrcare or the Restigouche Regional Hospital. For me it is impossible to cling to the outrageous idea that autism is not a medical condition. Reality is far too close at hand for such a dangerous delusion.

autism

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If Autism Is A Joy Why Is It In The DSM?

If autism is a joy, a simple natural variation that brings with it many blessings, then why is it found and described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association?

Why are children as young as 2 years of age diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders ... Pervasive Developmental Disorders? Why do parents take their children for medical assessments that result in "autism spectrum" diagnoses? If their condition was one which brings such great joy then why visit a doctor to discuss it?

I am one of those old fashioned males who doesn't particularly like visiting doctors' offices. I will probably live a somewhat shorter life than I otherwise might because I just don't like going to see the doctor on a regular basis. I can not imagine going to a doctor to have him/her examine, assess or diagnose .... a joyful condition. What would possess some of the persons assessed as adults with autistic disorders to attend at the offices of a medical or psychological professional for an assessment of a joyful condition subsequently diagnosed as autistic disorder?

If the medical model of autism is to be cast aside, as those in the ASAN/Neurodiversity movement headquarters at the Change.org "autism" page advocate, then why refer to autism, a medical term, at all?

autism

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