Comments on: Unlike Measles, Autism is Not a Potentially Fatal Disease

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 04:01:07 +0000

Emily,

David does not have a son.

I taught him to swim because he had the wherewithall to learn and I had the wherewithall to teach him. David is 21 now and he attends college now. He is still autistic, but he has a lot going for him.

By: This and Last Week’s Top Posts

This and Last Week’s Top Posts — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:27:54 +0000

[...] YouTube video of an autistic teenager getting beat up—about how autism, unlike measles, is not an infectious disease—–about the luxury of being able to choose to vaccinate or not—-whether hacker [...]

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:22:32 +0000

Ed, does your autistic son have a child?

Science is perfectly capable of defending itself, given that the evidence is all on the side of science. It’s a matter of getting the noisemakers to shut up long enough for the argument to be made. Scientists don’t rely on exclamation points as a substitute for data.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 03:58:14 +0000

Just a few years ago, i was a likely candidate for drowning or at least an urgent water rescue, as I did not know how to swim. I can now swim reasonably well to keep my head above water for a good while, and can also swim in the ocean. The only reason I learned to swim is because of Charlie who, as is known, is autistic (with limited reading skills at the moment so I cannot have him, as Ed did with his child, read the sentence; one day,perhaps).

I learned to swim because I had to be able to be in the pool with Charlie, who soon could swim in the deep end. I am inclined to think, that had it not been for this journey raising an autistic son, I would never have learned how to swim.

And hence, drowning would have been more likely for me.

By: Ed

Ed — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:28:16 +0000

“I know I’d rather have a child with autism than have a child who runs the risk of carrying, dying from or transmitting a potentially fatal disease.”

My autistic son read this and does not agree.

By: Regan

Regan — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:43:51 +0000

NT child would not have the problems with elopment.
Not necessarily true. My husband went on a mountain hike with my “NT” daughter and my daughter diagnosed with ASD. I received a late-evening call on a weak signal from the mountains. One of the girls was missing…I was sure that it must be Eleanor.
(Nope, it was the “NT” daughter that we had to call out search and rescue for, because she would not stay with Dad on the trail and got herself quite lost.)

been neurotypical she would not have drowned.
Our NT nephew drowned at the age of 3 1/2 in a neighbor’s pool after sneaking out of our in-laws’ yard during a barbecue. Did he have autism? Nope. But what he could not do is…swim.

The probabilities may be higher than for the general population, but don’t frame them as differential certainties based on medical status. I’m not trying to discount that we have to be more cautious and aware with those with special needs, but I think that some blanket statements are being made that just aren’t true.

By: Speaking Aut

Speaking Aut — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:05:36 +0000

Jonathan:

That doesn’t cover the second half of the argument. How do you account for all the neurotypical people who drown or run away? There are a LOT of neurotypical people who sneak out of the house for a night and never come back, or who are injured or assaulted. There are lots of neurotypicals who drown every year.

But you can’t die of measles if you never contract it.

The two situations aren’t comparable. Don’t pretend they are.

By: jonathan

jonathan — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:51:22 +0000

absolutely autism was the cause of these deaths. It is a safe bet that if Ashley Brock had been neurotypical she would not have drowned. Elopment is very common with autism, Kristina Chew herself writes about it regularly in her own blog. So, yes, I attribute these deaths directly to autism, the fact the child was too impaired to know that they were in danger and it would not have happened to an NT child and an NT child would not have the problems with elopment.

By: Regan

Regan — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:29:34 +0000

Just thought this might be of interest,
Talk of the Nation, August 29, 2008 17 min 49 sec.
Science Friday. Host: Ira Flatow
Guest: Paul Offit

By: Regan

Regan — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:00:43 +0000

The debate is as heated there as it is here. So what does that mean?

Since it is a self-selected response and not a polling of a random sample–that those responding are more likely to respond? Also depends on how many of the comments are back and forth between the same commenters. It’s pretty clear that those who take the time to comment may have a stronger, more invested or more composed point of view than people who just choose to read, are indifferent to the article, or prefer to perhaps discuss the matter elsewhere.

(That’s not meant in as cheeky a tone as it may sound. )