Let's Save The NIH Some Money

The latest headline on autism Studies "Parents of Autistic Children Less Likely to Have More Kids." #1 That's a bit of a no brainer and #2 Who Cares?  What good does it do anyone to know that? How many autism families out there have looked at a headline and said "No Sh*t Sherlock?"  What bothers me most about these worthless studies is that some entity (often the National Institutes of Health) is paying for them, leaving fewer precious funds for research that could actually help autistic people and their families.
So here is what I propose:  How about autistic people and their families write the NIH and let them know what does not need to be studied?  Make it clear what is already accepted as common knowledge and what is worthless to us. Maybe we can help them spend their money more usefully. Here is my list of topics in the Things We Already Know and/or Find a Waste of Research Dollars.


Autistic Kids Have Poorer Sleep Quality Than Their Peers Into Teens

Children with autism get frustrated more easily than their peers

Autistic adults less likely to live independently

Autistic kids, on average, have fewer friends than their peers

Parents of autistic children are more concerned about what will happen to their children when they die

Autistic children get invited to fewer birthday parties and social events

Parents of autistic children spend more time supervising their children than parents of typically developing children

Parents of autistic children have more difficulty finding childcare help that meet their children’s needs

Autistic children Have more communication difficulties

Autistic children more likely to be enrolled in special ed.

Parents of autistic children less likely to get a review of what happened over the school day from their children

Autism linked to ADD and ADHD

Children with autism More likely to have sensory processing disorder

1 out of 3 Parents of children have fantasized about physically or emotionally harming a member of the IEP team

Parents  of children with autism report losing friends for reasons related to their child’s diagnosis.

Parents of children with autism more likely to be spoken down to by healthcare and education professionals

Autism Linked to Anxiety

Autism Linked to OCD

Autism Linked to increased incidence of seizures

Families of children with autism spend more money on traditional therapies

Families of children with autism more likely to spend money on alternative therapies

Parents of children with autism have more knowledge on the topic that the majority of people with Master’s Degrees in the same discipline

Parents of children with autism have more struggles with Insurance Companies.

1 in 3 parents of children with autism report being blown off when they first expressed concern over their child’s development

Parents of children with autism spend more time fighting the education and healthcare services for their children

Regression can occur multiple times over the course of development in a child with autism

Parents report anger and frustration over frivolous autism study topics

Parents of children with autism have higher levels of stress hormones.

Autistic people more likely to engage in self-stimulatory Behavior.