Comments on: Definitions: Prevalence & Epidemic

By: Autism Vox » New Research, New Books, and New Hopes

Autism Vox » New Research, New Books, and New Hopes — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:01:07 +0000

[...] It has not even been two full months into 2007 (a year of great significance for me as, come May 15th, my son Charlie will be 10 years old) and—in the wake of new research studies—some new paths to understanding autism are emerging. On February 8th, the CDC announced new figures for the prevalence rate of autism in the US, which is now 1 in 150. While this was not news to many—a prevalence rate of 1 in 100 has been reported in such places as the UK and in Sweden—the widely publicized lower figure—and in particular New Jersey’s rate of 1 in 94—was a catalyst for many asking “why” and “what do we do” (in New Jersey, six autism bills are being presented to the State Assembly this week). It is possible that autism can be diagnosed even in very young children and that there is a “very early autism phenotype,” according to research in the January 2007 Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders; early autism diagnosis was also the subject of 60 minutes last night (you can watch the video on the 60 minutes website). Yesterday saw the publication in Nature Genetics of a new study on the genetic causes of autism: As much as 90% of autism may have a genetic basis. [...]

By: Autism Vox » Of Birds and Sheep, and Science in the Media

Autism Vox » Of Birds and Sheep, and Science in the Media — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 07:40:38 +0000

[...] There is, Illes notes, a “sharp disconnect” between the “conversation” that scientists have with themselves and what the public learns through media stories (and, too, via the Internet, whether in blogs, email discussion lists, or plain old websites). And the volume of stories that the public reads about possible environmental factors causing autism can, indeed, convey a sense that this is the issue—can cause people to flock to ideas (and, indeed, to panic and alarm) about whether or not there is an epidemic of autism, rather than to reflect upon the difference between terms like epidemic and prevalence [...]

By: Autism Vox » What else can we talk about if there’s no autism epidemic?

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 07:55:46 +0000

[...] Definitions: Prevalence and Epidemic [...]

By: Daisy

Daisy — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 02:57:11 +0000

Epidemic implies contagion. Autism is not contagious.
Several years ago an administrator told me that autism was overtaking Learning disabilities as the number one disability in our district. He felt that improved diagnostics were not enough to explain the increase.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 02:54:32 +0000

I think “know” is the key word—-for myself, “KNOWing” what autism is has enabled me to make sense of past experiences and acquaintances; it is not (as a commenter on the Slate article wrote) the new stand-in label for mental retardation.

By: Julia

Julia — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 22:48:29 +0000

There are probably parents who would say that, but who don’t KNOW they know someone with Asperger’s Syndrome.

I confine my actions somewhat when I’m with one particular group. Most of them may not suspect anything. (And if anyone does suspect anything, she hasn’t said anything to me. Using “she” because this particular group is all women.) In fact, one who suspects a number of people and listed a few of them off didn’t put me in the list….

With other groups, the people who know what I’m talking about pause, and if they say much of anything, it’s something to the effect of, “Well, that would explain X….”