What’s your most controversial opinion?

@NativePortlander1970 you mean DAVE? Lol
What’s the benefit of over hyping children and adults for being on the “spectrum”? (There’s no financial incentive it’s not something that is treated with medication or therapy for a revenue stream.)

@2cool4school You may be too young to remember, but there was a time when autism was considered extremely rare, but of course we were a lot more well behaved and taught to respect our elders, something that is now lacking in the younger generations.

@NativePortlander1970 Maybe I am but I actually had a very small elementary school class from K-3rd grade at a hands-on-learning private school similar to a Waldorf school style but with more of a hippie influence and lots of parent participation as well. And I had 3 boys in my 2nd and 3rd grade classes that were blatantly autistic as it’s now known however back then it was either whispered about or not discussed at all. I recall it wasn’t clear if it was actually seen as something that was learned as they had some odd duck parents or whether it was a developmental issue. I’m actually just curious if it’s more diagnosed because of the way things are socially different and more accepted and therefore more just recognizable or recognized by more lay people? Was it always there just undiagnosed? Idk ? And I may be too young to know.
I do understand what you mean. And I have actually seen what I would call legitimate cases but I don’t know what the attributing factor is. My mom actually headed up a homeschool program for the school district that she taught in for her final 15 years of her career and she had some very gifted but socially awkward and socially unaware students and families that decided on that educational course. My mom felt like it was her job to bridge the gap between what her students were missing in the classroom educational system but she knows that it’s just too vastly different however she felt like some of the parents just weren’t good teachers and some were decent but few were capable of doing the things that a traditional school was capable of. She said that she would never have wanted to homeschool my sister and I and I fully agree with the social situation as it’s a big jump no matter if a student does it up through elementary school and then goes to middle school or goes high school but it’s especially difficult for kids that did it all the way through college. I know my mom still talks to a few of her moms and their children often dropped out of college because they were unable to adapt. It’s not for everyone and it’s flawed but that can be said of any educational style. However I fully understand what you are saying and for the most part I agree. As for the spectrum I don’t why it’s so prevalent today but my sisters kiddos have a few in their classes and they are in preschool and first grade. Kindergarten for my niece had the most I believe.

@NativePortlander1970 my sisters kiddos have some students in their classes with rather blatant behavioral issues.
I’m remember getting sent to the principals office in my younger years. And my parents generation still had martial punishments in school. So socially things have gotten rather lax and soft. Which has both benefits and negative consequences.

@2cool4school If you remember, back in our day, there was a lot more parent-teacher participation, and the child's learning relied heavily on the parents and students getting through the homework together if the child struggled with it, now teachers are blamed if the child struggles, I'm sure your Mom would agree with me, this is a major reason why my older stepsister retired after 35 years teaching middle and jr high students, she told me that at first the shift was very subtle, but around 2005/2006, the blame towards teachers came out like freight trains, about the time Zoomers were entering early grade school. She is also very skeptical of the autism spectrum, telling me she noticed that the "worst" children also have the most horrendous dysfunction within their families. Being a teacher in the public school system for that long, from 1985 to 2020, tends to bring about noticing the shift in things.

@2cool4school I remember that as well, straight to the Principal's office.

@NativePortlander1970 I believe the kiss of death to the educational system was the combo of “No Child Left Behind” in addition to the relaxing of the grade percentages. An A became 84% and above a B was 67% to 83% and a C was 50% to 66%
Plus the removal of so much of the electives and music and drama programs for public schools that it’s just a joke now. If you don’t want children to fail you don’t make it both easier and make it impossible for teachers to actually hold back children that don’t understand the lesson plans. I remember that kids who struggled in math in my elementary school years went to a math resource teacher. Which is what my mom was when she went back to teaching after taking maternity leave and once my sister and I were both old enough to take the bus to and from school.
I went to a speech therapy class because I had a lisp on steroids caused by something that was termed being a tongue thruster. I’m pretty sure that they had resource teachers for reading and writing as well and then if a child was still failing they had no choice but to have them repeat a year. I could have actually moved from 3rd to 5th but my mom didn’t think it would be good for many reasons socially was one of them. It was already challenging enough to adapt to a school in 4th grade where every kid knew one another from going to kindergarten on up together.

@2cool4school My step sister complained heavily about no child left behind, she almost quit over it. I went to speech therapy as well, for the Boston Curse, I had a hard time with my R's and W's, I still do occasionally when I'm tired, my older brother had trouble with L's.

@NativePortlander1970 you’ve been all over. I’m the only member of my family of four that’s lived in other states. My parents still live in the house I was born into. My parents live inside a 3 mile radius of where they grew up too. They’ve had an apartment their first house which they kept and now the house they bought for starting a family. They rented the other house out. I actually thought about moving into it in my 20s with a bf turned fiancé but I’m so glad that my life path changed drastically at 28/29. I’m still finding my way and I hope life goes as unexpected and interesting as it has so far. Plenty of shitty times too but I’m not even a very positive person and I think it’s gone pretty well. I’m dealing with chronic pain syndrome psoriatic arthritis psoriasis and some more proposed back surgery(s) pending second and third opinions. (And my own decision making of course) . I have too many things to do still I’m not sure if I want to do the surgery thing at least not at the moment. I’ve skipped knee surgeries so… knee braces are preferable to surgeries sometimes…