The murky politics of Autism hysteria

Not all trends have a basis in reality and correlation does not imply causation.-

Read here-

From the article:

Diagnosed autism prevalence in children is doubling about every seven years, and if historical trends continue, a quarter of all kids will be on the spectrum before 2040.  Is this trend real?  No chance.  There is no established mechanism for such a rapid rise in this “disease,” and given how experts cannot agree on what autism truly is, a massive proportion of these claimed cases are undoubtedly not true autism, but more likely the collective results of the natural variability in human abilities, bad parenting, a poor diet, overstimulation, etc.  The science is strongly suggestive that these other causes are playing a key role in the “epidemic.”

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15 Responses to The murky politics of Autism hysteria

  1. KG says:

    Damn right! http://falfn.com/CrusaderRabbit/wp-content/plugins/wp-monalisa/icons/wpml_good.gif
    Added to all of the above, it seems some diseases and conditions (gluten intolerance?) become fashionable at various times and the number of people thus diagnosed skyrockets.

    • Darin says:

      Yep,couple that with parents having children later at an age when they start worrying about every little bump or ache they wake up with in the morning, and then clueless movie stars that spout nonsense about various pet causes.The Human imagination is a very potent thing.

      Like my grandmother’s doctor told her once when she kept thinking there was something wrong and going to see him twice a month despite none of the tests showing anything ajar .-

      “at 84 most times what is “wrong” is perfectly normal.” :lol:

  2. Emily Summer says:

    Actually, one needs to follow the money for the vaccine industry. The author does not know what he is talking about.

    • Darin says:

      I have to strongly disagree,there is no evidence whatsoever that Vaccines are related to Autism full stop.There is a stronger correlation between oral contraceptives and Autism though,if you really want to follow the money.

      But the real reason for the rise in Autism cases can be found here-
      http://www.voicesforvaccines.org/how-my-daughter-taught-me-that-vaccines-do-not-cause-autism/

      Even IF vaccines did cause a small percentage of Autism,which they do not,the risk is still well worth the reward.Walk through any cemetery at least a hundred years old.Look at the family plots and notice the dates and the number of children’s graves.If you pay attention you will find that the number of child deaths drops off dramatically after vaccines became widely available.

      • Bo Chandler says:

        Allergies one the other hand.

        Provably rising in all first world nations, and dramatically too. No explanation from the medical sector. Literally. “We have no idea.”

        • Darin says:

          Probably due to kids staying inside glued to the TV and computer instead of outside playing and working.The current generation in their teens will be the laziest in human history and the effects will show IMO.

  3. Michael in Nelson says:

    “…causation does not imply correlation…” I believe it’s the other way around. While there may be some correlation between two facts/events, that does not mean one causes the other. For example, the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere correlates to the increase in temperature since the late 1800s but that does not mean it caused the increase.

  4. mara says:

    I have a little family member who desperately needs a good smack but whose parents continue to believe that he is special and continue to coddle the little swine. Maybe he is “autistic”? I don’t think so. I do not allow him to be ” autistic” and break the furniture or torment the pets when he visits us and I think he gets the message. Or at least his parents do because we don’t see them much any more.

  5. Gregoryno6 says:

    There was a young lady named Donna Williams who made herself famous with her book “Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl”. Modest title, you say? Well, one reviewer on Amazon described it as ‘the Rosetta stone of autism’, so there! The reality of her affliction was questioned but she seems to have done pretty well for herself.
    I heard her interviewed on radio and my own opinion, FWIW, was that she was playing a role she’d created to make herself untouchable. Picking on an autistic person is just mean!

  6. Cadwallader says:

    I am heartily tired and bored with pseudo science coming up with solutions to non problems. I recommend “Science Left Behind” by Alex Berezow and Hank Campbell. For a great laugh go to YouTube and bring up JP Sears on gluten intolerance. There is actually no such thing. At times we can all react momentarily to foods of all types so to elevate this behaviour to a condition or an affliction is devious and self-pitying.