Does government spending create autism?



Your tax dollars at work.
One mother of an 8 year old was concerned about autism.  She was advised by a friend, “If you embrace that word” — autism — “you will get far more services,”

hy·po·chon·dri·ac

   /ˌhaɪpəˈkɒndriˌæk/    [hahy-puh-kon-dree-ak]

adjective

1.

Also, hy·po·chon·dri·a·cal  /ˌhaɪpoʊkənˈdraɪəkəl/   [hahy-poh-kuhn-drahy-uh-kuhl]  

Psychiatry .

a.

pertaining to or suffering from hypochondria, an excessive preoccupation with and worry about one's health.

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40% of autistic children "magically" no longer have autism!

• A 300% increase in state-funded autism services
• “People started seeing it whenever a kid does something the slightest bit strange or starts collecting too many baseball cards.”

There is an old saying, your expenses will increase to meet your income.

The same could be said for Big Government spending programs.  When there is a big fat pool of billions of tax dollars floating around then suddenly people from every walk of life find "needs" that must be funded.  (Funded with other people's money naturally.)  

The medical field sucks tax money faster than light speed.  The medical industry is happy to help frightened and often over-protective parents tap into a giant pot of cash meant for autistic children.  But come to find out cash was being showered on "autistic" children who are not autistic.

In a massive 2009 study U.S. health authorities were surprised to find that nearly 40% of children once identified as autistic no longer had the diagnosis. The findings suggest that autism, still officially a lifelong condition, has become such a broad and fluid concept that it can be temporary, reports the Los Angeles Times.

In California alone, the cost of state-funded developmental services for people with autism has climbed more than 300% over the last decade, to $638 million annually.  If 40% are not autistic then much needed tax dollars are being wasted.

In California public schools, the number of students receiving autism services, including speech, behavioral and other therapies, has grown fivefold since 2000, driving up special education costs even as school budgets are being slashed.

California's public schools serve students from across the spectrum, including many with milder symptoms. Since schools started tracking autism in 1991, the caseload has climbed precipitously — to nearly 14,000 by 2000 and nearly 70,000 by 2010.

Growth in milder cases accelerated after the 1994 edition of the psychiatric manual added a new diagnosis to the spectrum: Asperger's disorder, for children with autistic behaviors but no speech problems or intellectual deficits.

Duke University's Dr. Allen Frances, leader of the scientific panel that created that edition, said the change unintentionally opened a floodgate.  “People started seeing it whenever a kid does something the slightest bit strange or starts collecting too many baseball cards,” he said.

For more on this story

Autism in California schools.
Is there more autism?  Or are people just latching on to "free" government services for slow learners?