🚀 go-pugleaf

On Fri, 19 Nov 2004 13:07:35 GMT, Ninth Commandment
<ninthcommandment@yahoo.ca> spake thusly:

>What is the difference between autistic and schizophrenic? The BC govt
>is being sued to provide 50 million in funding for autistic children.
>In Ontario the govt is currently paying $79,000 per autistic child for
>treatment and they want 16 million more in funding.
>http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=20a9ac5c-a0b5-4b53-9500-009b9713dc89

Autism and schizophrenia are unrelated. Because Autism is a behavior
disorder, Autism spectrum disorders are hard to describe but easy to
observe, especially with kids like mine who are considered "high
functioning". Autistic people, depending on their level of
functionality, can rise as high as anybody. There are autistic
university professors.
Autistic children seem to tune out the world around them. Sometimes
they seem deaf but they really are just ignoring everybody. In severe
cases you could literally murder their parents right in front of them
and they would seem to not even notice or care, yet inside they would
be just as grief stricken as anybody would be.
My daughter surprised her teacher once, while she was busy drawing
pictures during a lesson. The teacher was surprised that Lesleigh
absorbed every word the teacher spoke as was able to repeat it back.

>What happens to autistic children when they turn adult,  are they
>relabelled schizophrenic and put on welfare or are they actually cured
>and become productive adults. Many of the same drugs used to treat
>schizophrenica are also being used to treat autistic children. I've
>never heard of a schizophrenic child nor have I ever heard of an
>autistic child.

There is no cure for autism. Some drug treatments for schizophrenia
and epilepsy have shown some promise but not much. What happens to the
adult really depends on the severity of their autism. Some make a good
living while others are permanently institutionalized. Here is an
interview with a well known autistic person, Dr. Temple Grandin:
http://www.autism.org/interview/temp_int.html
I suggest renting the movie Rain Man, with Dustin Hoffman. He won a
well-deserved Oscar for his role as an autistic adult. 

-- 
jbuchy@hotmail.com 
(Jim, single dad to Lesleigh [Autistic] 04/20/94)

"What, Me Worry?" A. E. Newman

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