Quote:
Originally Posted by 33girl
Tangent: IMO, here is no real danger or detriment to calling a 23 year old person who's been tested throughout life and who without any question has the IQ of a 3 year old a mentally retarded individual. There IS a real danger in labeling a child at too early an age and them having to carry a label forever that doesn't apply. Some of my friends are struggling with this - their kids are getting called autistic or Asperger's and they don't think it's necessarily true. It seems we are coming at the problem from the wrong end.
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But there's also a real danger in not diagnosing someone at a young age, and not giving that child/young adult the type of educational support that they need (through IDPs, etc.). I have a couple of special education professionals in my family (including one who's very well-respected in the field), and they feel pretty strongly that the ability to diagnose early has been a big positive. Now, if it's a faulty diagnosis, or it's done by someone who has no knowledge in the field, that's a whole other issue...
I'm not saying this is the case with your friends, but I'll flip your statement a little - as I see it, there is a problem with parents who don't want to admit that their child is on the spectrum, or has some learning disability, etc. Whether it's because they blame themselves, or because they don't want to see their children as anything less than "perfect," I think parental resistance is a bigger issue than early diagnosis.
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