Explain America's autism support & Why doesn't it exist?

Post Reply New Topic

I've been thinking about this for some time; America's autism research, support, and professionals are behind other western countries. Why is this?

I have some theories examples.

(1.) American insurance, function, and legalities. The medical model searches for pathologies. Thus the provider must diagnose a patient with a medical condition to obtain service. The laws serve the purpose of the function of the insurance. There are old systems that have not been updated.
(2.) Despite new research, older doctors refusing to change - a lot of senior doctors are professors refuse to adapt to a different way of thinking (I had an elderly clinic psych professor, and he would say that only children have Autism. I am talking about a large University)
(3.) Doctors and Neuros have difficulty pinpointing how Autism affects the brain ( research is expensive)- If it's not in a study, it doesn't exist. What I mean is it's not peer-reviewed, then there's much risk involved. However, there is much antidote info out there.
(4.) The APA and DSM describe symptoms as stationary and open to interpretation based on the clinician. They may have little to special training in the area. They may have biases as to this is what Autism is and what is not.
(5.)No room for gray lines- My diagnosis according to DSM is " residual" Autism- which can mean many things- I had Autism, but I've outgrown it, I've got Autism but just a little bit, I've got Autism but it doesn't affect me as much a person with full symptoms. Then one can revert to having Autism) It's complicated.

All and All, I apologize for the gross generalizations and the rantiness of this comment. These are my personal thoughts and experiences. Has anyone experienced anything mentioned above? What are thoughts of wisdom why is their so little support?
I feel a bit frustrated with my current situation, and trying to understand the problem helps me with acceptance
and moving on.

Hi Lizbeth, sorry for your frustration. Once I realised I may be autistic I found it helpful to take time in the weeks and months ahead of my assessment to make notes on my own behaviours. Pre diagnosis, if someone asks you what makes you autistic you would probably struggle to remember all of your behaviours. I wrote down examples of my own behaviours as and when they happened so that when my psychologist asked me the questions I was able to provide good examples. It also helps to read up on ASD to discover the traits you didn't know you had. I know you have probably done these things but just thought i would mention.

kuze

The U.S. is behind much of the developed word in many measures of health and welfare. This is one more.

What do you mean by "antidote info"? Autism is not a curable condition, and I for one have no desire to be "cured."

I feel like autism globally is extremely variable. For example silicon valley where I'm from seems like everyone's got it. Look at Zuckerberg. Further i think Hollywood is much less friendly. I feel like different countries have real differences in total % beyond simple reported diagnosis. Remember a German joke is not a laughing matter. I live half time in Monterey Mexico traveling more through COVID to exploit cheap prices, and been to Germany and the places seem almost literal opposites of average person's behavior. Fascinatingly Germany and Mexico have extremely good relations at their Volkswagen factory in Puebla where the USA acquired the name gringo in the Mexican American war, Puebla is part of exurban Mexico City megalopolis. Further I'm categorically, i struggle to describe, unable to fit with people who look like me. All my friends are minorities, mostly more very outcasts themselves. Normal people tend to hate or fear me, or they bully me. I'm tall white man, and seriously I feel crazy to describe my experience so extreme, but I feel almost spiritually connected to working class short black women. I feel like there's some relationship between autism people and civilizational economic developmental cycles, where i think my grandma's generation valued autistic people more directly, now society seems more superficial, but it's also related to the inverse of average access to medical services. Like now there's wide access to medical care, but general society seems more hostile to Neuro diversity. So I mean because USA is bankrupt people are superficial but it will go back.

Extraversion is prized, Introversion is looked at with suspicion.

Thinking “too much” is looked down upon, “Just do it”.

The belief that failure is caused by not trying hard enough.

(6.) The underlying false belief that any person born "defective" is a display of G^D's wrath and judgement upon the parents for some unrevealed "sins" they have committed (either together or separately).  Thus, the care and treatment of the "defective" person is the sole responsibility of the parents; for only in providing life-long care and treatment for their "defective" offspring can they ever hope to redeem themselves in the eyes of G^D.

... and people wonder why I hate religion ...

It's a spectrum disorder. That means that everyone you treat is going to have different problems/needs. Profitable healthcare treatments need to be standardised, either in a medicine or a process. Otherwise the costs are astronomical.

In countries where we have state funded healthcare, there's a bit of mental health support (I know ASD isn't a mental health condition but that's what diagnosis/support falls under in the UK) but it's overwhelmed because there isn't the money or the people to deliver it.

In America where healthcare is primarily a business concern, I'm sure no-one can see the profit in treatment or support.

The easiest answer is: Money.

In the U.S., health care has been monetized in such a way that any condition that requires lifelong or long term care is heavily scrutinized and many attempts are made to either make said condition no longer cost the Insurance Companies money, or to find ways to make treatment extremely costly without it seeming outright evil (The cost of creating many medicines is very low compared to what they cost the consumer).

Some people actually don't care about being seen as evil, they just want the money even if they are publicly considered inhumane for doing so.

Autism is one of the conditions that is not incredibly beneficial monetarily to treat.

Since the U.S. healthcare system is made to generate wealth, not to actually treat people who need health care, all supports for most medical conditions lag behind that of other countries, and if you are talking about mental health...well, that is another matter entirely!

The U.S. doesn't like dealing with mental health. We like to pretend it doesn't exist, or if we have to admit it exists, we demonize it as best we can so that it becomes a problem for the mentally ill, and not an issue for the Neurotypical world.

This may happen in other countries too, but it is especially bad in the U.S. I blame the puritanical roots of this country for that, since the way people behave around mental health isn't much different from the way the Puritan colonists would have treated it.

I find your diagnosis residual Autism interesting, since the prevailing view is that autism is fixed, cannot be cured or ever goes away?

So were you autistic as a child but now NT or comes & goes according to stress levels?

To answer your question though:-

Research - the brain is complex but they are getting there but slowly, an enormous amount of info exists mostly from the last 20 years.

Support - many autistic people say they want accommodations but when pressed on this have difficulty with specific ideas, home working opportunities have increased massively ( for those that can work) since COVID, not sure what else can be given realistically?

"Residual autism state" is an old diagnostic category from earlier versions of the DSM, back in the days when "autism" was thought of as just an "infantile" thing. When these kids grew up, they were diagnosed with "residual autism state" if they weren't severely disabled enough to be diagnosed with something more severe.