Autism is Not Mental Illness: Get it Out of the DSM
Posted Apr 20 2009 12:00am
By Jill Rubolino
In this month of Autism Awareness, I am ever so aware of the great disparity for our children on the autism spectrum regarding their diagnosis and healthcare. It brings to light some major changes that need to take place in order to not only stop the perpetual, exponentially expanding numbers of children developing autism, but to provide the already affected children with proper medical care and treatment.
In a health care community that listed homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder on the DSM until 1973, and recognizes alcoholism, addiction and obesity as diseases, our children are suffering and being denied proper medical attention. Not only are our doctors not acknowledging our children’s medical ailments, they are flat out denying to us that they are occurring or that somehow these conditions are some normal variation of childhood.
In this month of Autism Awareness, I am ever so aware of the great disparity for our children on the autism spectrum regarding their diagnosis and healthcare. It brings to light some major changes that need to take place in order to not only stop the perpetual, exponentially expanding numbers of children developing autism, but to provide the already affected children with proper medical care and treatment.
In a health care community that listed homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder on the DSM until 1973, and recognizes alcoholism, addiction and obesity as diseases, our children are suffering and being denied proper medical attention. Not only are our doctors not acknowledging our children’s medical ailments, they are flat out denying to us that they are occurring or that somehow these conditions are some normal variation of childhood.
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