Are you a clever parent??

[BuntyB]

Have a read of this. Sorry, you might need to copy and paste.

http://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/pro...WS_fpld&id=8425

 

Apparently children with autism have clever parents, but live in poor families.

Or perhaps the parents are also on the autism spectrum?

It also looks like divorce causes autism! Or perhaps, in my case, Dad does a runner rather than care for 'difficult' children.

[raelien]

I scanned thru this article my only thought was.......

 

 

Its not that us parents arent better educated - its that we learn to think in other ways to adapt for our childrens needs - therefore - we bring ourselves to a higher level -

 

well thats what I think anyway

[Flora]

What a load of rubbish!!! (I could think of much better adjectives but that was the least offensive).

 

How the hell can anyone say that divorce causes autism? It's at the very least insulting, patronising and seaped in biggottry.

 

I'm divorced (hence my extreme reaction) however, BOTH of my ASD children were apparently that BEFORE we even seperated. And I bet the same can be said for most divorced parents of ASD children. Perhaps they could have opened their mind a bit more and realised that it's very VERY often the stress of parenting children with difficulties that causes the break down in relationships, perhaps it's the lack of community support within the educational and health sectors of parents of children with ASD that causes the level of stress and frustration that might end in the break down of a marriage.

 

Ooooh, that article made me so mad (just when I'm looking for things to vent my frustrations on!)

 

Rant over for the time being!

Lauren

[nightingales]

Lauren -- it's badly worded, but it doesn't say that divorce causes autism (not that you need me to tell you that, as it's obviously rubbish)! They're doing that substandard journalistic thing of starting with one topic, running it into a different topic, and getting a comment on half that sounds like it applies to the lot.

 

I can't tell from this whether they even distinguish mental illness such as depression from long-term conditions such as autism when producing their lovely percentages. Our children aren't mentally ill, but this implies it. Sigh.

I would guess that depression after divorce IS pretty common in children (and their parents), whether from the preceding tensions or the divorce itself.

 

You've put your finger on the nub, though. Even if the figures did refer to autism, it's far more likely to be the other way round, with stress causing the breakup (the statistical term is 'reverse causality', if I remember rightly). Take a few deep breaths and remember that it was probably cobbled together on a wet Friday by a green young thing with a deadline and only half their brain on the subject.

Lins

ps I should know, i used to be one (green...young...and startlingly ill-informed about things I wrote about)

Edited September 7, 2005 by nightingales

[lil_me]

The study, by the Office for National Statistics, said the unusual combination of high educational status and low economic activity among parents of autistic children "reflects their heavy caring responsibilities".

 

^^ I'm pleased they mentioned that

 

But what always annoys me is

 

Parents of autistic children tend to be more highly qualified than parents of children with other mental problems, according to a controversial study for the Department of Health.

 

Isn't the money better off spent on other things than expensive surveys, which I must say I have never been asked to complete and know no parents who have, and my sons GP, consultant etc have no knowledge of my financial situation or educational background.

[CarerQuie]

The media,huh!!Don't they just LOVE to make sensational copy.Ggggrrrrrr.xx

[Flora]

Just read the article again. And in the cool light of day I see it wasn't really worthy of the strong reaction I gave it. The whole thing is half baked tosh and very ambiguous.

 

Lauren

[UltraMum]

This got me thinking - bear with me:

 

The government is wanting to move away from statements and towards delegated funding for SEN to schools.

 

There is no significant relationship between the socio-economic profile (as measured by the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals) of local authorities and the level of statements they maintain. TeacherNet

 

So ... the average level of statements is fairly consistent and does not appear to be affected by social profiles.

 

However, there is quite a strong link between an authority's socio-economic profile and the proportion of pupils with SEN overall (with and without statements). This confirms the link between SEN and deprivation, but points to the influence of local policy on statementing practice. TeacherNet

 

So ... there is a demonstrable link between SEN (in general) and deprivation - so LEA's with a lower socio-economic profile will receive more cash and schools in more deprived areas will have more than those in less deprived areas.

 

Autistic children ... were less likely to live in low income families: only 9 per cent compared with 20 per cent of other children lived in households with a gross weekly income of less than �200 per week.

and

Children with other types of disorder tended to live in poorer areas than other children but there was no such relationship for autistic children.

From the research report (p190) referred to in the above article: "Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain, 2004" (You can download it from here)

 

Almost all children with autistic spectrum disorder were reported to have special educational needs (97 per cent compared with 16 per cent of other children) and the majority of these had a written statement of their needs (84 per cent compared with 45 per cent). (as above - p191)

 

so ... I'm thinking - there are 16% of children with an ASD, who have recognised SEN, (97% of all with ASD have SEN and 84% of those have a statement) who are probably on School Action and School Action Plus, most probably in mainstream. The funding for which comes from a formula which is based a link between SEN (in general) and deprivation. Yet these children are less likely to live in areas of deprivation .... am I right in thinking that there is a mismatch here and that it is the reason why we have to fight so hard to get statements for our children ... as there isn't enough cash to necessarily meet their needs in the area they attend school?

 

I've been concerned about this for some time - we live in a relatively middle class area of Doncaster - my son's school has only 1% of pupils entitled to free school meals - yet, at our last Ofsted, 11% of children were registered SEN. Of those a quarter had a statement leaving about 9% on School Action and School Action Plus sharing that 1%!

 

Sorry to have been so long about it! Someone tell me if I've got this wrong or made assumptions that don't hold up!

[UltraMum]

Back to that report - a little statistic hidden away in Table 8.16

 

26% of children with ASD have been excluded from school on one or more occasions compared to 4% of children with no ASD. Scarily 15% have been excluded 3 or more times compared to 1% of the others with 'mental' health problems.

 

I think the system is failing our children badly ...

 

[supersec]

what a load of old hooey. How can they say that divorce causes austism?!?!?!?!? I am happily married so can someone explain why my 4 year old is moderate non verbal (pretty much) autistic?

 

And what does the parents intelligence have to do with it? If that were the case then every parent who had one autistic child surely any siblings would also be on the spectrum and although I know that some members have more than one child on the spectrum some of us have more than one child but only one on the spectrum.

 

Caroline

[BuntyB]

Here's another thought for you:

 

They reckon that one in 80 children in primary school has ASD, but much less at secondary, perhaps because it isn't recognised. Could it be that the children with diagnosis are the ones with 'intelligent parents', because, lets face it, you have to have a bit about you to know where to go and where to get it!

 

I expect some poor parents are struggling on with their secondary age children completely oblivious or blaming society or computer games for their child's 'difficult' behaviour. I suspect those young people are wrapped up in the truant and excluded stats with nobody paying attention to their needs.

 

But that's my soap box piece.

[Kathryn]

Maybe the parents are poor because they have to spend so much money on private assessments and legal fees to get help for their children.

[Zemanski]

and give up work because there's not support sytem to help care for them

 

Zemanski

[Melba]

Dont you just love statistics?! Could it be that you have to be fairly intelligent and articulate and devote lots of time (unpaid) to getting anyone to take you seriously and therefore get a diagnosis (and show up on the stats)?

 

[mandyque]

and give up work because there's not support sytem to help care for them

 

Zemanski

This one certainly applies to me! I am divorced, but that happened well after my daughters diagnosis and for reasons (mostly) unconnected to her disability. Since then I have been unable to do anything but be a stay at home mum/carer because there is no way I can afford appropriate childcare and I don't have any family or friends able to help in that way.

 

As for intelligence of parents, I know quite a large group of parents who have children with various ASD diagnoses, and they range in personality and intelligence as much as any group of parents from anywhere.

 

I totally agree that the money that is wasted on these surveys could be better used elsewhere, how about providing a few extra resources for people with autism for a start?