What is the most ridiculous theory you've heard?

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05 Apr 2013, 4:32 am

For me, there's a 'little bit' of truth in many of the theories, even the ones we may think of as 'crazy'. Of course, to much dust in your house does NOT cause autism. However, an overload of various types of polluted air could increase toxic response and exacerbate the behavior of someone genetically prone to autism. Make it worse. Maybe. But didn't cause it. For example, there are things that aggravate my son and make him low functioning on certain days versus his usual high functioning: things like allergies, food coloring, sickness. That said, not just an ordinary dusty house!! lol.

I still think the CRAZIEST response is: it's all in your head. Your child is autistic because you think they are. If you thought of them as a neurotypical child, they would be. Akin to 'autism is a made-up diagnosis to make parents feel better about their child's avoidable bad behavior". Right . . .

DW_a_mom
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06 Apr 2013, 4:02 pm

kate123A wrote:

my husband says I'm not praying the right kind of prayers, hard enough, or with the right intent and that is why my son is still autistic otherwise he'd have had a healing and life would be better. That said I do pray for him day and night and work with him with traditional therapy and a little bit of alternative medicine.

Your husband seems to misunderstand how God answers prayers.

Your husband needs to understand that, far as I can tell, God has quite a fondness for individuals born with unique conditions and challenges. As if He knows something most of us humans don't (but us parents to ASD kids do start to get a hint of

)

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whirlingmind
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07 Apr 2013, 4:49 pm

DW_a_mom wrote:

God has quite a fondness for individuals born with unique conditions and challenges. As if He knows something most of us humans don't (but us parents to ASD kids do start to get a hint of

)

God didn't seem to be fond of me when I was a child with undiagnosed AS. Well if he was, perhaps I didn't pick up his non-verbal cues...so far he's not helping me with my two children with ASCs either. It's all a struggle and a fight for everything.

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arithmancer
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30 Apr 2013, 10:54 pm

MiahClone wrote:

"Autism is caused by having a dirty house. If you dusted more your child wouldn't be autistic."

That's it! You've explained the mystery of my AS son!! I never dust.

...oh wait...why is his brother NT?

arithmancer
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30 Apr 2013, 10:59 pm

angelgarden wrote:

I still think the CRAZIEST response is: it's all in your head. Your child is autistic because you think they are. If you thought of them as a neurotypical child, they would be. Akin to 'autism is a made-up diagnosis to make parents feel better about their child's avoidable bad behavior". Right . . .

The person in my life who thinks this way, also blames the school for believing me (erm, and the reputable autism clinic that made the diagnosis...)

aligerous
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30 Apr 2013, 11:27 pm

arithmancer wrote:

angelgarden wrote:

The person in my life who thinks this way, also blames the school for believing me (erm, and the reputable autism clinic that made the diagnosis...)

My parents are very fond of that logic as well. As part of my son's ongoing evaluation I had to fill out the GADS, GARS-2, and a few other behavioral questionnaires today. I don't remember all the numbers, but on the GARS one he had an Autism Index of 113, and anything above 85 indicates Autism is likely. It's not a diagnosis, but I'm starting to make some shifts in the way I define these labels, possibly in an effort to find acceptance so I can go back to appreciated all the good about my son.

But when I shared the result with my mother; she just sat there, nodding along, and then told me there was no way he could have autism. It's so frustrating, what is the point of rejecting the diagnosis when it's the only thing getting us closer to our insurance paying for services? My dad is constantly telling me the whole thing is my fault because I'm causing him to embrace negative archetypes, and if I just showed him the path of the warrior or whatever, he would be playing sports, and popular in school. Sigh.

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30 Apr 2013, 11:36 pm

kate123A wrote:

I'm thankful that my faith doesn't depend on whether or not someone I pray for gets a healing. That said I do pray everyday for my children and consider my faith an important part of who I am. My husband doesn't consider me much of a Christian......though. He says I should pray God rewires my brain b/c it's wrong that I don't think like others. Honestly it's hard living with husband and his very rigid beliefs....he's also not found a church where he thinks they have right beliefs b/c there is no church in our city where the dead are being raised, miracles are happening, and the sick are being instantly and totally healed. I've opted for the methodist church w/a special needs ministry. I've also done everything to help our non verbal child and my other child.

Reading this made me feel so sad. It almost seems like your husband is seeing some of these traits in himself, and out of fear or guilt is pushing them back on to you. Especially the rigidity, and his special interest-like, expertise on all the specifics of what makes certain behaviors more sacred than others. If there is a way to find neutral marital counselling, it might help you both to reconnect. My husband and I were fighting a lot recently (mainly about chores, parenting style, and some incompatibility issues), and we didn't go to counselling, but we made lists, and talked about what we could do to feel more like partners and not opposition. It seems to be helping. It's easier to parent any child when you can work together without judgement. I hope you are able to work this out.

ASDMommyASDKid
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01 May 2013, 4:19 am

This is not an autism causation theory," but I thought I would add it, anyway, as this is a recent doozy I heard from an education "expert" from the district..

"Your son needs to be 100% compliant to learn compliance, (for consistency!) because if your son gets away with any non-compliance he will generalize it to mean it is OK to be non-compliant all the time. He should not be allowed to reduce fractions, because the worksheets don't give those as choices on the multiple choice questions, and if we let him do this he will generalize that it is OK, not to follow rules. It is a safety issue, as he has to know he has to follow every thing we say in case there is danger. He should not be allowed to do advanced mathematics until he does the basic work correctly that all the other children do"

Even the teacher and principal thought this was nuts. My response was not pretty, as #1 my son is autistic and does not generalize, which is part of his issue. #2 Who the heck sets a goal for someone with serious compliance issues at 100%?. (I would be happy with 50% the way this year is ending) #3 My son is not an idiot and knows the difference between a safety issue and something stupid. #4 Part of his issue is boredom, and not allowing advanced math would mean he is bored an even greater percentage of the time then he is now. Math is his great love.

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01 May 2013, 5:49 am

ASDMommyASDKid wrote:

WTF? What does one even say to that? That is seriously the most messed up bunch of crap I have ever heard in my life.

ASDMommyASDKid wrote:

Even the teacher and principal thought this was nuts. My response was not pretty, as #1 my son is autistic and does not generalize, which is part of his issue. #2 Who the heck sets a goal for someone with serious compliance issues at 100%?. (I would be happy with 50% the way this year is ending) #3 My son is not an idiot and knows the difference between a safety issue and something stupid. #4 Part of his issue is boredom, and not allowing advanced math would mean he is bored an even greater percentage of the time then he is now. Math is his great love.

Well, I hope no one is listening to this idiot.

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cubedemon6073
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01 May 2013, 10:36 am

ASDMommyASDKid wrote:

I don't understand the education expert as well. I always thought one was supposed to reduce fractions and this was the correct way.

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01 May 2013, 10:46 am

kate123A wrote:

Which leads me to wonder what the heck your husband's diagnosis is. And tempts me to hazard a diagnosis of severe Assholer's syndrome, also known as "on the complete jerk spectrum."

I think the dusty house theory is probably going to take the cake for most ridiculous.

Although I think the "they'd be fine if you just punished them more" theory is probably the most destructive. From personal experience. Whatever "disorder" he has, DS5 wasn't sullen, anxious, and avoidant until I attempted compliance with my in-laws damnfool subscription to that theory.

Will be cleaning up that mess until Hell freezes over.

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01 May 2013, 11:02 am

It is the correct way, Cube Demon. The problem is it is above grade level.

If they show a picture with a circle divided into 8 pieces, 2 of which are colored in, they would give him a choice of bubbling in say, 2/8, 3/8, 4/8 and 5/8. The answer they want is 2/8. In my son's mind that is incorrect as I have taught him to reduce fractions. So he will write 1/4 next to the choices, instead of bubbling the right answer. Now, if it is homework, I will tell him he should show his work (He tends to do it in his head, which is especially easy on visual questions like that, anyway.) So if he is willing to do that, I can get him to write down 2/8=1/4 and then I can usually convince him to bubble in the 2/8 answer because it is equivalent and that is what they want him to do. He thinks it is stupid, but he will do it for me.

At school, they don't have the time to sit with him as he does all his work, and so when he puts the reduced answer nextr to the answer choices, the teacher marks it as correct (because it is.) The "expert" saw him doing that and wants the teacher to make him fill in the bubble with the answer they are looking for because she think it is somehow making him think non-compliance is OK, and reinforcing other bad behaviors.

Also she apparently feels that he should not "get out of" boring (non-graded drill work) math that is below him and given extension work instead as he is now, because it sets a bad example to the others because "he doesn't have to do what they have to do" I really doubt the other children wish they could do more advanced math. If so, they should get to it, too, if they are capable of it, right?

The problem is he is already bored with fiction, biography type social studies, and frustrated with writing (fine motor and communication issues) so if they make math boring, too, that will make his day close to unbearable, and he is already fed up with school and acting accordingly.

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01 May 2013, 11:07 am

Sounds like the "expert" is catering to worry about passing The Holy Standardized Tests.

The "expert" must have expertise in making the broken system run more smoothly, as opposed to optimizing outcomes for children.

uh-oh. This is about to turn into an Education Reform Soapbox Special (***Caveat Emptor!! !***).

Logging off now. Logging off now. Logging off now.

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01 May 2013, 11:11 am

I started a compliance thread so I can stop bringing this one off topic.

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What is the most ridiculous theory you've heard?