Monterey Bay Forum

The regional centers in California assist persons who are substantially disabled in several areas and have a diagnosis of mental retardation, autism, cerebral palsy or seizure disorders. Licensed psychologists employed by the regional centers assess and make the diagnosis and the regional center clinical team determines substantial handicap and eligibility.

Is the applicant substantially handicapped in several areas? To determine substantial handicap there are various rating scales that can assist. Gathering rating information from both the family and also another source (such as a teacher or social worker) is typically done. The Adaptive Behavior Assessment System (ABAS) is one quite good rating scale that may be used.

BlogBabel Tags: Autism, eligibility for regional center services, mental retardation, regional center

Would anyone buy a diagnosis of CANCER? I don’t think so. Will parents BUY a diagnosis of AUTISM? Yes – some parents will try. And some families are quite successful.

Why “buy” a diagnosis of autism? Because there are lots of expensive “goodies” that attach with a diagnosis of autism. Expensive school services such as Occupatonal Therapy (OT) and Speech therapy and Social Skills therapy.

In contrast to Mental Retardation — not a diagnosis that parents seek — more and more parents do try to buy a diagnosis of autism.

Is there a real explosion of autism? Appears to be. Are the numbers way up in part because of the push by many parents to BUY a diagnosis. Yes, I think so.

To date, I have seen no research that addresses this issue: many parents WANT a diagnosis of autism and DESIRE affects t how they retrospectively describe their child’s behavior.

written by Cameron Jackson, Ph.D., J.D. Licensed Psychologist PSY 14762
831 688-6002

BlogBabel Tags: Autism, buy diagnosis, designer diagnosis, diagnosis, mental retardation, psychological assessment