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The autism epidemic cometh
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Posted by sylvia on Monday, August 03, 2009 (09:37:14)
Times Online By Mark Henderson
When Leo Kanner first described autism in 1943 it was thought to be extremely rare, affecting no more than one to three children in 10,000. Yet it is now so common, with a prevalence of between one in 300 and one in 100, that most people know an individual or family touched by it.
These statistics have given currency to the idea that there is an autism epidemic - and to fears that an aspect of modern life has made children more susceptible. This has fed unfounded scares about the role of vaccines.
Although autism is certainly diagnosed more often than it once was, that does not mean that more children are developing it. As a remarkable book being published next week explains, the condition is probably no more prevalent than it has always been. What has changed is that it is being recognised properly for the first time.
Roy Richard Grinker is the father of Isabel, an autistic girl, now 14. His book Unstrange Minds is a powerful memoir of his family's experience;of the struggle to obtain a diagnosis for Isabel and to have her needs catered for by the education system. It also describes her difficult but warm and rewarding personality and her family's joy as she learns to make sense of a confusing and often frightening world.
It is impossible not to be moved, not least by Isabel's transforming fascination with Monet's water lilies, and the moment when an argument with her non-autistic sister shows that she is starting to understand other people's emotions.
Grinker is also an anthropologist, who has used his skills to examine how cultural attitudes to autism affect our experience of the condition. His compelling argument is that there is no autism epidemic. The apparently rising incidence is the result of broader, earlier and more accurate diagnosis and greater awareness among doctors and patients.
Autism did not feature in the standard psychiatry textbook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, until 1980. Later revisions broadened the criteria, placing more children in the autistic spectrum. One even contained an error that inadvertently widened the definition.
These changes, Grinker shows, matched the curve of the supposed epidemic. Children who would once have been considered mentally retarded or schizophrenic are today classed, more correctly, as autistic. So, too, are some higher-functioning children with autism-spectrum disorders, who previously escaped psychiatric attention altogether. These people were always there but have now been given an appropriate label.
Altered parental perceptions have made a difference, too. As autism has been diagnosed more often, it has become less frightening and more socially acceptable. Indeed, much less stigma is attached to this disorder than to mental retardation: many parents of atypical children now want them to be labelled autistic. Grinker's assessment of autism in non-Western cultures adds to his case that complex cultural factors cause the same symptoms to be interpreted differently.
The availability of social, educational and medical services can also matter. Grinker's home state of Maryland, for example, waives many medical fees for autistic children but not for the mentally retarded, creating an incentive for parents and their doctors to lean one way and not the other.
If Grinker is right, the so-called autism epidemic is not to be feared but to be celebrated. It means that children and adults who for centuries have been given the wrong diagnosis, or been missed altogether, are finally being assessed appropriately. That can only be good for research into the condition's origins and treatment. Most importantly, it will help the rest of us to understand and meet autistic people's needs.
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Mother Of Autistic Boy Fights Church Ban
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Posted by sylvia on Monday, August 03, 2009 (09:05:11)
EnewsBy Andra Griffin
Carol Race, the mother of an autistic boy who's been kept out from the family's church pleaded not guilty to a charge of violating a restraining order. A pretrial settlement hearing was set for July 14 in Todd County District Court.
Last month, the Reverend Daniel Walz at Bertha's Church of St. Joseph took the unusual measure of obtaining a restraining order, barring Carol and her husband from bringing their severely autistic 13-year-old son, Adam, to the central Minnesota Roman Catholic church. Walz argued his decision by alleging that the boy had become a danger to parishioners. The reverend said Adam has struck a child during mass, urinated and spit in church and nearly knocked over people.
"His behavior at Mass is extremely disruptive and dangerous. Adam is 13 and growing, so his behaviors grow increasingly difficult for his parents to manage," wrote Walz in his petition for the restraining order.
The case triggered a nationwide media controversy, including a spot on ABC's "Good Morning America," which was set in motion by Race and her support group of families with special-needs children.
Autism is a severe infant disorder of communication and behaviour that develops before the age of three. The autistic child is unable to use language meaningfully or to process information from the environment. About half of all autistic children are mute, and those who do speak often only repeat mechanically what they have heard. The term autism refers to their withdrawn appearance, but its connotation of voluntary detachment is inappropriate.
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Cameroon: Autism Needs Attention
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Posted by lightfoot on Sunday, May 04, 2008 (06:56:14)
By Effa Tambenkongho of the Cameroon Tribune
The Ministries of Social Affairs, Health and Basic Education must collaborate to rescue Autistic Children in Cameroon.
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Autism One conference 2008
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Posted by lightfoot on Saturday, March 22, 2008 (07:22:11)
In the Chicago area?
KEYNOTE ADDRESS – JENNY McCARTHY
5 Days That Will Change Your Child's Life
The Sixth Annual Autism One Conference Returns to Chicago
Wednesday, May 21 – Sunday, May 25
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Presidential Candidates and Autism
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Posted by lightfoot on Sunday, March 16, 2008 (17:59:32)
Posted by : Julie in Parenting Children with Special Needs Blog
Autism may be one of the hottest disability topics for this year’s presidential candidates. All the major candidates have addressed it in some way, which isn’t surprising, given the rapid rise in autism (1 in 150) and all those children with autism have parents and grandparents who are presumably voters.
A site called AutismFACTS has compiled information on the presidential candidates’ stance on autism and the government’s involvement. The information on this website is a bit dated, since most of the original candidates are still posted there. But for the big three, AutismFACTS gives both Clinton and Obama a “C†and McCain a “C-“. They give Ron Paul a “Bâ€.
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