That's because you've never eaten tacos, tlacoyos, sopes and huaraches. Most delicious stuff evar on Earth and it's 100% gluten free because it's made out of corn.
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My sister has REAL autism and it angers me that there's so much ignorance about this disease in the US. They say 1/250 kids have it but in all my years of rotating in the most concentrated 3rd level hopsitals in Mexico I've never seen even 1 kid that has symptoms of the disease. I do see kids with ADHD all of the time though.
Autism isn't about a kid who sits in the back row in class and plays with toys, it's a real head disease (and yes, I think autism is a disease, not the political correct form of developmental non-disorder but special id status symbol these dumb parents give it).
Hitting your head against the wall all day because it feels good to do it and no head drug can really control this behavior is big stuff. I bet most kids that they claim to be "autistic" are just introverts that live in mom's basement playing videogames all day.
Yes, there's a lot of ignorance about this disease even among doctors, it's sad. I do believe the movie "Rainman" is an insanely good and realistic representation of the few autistic people that are high functional. Raymond's autism in the movie is actually very tame in my opinion.
Isn't there's some studies out there where MRI's of autistic adults have subtle brain abnormalities that come from birth? Why my sister got the disease is a mystery, but my parents did aknowledge that she only started to talk at age 8. She wasn't healthy and wonderful and one day she stopped talking, there was something mentally wrong when she wasn't developing social skills but physically she was fine otherwise.
I do agree that the way that we treat autism (and other chronic, poorly defined disorders) here in the US is quite different than in the rest of the world. I think part of it has to do with demographics and part has to do with the shift in the way that we think about medicine in general here. Over the past 30 years, we've seen an explosion in the number of "autistic-spectrum" disorders. To definitively say whether this is due to environmental factors or the way that we diagnose the disorder requires more research and knowledge than I currently possess, but I my experience as a pediatrics resident I've seen a ridiculous range of "autism". Anyone from the wheelchair-bound, nonverbal, drooling child to the otherwise completely functional but "weird" kid gets the label of autism.
I realize part of this is stategy. At least in Texas, if a slow, but otherwise normal kid gets an autism diagnosis, they are considered "disadvantaged" and qualify for special school service and government developmental specialists. My teenage cousin is quite functional but also very weird and a little slow, so she doesn't do so hot in school. By calling her autistic she gets free followup at Scottish Rite and special tutors in school. I personally would not diagnose her as such but I definitely think she benefited from the sequelae.
As per my previous point, part of this is how we have come to approach medicine in our culture. In Mexico, as I'm sure our friend will confirm, a doctor is still seen as an authority figure and wise counselor. When a Mexican sees a doctor, they are looking for advice. In the US however, especially in the monied classes, we have come to view the doctor as more of a highly educated waiter. When an American sees a doctor, they are looking for a product, certainly not advice. We are partly to blame for this, as we participate in bad medicine disguised as "customer service" everyday.
In my area we have a strong prevelance of HMWFs (high-maintenance white females) who have the opinion that 10 minutes on the internet makes them more educated than you. Is she going to get that Z-pack from her private PCP just because Kaitlyn
might get sick over vacation? You bet she is, otherwise she'll just go shopping for another medical waiter. I've seen this in my own circle - "I'm not asking for your opinion, just give me the damn antibiotics!"
my friend's girlfriend and ruling queen of the HMWFs
Well, I've ranted long enough, and I'm sure it's clear I am not suited for private general peds. It's not my intention to spread bitteriness, but I can see my specialty degrading to the point when it's a booth in Wal-mart next to the McDonald's.
