New Numbers, Smart Surveys

The golden spike (or, as Jill says and I wish I’d thought of this, “100 is the new 160″) has unleashed a crop of opinions in the general media on autism’s present and future impact — and, indeed, if the “real” numbers have risen at all.

“Autism is on the rise — or is it?’ wonders Newsweek (“The new data has everyone who cares about autism abuzz. But, as with so many issues connected to the disorder, no one can quite agree on what it means … “). The Los Angeles Times seems have interpreted the new numbers chiefly by averaging the affected ages at 8, and an opinion piece in The Boston Globe and on Boston.com maintains that awareness can’t be the sole reason for the seemingly overnight doubling.

Even bigger media names will probably pick up this topic in coming weeks, and perhaps even the talking heads of cable news will join the debate (with probably about four of them all talking at once on the same program, from what I’ve seen of these shows). One does hope that the surge, epidemic, tragedy, or whatever else we parents want to call it when our 11-year-old still watches “Elmo” will be treated with the human respect and attention it deserves, and won’t become just another political, ratings-rich football booted back and forth between Fox News and MSNBC.

Photo courtesy of wilhei55 (flickr.com)

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The Interactive Autism Network has launched a survey aimed at grandparents to bring their knowledge of their grandchildren’s autism “into the research mix.” Good idea: Grandparents can offer a lifetime of experience in parenting in general (my parents died before I had kids, and I’ve always felt a little incomplete because of that), and every insight is helpful beyond when a grandparent can hand a kid back and simply say, “He’s just like you!” We’re afraid he isn’t.