Is CDC harming or benefiting parents of young children by posting the statistics about autism?
In so far as CDC increasing awareness about autism is concerned, CDC has done a great job. However, repeatedly publicizing the increasing prevalence of autism creates anxiety and a sense of foreboding amomg parents of young children. Parents of children who are temperamentally shy, less adaptable to new situations, have a narrower repertoire of activities or are slightly off the milestone charts are worried, subjecting the children to multiple evalutions. Children who are simply different are labelled and stigmatized as deviant and receive unnecesary therapies, diverting resources away from those who truly need them. The tendency to pathologize the extremes of normal distribution creates unnecessary anxiety in parents. The parents, educational system and the society at large should be able to deal with and manage temperamental variation using normative resources rather than seeking a medical diagnosis and resources for every person with differences. Publicizing statistics such as autism may occur in one in fifety children are counterproductive.
In so far as CDC increasing awareness about autism is concerned, CDC has done a great job. However, repeatedly publicizing the increasing prevalence of autism creates anxiety and a sense of foreboding amomg parents of young children. Parents of children who are temperamentally shy, less adaptable to new situations, have a narrower repertoire of activities or are slightly off the milestone charts are worried, subjecting the children to multiple evalutions. Children who are simply different are labelled and stigmatized as deviant and receive unnecesary therapies, diverting resources away from those who truly need them. The tendency to pathologize the extremes of normal distribution creates unnecessary anxiety in parents. The parents, educational system and the society at large should be able to deal with and manage temperamental variation using normative resources rather than seeking a medical diagnosis and resources for every person with differences. Publicizing statistics such as autism may occur in one in fifety children are counterproductive.
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