Why Autism Doesn’t Have to be Scary for Children

[Butterfly88]

Why Autism Doesn’t Have to be Scary for Children

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/withou...-autism-doesnt-have-to-be-scary-for-children/

This quote confused me. "Looking at them with compassion, I told them, my son, been born with a brain that had parts of it that didn’t work right (hydrocephalus). I explained that he had a disease that made his brain have too much water inside." Since when is autism caused by too much water? And why explain autism in that way to a child?

 

[Judge]

Why Autism Doesn’t Have to be Scary for Children

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/withou...-autism-doesnt-have-to-be-scary-for-children/

This quote confused me. "Looking at them with compassion, I told them, my son, been born with a brain that had parts of it that didn’t work right (hydrocephalus). I explained that he had a disease that made his brain have too much water inside." Since when is autism caused by too much water? And why explain autism in that way to a child?

I suspect the statement meant far more to a loving mother who explained it than the child she was speaking to. I once knew someone who grew up with hydrocephalus. His mother was one of my mother's best friends.

 

[Butterfly88]

I suspect the statement meant far more to a loving mother who explained it than the child she was speaking to. I once knew someone who grew up with hydrocephalus. His mother was one of my mother's best friends.

Is hydrocephalus related to ASD? The article just said the child was autistic, I didn't say he had any co-morbid conditions.

 

[Progster]

Is hydrocephalus related to ASD? The article just said the child was autistic, I didn't say he had any co-morbid conditions.

Hydrocephalus is not related to autism in any way, but I suppose that it is possible to have both conditions.

What I understand from the text is that he has both conditions. They are not related to each other, but the mother chose, for some reason, to first tell the girls that he had hydrocephalus, and then, when the girls mentioned autism, she then revealed to them that he also had autism.

What I don't get is why she would use hydrocephalus as an explanation for her son's behaviour, when the behaviour was related to autism and not hydrocephalus.

 

[Butterfly88]

Thank you for explaining.

What I don't get is why she would use hydrocephalus as an explanation for her son's behaviour, when the behaviour was related to autism and not hydrocephalus.

That's exactly why I was confused.

 

[Judge]

What I don't get is why she would use hydrocephalus as an explanation for her son's behaviour, when the behaviour was related to autism and not hydrocephalus.

Bear in mind this is an explanation geared for a child to understand. Not an adult. Equally an explanation not intended to be literally interpreted.

In many cases hydrocephalus is something that can be immediately seen, as opposed to autism which may or may not be immediately accountable visually speaking. I suspect she was connecting one to the other for the benefit- and simplicity for a child to comprehend something that otherwise is relatively complex to grasp.

Though in reality you are correct in that both conditions are more or less mutually exclusive of another even if one has both conditions present.