Don't just diagnose people with special needs - accept them

"We are living in the midst of at least three such epidemics- of autism, attention deficit, and childhood bipolar disorder." (Dr. Allen J. Frances)

There had been increasing numbers of cases for autism, ADHD diagnosis in recent times.

In the 1950s, there used to be 1 in 10,000 children who have autism in the United States, as Dr. Lawrence Wilson noted.

Now, the rate is 1 in 110 children, as reported by Autism Speaks.

As noted in Baird G, Simonoff E, Pickles A et al, five-sixths of the people with autism spectrum disorder have either PDD-NOS, or Asperger’s Syndrome. Asian countries till this day are virgin territory in this regard. But with the rise of the affluence of China and the "Asian Tigers" like Singapore, HK, Taiwan, S.Korea, it is only a matter of years before more advanced diagnosis methods reach there. The ill effects of over-diagnosis will threaten their countries' social fabric.

There had been increasing awareness of learning disabilities or disorders. Indeed, autistic people who are mentally retarded fell, in correspondence to the rise in low-functioning, non-Asperger’s Syndrome or PDD-NOS population, as Professor Richardo Dolmetsch of Stanford University noted. And to the credit of worldwide healthcare systems, more appropriate help has been given to improve the lives of these people.

However, it fails to explain the problem seen in the higher-functioning autism population. Since the introduction of Autism in DSM-III in 1980 and the addition of Asperger’s Syndrome in DSM-IV in 1994, there had been a spike in the diagnosis of those people. In addition, a similar trend can be seen in AD/HD. In the UK, from National Health Service reports, an estimated 0.5 per 1,000 children had ADHD in the 1970s, while 3 per 1,000 received ADHD medications in the late 1990s. The numbers continue to spike.

The trends in the diagnosis of special needs are staggeringly abnormal. What could be the reason behind the increase in number of people with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD or more?

Societal attitudes could be one of the factors. Students in a highly competitive social culture like in some parts of Asia with overzealous parents or studying in standardized test score-centric schools have to endure treatment after treatment, to improve their schoolwork performance, and not the other areas that they are good or interested in, like the arts, sports and other areas. In addition, many societies have evolved into more conformist and social-centric society. If the child does not meet the society's or the parent's expectations or being that nail that sticks out, the common thought would be is "there's something wrong with my child."

Educational trends in UK, US and Australia move towards a more centralized standardized testing system, where students are graded and assessed based on their academic potential, which require them to fit the requirements of their papers in order to move on to their next levels. Meanwhile the social culture of many Asian countries mistakenly emphasize too much on paper qualifications more than the true caliber of their individuals, unleashing a merciless arms race between individuals from grade school to high school to universities; an bad attitude that permeate their education systems, leaving a bad impact their people's well being. Diagnosed individuals even up the bottom of the food chain in this battle.

Similar trends can also be seen in global spread of information. It used to be the case that different firms have different niches around the world. A high degree of latitude is given to different cultural behavior and characteristics around the world.

Presently though, best practices in firms cause a degree of uniformity in all people, in order to reach an attainment of best outcomes throughout the world. In this society, any outstanding behavior that do not more effectively promote one’s best interests is seen as ‘anti-social’, and hence, anyone exhibiting such anti-social behavior is seen as a ‘weirdo’, and deserved to be alienated from the rest of society or in some cases, killed off indirectly. This includes socializing with other people in a different way from others, writing and reading in a different manner as compared to the others, as well as interpreting different ideas differently from others.

It is estimated by Dr. Frances that a child with autism spectrum disorder costs the taxpayer about $10 million for his entire life. The same could be said for other special needs. Imagine what happens if society does not fund the child for ‘speech therapies’ and ‘play therapies’ that put him further from greatness to create value for society. There will be less waste of resources for national development, and there will be a higher well-being and worth for those people with special needs. This will drastically reduce the numbers of people on the dole and at the same time, a boost to the ‘special needs community’ and its overall level of happiness.

Current diagnosis of autism, AD/HD and even dyslexia do not account for different people’s natural inclinations. Some people are more inclined to do visual arts, others are more motivated to involve in sporting activities. Not all wants to involve in academia, or professions that involve too much writing or reading. In this way, people with special needs, once diagnosed, are now placed further away from their true callings.

There is also a possibly that some normal people who exhibit social behavior similar to those who have special needs, might be mistakenly diagnosed for having special needs. These people end up no better than their special needs counterparts, as they are often framed in the same mindset to act and behave like special needs people. One such example is the otaku culture that is gripping Japan, Taiwan and S. Korea. The anime director, Hideaki Anno, calls such behaviour as a form of "forced autism". The anti-social behaviour of such individuals such as the famous Otaku Killer set off a moral panic against innocent Japanese animation lovers as suggested by increased targeting of otaku by law enforcement as possible suspects for sex-related crimes.

This further contributes the spike of special needs population, furthering burden society with their loafing of societal resources. Hence, the extension of diagnosis of special needs to people who do not really medically fit diagnostic criteria may possibly strain the able special needs people’s ability to relate better and contribute to society. In addition, the spike in the special needs population may lead to an undeserved awareness for the group, which will not lead to acceptance of these people as full members of their society.


As an alternative for people who can contribute to our world, it is better to replace diagnoses they receive with more support for their gifts and talents. Giving them more leeway in order for them to pursue their interests in non-conformist interests that they can excel in will be better for them personally, as they experience increased levels of self-esteem. It will also be better for their communities, as they become their community’s source of pride. It will also contribute to the society’s overall happiness in having more talented people, adding colors and flavors for our world, to make it more interesting with different peaks of talents.


Only with better support for our current special needs population as a whole, will we be able to bring awareness of the special needs population with acceptance.