RFK - we will know what causes autism by September
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Yep. When we were little there were ‘hyperactive’ boys in every classroom. Today they’d be given a diagnosis of ADHD and/or autism.
wrote 18 days ago last edited by@jon-nyc said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
Yep. When we were little there were ‘hyperactive’ boys in every classroom. Today they’d be given a diagnosis of ADHD and/or autism.
And drugs.
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Yep. When we were little there were ‘hyperactive’ boys in every classroom.
Right, and almost all were labelled troublemakers or “rotters” in elementary and treated as such throughout their school years regardless of their behaviour as they grew older.
wrote 18 days ago last edited by Mik 4 Nov 2025, 17:14@Renauda said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
Yep. When we were little there were ‘hyperactive’ boys in every classroom.
Right, and almost all were labelled troublemakers or “rotters” in elementary and treated as such throughout their school years regardless of their behaviour as they grew older.
My SIL and husband, both PHDs, were looking for reasons their son was failing in college. She was volunteering for an ADHD/Autism organization of some sort and so got him tested. Lo and behold they think he has mild Aspergers. They labeled him as such and told him. Despite being quite bright, he has been very low achieving ever since, believing that he is limited by that label. I find it sad.
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@Renauda said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
Yep. When we were little there were ‘hyperactive’ boys in every classroom.
Right, and almost all were labelled troublemakers or “rotters” in elementary and treated as such throughout their school years regardless of their behaviour as they grew older.
My SIL and husband, both PHDs, were looking for reasons their son was failing in college. She was volunteering for an ADHD/Autism organization of some sort and so got him tested. Lo and behold they think he has mild Aspergers. They labeled him as such and told him. Despite being quite bright, he has been very low achieving ever since, believing that he is limited by that label. I find it sad.
wrote 18 days ago last edited by Doctor Phibes 4 Nov 2025, 17:20@Mik said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
@Renauda said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
Yep. When we were little there were ‘hyperactive’ boys in every classroom.
Right, and almost all were labelled troublemakers or “rotters” in elementary and treated as such throughout their school years regardless of their behaviour as they grew older.
My SIL and husband, both PHDs, were looking for reasons their son was failing in college. She was volunteering for an ADHD/Autism organization of some sort and so got him tested. Lo and behold they think he has mild Aspergers. They labeled him as such and told him. Despite being quite bright, he has been very low achieving ever since, believing that he is limited by that label. I find it sad.
It is very sad, and presumably happens a lot.
We've also seen the opposite happen. A relative really struggled with getting exhausted in elementary school despite clearly being bright, but since being diagnosed as ADHD and given a very low dose of medication has done very well throughout middle and high school.
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@Mik said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
@Renauda said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
Yep. When we were little there were ‘hyperactive’ boys in every classroom.
Right, and almost all were labelled troublemakers or “rotters” in elementary and treated as such throughout their school years regardless of their behaviour as they grew older.
My SIL and husband, both PHDs, were looking for reasons their son was failing in college. She was volunteering for an ADHD/Autism organization of some sort and so got him tested. Lo and behold they think he has mild Aspergers. They labeled him as such and told him. Despite being quite bright, he has been very low achieving ever since, believing that he is limited by that label. I find it sad.
It is very sad, and presumably happens a lot.
We've also seen the opposite happen. A relative really struggled with getting exhausted in elementary school despite clearly being bright, but since being diagnosed as ADHD and given a very low dose of medication has done very well throughout middle and high school.
wrote 18 days ago last edited by Renauda 4 Nov 2025, 17:26Do you know what medication it was? Guanfacine?
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wrote 18 days ago last edited by
The parochial school two of my grandkids go to, has a lower rate of ADHD than the public schools around them.
It might be they start out with a higher quality student. Or it might be the kids have three recesses per day, and physical activities are highly encouraged.
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Do you know what medication it was? Guanfacine?
wrote 18 days ago last edited by@Renauda said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
Do you know what medication it was? Guanafacine?
I think initially it was methylphenidate. Subsequently they tried a couple of other similar treatments. Some clearly worked better than others.
I was initially highly skeptical about both the diagnosis and the medication, but when he first got the medication the improvement was almost immediate and overwhelmingly positive. There were none of the adverse affects I'd heard about.
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wrote 18 days ago last edited by
For some people a label can be a crutch, for others knowing/having a label (and help) for why they feel /act different than a lot of their peers can be immensely helpful.
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For some people a label can be a crutch, for others knowing/having a label (and help) for why they feel /act different than a lot of their peers can be immensely helpful.
wrote 18 days ago last edited by@jodi said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
For some people a label can be a crutch, for others knowing/having a label (and help) for why they feel /act different than a lot of their peers can be immensely helpful.
Somewhat related - when they diagnosed my mother with dementia I kind of wish they hadn't told her. We'd all seen it developing and she knew something wasn't right, but once it was official she thought about nothing else.
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wrote 18 days ago last edited by
I think it's a combo of expansion of the spectrum, much higher rates of testing, and obesity.
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@Renauda said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
Yep. When we were little there were ‘hyperactive’ boys in every classroom.
Right, and almost all were labelled troublemakers or “rotters” in elementary and treated as such throughout their school years regardless of their behaviour as they grew older.
My SIL and husband, both PHDs, were looking for reasons their son was failing in college. She was volunteering for an ADHD/Autism organization of some sort and so got him tested. Lo and behold they think he has mild Aspergers. They labeled him as such and told him. Despite being quite bright, he has been very low achieving ever since, believing that he is limited by that label. I find it sad.
wrote 18 days ago last edited by Axtremus 4 Nov 2025, 19:55@Mik said in RFK - we will know what causes autism by September:
My SIL and husband, both PHDs, were looking for reasons their son was failing in college. She was volunteering for an ADHD/Autism organization of some sort and so got him tested. Lo and behold they think he has mild Aspergers. They labeled him as such and told him. Despite being quite bright, he has been very low achieving ever since, believing that he is limited by that label. I find it sad.
Has the young man been failing college before being labeled? It's seems a bit inconsistent to say that he's been "failing college" and also "being quite bright," unless you're saying he's just "not book smart."
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wrote 6 days ago last edited by
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wrote 6 days ago last edited by Doctor Phibes
He seriously said that as a kid he'd never heard of rheumatoid arthritis?
As a kid he was taking and dealing cocaine and heroin. And he's worried about fluoride in the water.
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wrote 6 days ago last edited by
I hope we don’t have to wait too long before he addresses chemtrails.
