Still a Lot to Learn: FIT Survey on Attitudes about Autism

Florida Institute of Technology (FIT) has commissioned what is described as the “first national survey of attitudes toward autism.” Today’s Physorg notes some highlights of the report; more results of the survey will be revealed at an autism conference to be held at FIT this weekend. The Scott Center for Autism Treatment is located at FIT. Its College of Psychology and Liberal Arts, which commissioned the survey, offers a graduate program in Applied Behavior Analysis.

Looking at what Physorg reports about the survey’s result, there’s a lot of confusion out there about what causes autism and what it is. 1000 men and women who were 21 years old or older were randomly selected from throughout the nation and information was gathered via telephone interviews conducted between August 1 and August 29 by GDA Education Research, Mount Pleasant, S.C.:

Nearly one in four (24 percent) said that because vaccines may cause autism it was safer not to have children vaccinated at all. Another 19 percent were not sure.
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Nineteen percent of the respondents agreed with the statement “Autism is caused by a preservative once found in childhood vaccines.” An additional 43 percent were not sure, meaning fewer than half (38 percent) of the respondents believe no link exists between the vaccine and autism.
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More than three in four respondents (76 percent) to the national survey agree with the statement: “At this time, scientists don’t know exactly what causes autism.”

Looks like more than a few people would benefit by joining this book club.