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
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