The CDC is expected to release information today confirming that autism now affects 1 in 100 up from estimates of 1 in 150 formed just 2 years ago,and previous estimates of 1 in 166, 1 in 250 and 1 in 500. By any measure the increase in autism diagnoses is astonishing. Those who deny that autism is really increasing will, yet again, trot out the 1993-4 diagnostic definition changes as the primary factor explaining the increase in diagnoses.
Think about it people the definition was changed 15 years ago. We can no longer rely on that change to explain the dramatic increases in autism diagnoses that occur every two years.
US institutions like the NIH, the NIMH, the CDC and the IACC must lead the way in encouraging research of the environmental causes which fully explain these startling increases. (As a Canadian involved with autism advocacy I know first hand the pathetic ineptitude of Canadian research institutions to be of any assistance. As an autism advocate my name was twice put forward as a candidate to attend the sham National Autism Conference but was rejected by our Canadian leadership who instead opted for feel good autism representatives to attend) Leading Canadian autism researches like Dr. Laurent Mottron hold to the view that autism can not be cured, that it is nonsense to talk about curing autism.
If autism research leadership comes it will come from the US. Let us hope that despite President Obama's appointment of an anti autism cure person who does not believe that autism is a disability to a disabilities council advocates can pressure US institutions into conducting the necessary environmental based autism research.
Let us dig our heads out of the sand before it is too late.
It is time to deal with the reality of autism rising.
autism
How can anybody unequivocally say that autism cannot be cured and talking about it is nonsense? Especially considering the fact that the etiology of autism is unknown? After the cause is found, the possibility of a cure can be debated. And if there is an environmental factor or trigger, than chances for a cure are even higher. Not to mention that the advances in medicine and technology can provide a cure and treatment for many conditions that previously seemed impossible.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has Angelman syndrome which is a strictly genetic disorder caused by a chromosomal deletion and a missing enzyme, yet research is being conducted to find a "cure". As far-fetched as it sounds, Angelman syndrome has been cured in a mouse model, which indicates that a cure/treatment for humans is a viable possibility. By the way, genetic research indicates that there might be a link between autism and Angelman syndrome, as one of the more frequent genetic anomalies found in connection to autism affects the same portion of the 15th chromosome that is missing in most cases of Angelman syndrome. (It's better explained on their site: http://www.cureangelman.org/)
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/17/autism.new.numbers/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn
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