A sense of entitlement might help
by Beth
I happened to turn on Bob Edwards Weekend on NPR just as he was interviewing journalist Judith Warner about her book We’ve Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of Medication. In the interview, Warner was asked about a Newsday article that looked at why affluent school districts “classify more than five times as many of their students with autism as districts at the opposite end of the economic
spectrum.”
The Newsday survey drew on state data from school districts whose enrollments were more than 500.
Advocates who have compiled similar data voice concern that many poor, minority youngsters might not be getting the same extensive, state-mandated services available to those identified as autistic …
Medical experts blame the problem not so much on schools as on a lack of quality health care in low-income neighborhoods. Research shows toddlers in poor families who aren’t taken on regular visits to pediatricians are less likely to have their autism diagnosed when it first appears — usually, before age 3.
In the Bob Edwards Weekend interview, Warner said one reason students in affluent school districts are more likely to be diagnosed with autism is that their parents have a sense of entitlement. On first listen, this sounded a bit harsh to me. I guess I’ve always thought the phrase “sense of entitlement” had a pejorative connotation, that a person with a sense of entitlement was acting greedy.
I kept listening, though, and if I heard right, Warner meant that this particular sense of entitlement is a good thing. She wishes all parents, not just those who live in affluent school districts, felt this sense of entitlement when it comes to the health care of their children.
Do me a favor and listen to the podcast of Judith Warner’s interview if you get a chance. See if I heard it right.