Parents give their Autistic teen surgery to shut him up

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NBC whose former chairmen started Autism Speaks thinks it is the right thing to do.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-heal ... 8C11296293

Without knowing all the facts I can not make final judgement. Article claimed screams were an obsession. Somehow I doubt sensory pain was even considered as the cause.

Well they make it sound so nice - now he's talking more. I don't know, you're right it's hard to say, but that was intended to make us think it was right - but it's kind of what we were talking about in the other thread.

I think it's a reasonable solution to the problem. The needs of the disabled have to be balanced with the needs of others.

I would not be able to live with someone who screamed all the time. I don't think I'm unusual in that.

It seems that surgery was a last resort, it's reversible and from the article this young man's quality of life has improved, as has that of his family.

the only other [humane] alternative would be if everybody wore hearing protection all the time.

If that article was written by the kid and not a doctor, I would agree with you. Not even saying you're not right, I'm just saying we've had the side of the medical professional - not always in touch with how the patient feels. But I do agree that the families needs are important as well.

I can't link to it, but if you google the boy's name, you'll find a YouTube video in which the background to this is explained and the difference the surgery has made is talked about.

I don't think Kade would be able to write an article about the treatment, but he does seem happy.

Kade

Here's the video - this is exactly what I was talking about, his side of the story (thanks marcia). He didn't really talk, but you can see he's happy like Marcia said. Also the doctor is a warm human who really cared, not just some sterile guy saying it was the right thing to do. Very nice story.

The video explained the cause better then the editorial. The editorial said it was probably an obsession but no cause was known. On the video it was stated it definitely a vocal tic. That would be something that can be seen. Surgery is ok to fix a psychical problem.

I like how it doesn't say anything about how this autistic teen feels about the whole thing. I mean if it really was a tic he couldn't control and wanted it to stop himself maybe its not so evil....but if it was forced upon him and the screaming was from some kind of sensory issue or something then such a thing is probably more harmful than good.

Where is the autistic teens perspective on this?

While reading the article, I thought to myself, "Well, what else could you do? Hogtie him and medicate him until the screams stop?"

It's reasonable. I mean, he's disturbing others with his habit, and nothing else could really be done about it.

more humane than a shock collar. there is a school on the east coast that would use those on people like the autistic child subject of this thread.