Is your Child Mislabeled?
(cross-posted at My Two Boys)
I am not a doctor, nor am I any sort of medical professional, but it is my personal opinion that many children are mislabeled as ADD, ADHD, and even Autism. Yes, Autism.
I have always very clearly stated that AJ has never had a diagnosis of Autism but that we believe that he may be on the spectrum because of his symptoms. However, he may very well simply be a sensory seeking/avoidant child or a child affected by Institutional Autism. Or, he may be a child affected by heavy metals and environmental toxins.
Every professional we have seen has been very cautious about giving us a diagnosis…perhaps because they don’t know. Is it possible that AJ’s birth mother was malnutritioned during the time she carried AJ?
Very Possible. And I have NEVER ruled that out. But, its hard to grasp.
There is a great new book out that will help all of us with mislabeled or undiagnosed children. Written by Brock Eide, M.D., M.A, and his wife, Fernette Eide, M.D., even Carol Kranowitz is toting it as a fantastic resource for parents.
Carol Kranowitz, M.A.
The Midwest Book Review states that The Mislabeled Child “provides parents, teachers and educators a fine, clear guide to children who are different, how diagnoses often fail, and how to look behind labels to find the basics of a child’s problems.”
To pre-order The Mislabeled Child at 32% off the cover price:
July 31st, 2007 at 12:34 am
Yes, yes… and YES!
Not only are there environmental vs genetic causes, but also the whole bamboozle of how “comorbidity” in multiple labels is misleading since the criteria for so many disorders is overlapping. If a doctor wants to see “autism” he will, but if a different doctor is on the “sensory integration disorder” or “ADHD” bandwagon, then that will be the label.
Labels can be useful, but they can also be very misleading.
It was GREAT meeting you at BlogHer.
July 31st, 2007 at 12:47 pm
…Discussing Autism is giving away The Mislabeled Child book, head on over to read the rules…