Article

2010-09-13 -Short Attention Span Theater-

US gov't study: No link found between vaccines and autism

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Posted by gorb 2010-09-13 13:33|| || Front Page|| [11130 views ] Top

#1 Some of the surge in autism has to be due to assortative mating -- "Assortative mating among computer scientists with Asperger syndrome is thought to account for the stratospheric rise in juvenile autism spectrum disorders in Silicon Valley."
Some of it will probably turn out to be due to environmental toxins and infections that are new to the people in the last 100-150 years. You could consider a vaccine as an environmental toxin / infection, but there are so many other possible things in that category.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-09-13 13:49|| 2010-09-13 13:49|| Front Page Top

#2 So I shouldn't have married that supermodel?

Posted by gorb 2010-09-13 14:02|| 2010-09-13 14:02|| Front Page Top

#3 How about they check for all the recreational drugs the parents have been taking over the years? They have no idea what they've ingested directly into their bodies over the years. And both recreational drug use and autism keep increasing.

What....they don't use recreational drugs in Silicon Valley? Silly me.

Posted by Black Charlie Chinemble5313 2010-09-13 14:06|| 2010-09-13 14:06|| Front Page Top

#4
I think its due to dihydrogen monoxide. Must be. In each and every case the subject was exposed to dihydrogen monoxide over a long period of time - even to the point of consumption.

That dihydrogen monoxide is deadly stuff. People die from it every day.

Posted by CrazyFool 2010-09-13 14:08|| 2010-09-13 14:08|| Front Page Top

#5 It might well be that the results of bad parenting - children who act up - are being mis-diagnosed as autism. Why has there been such an epidemic of bad parenting in the past few decades? Probably a turn away from corporal punishment, which is now a crime in a lot of states.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2010-09-13 14:12|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com 2010-09-13 14:12|| Front Page Top

#6 People die from it every day. If tain't one thing, it's nuther.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-09-13 14:12|| 2010-09-13 14:12|| Front Page Top

#7 From almost the start, a correlation was noted that autistic children seem to come from highly intelligent parents, and two highly intelligent parents are definitely at risk for having an autistic child.

This theory was disputed for a while, because of many average intelligence parents having autistic children, until it was discerned that in *their* case, it was likely because of "fragile X syndrome".

Fragile X is caused by the human species starting to 'shed' some chromosomes that it doesn't need, which we may have done before. Adding or deleting chromosomes seems to be a fairly common thing in lifeforms.

In any event, there is a suspicion that "rational intelligence", as we think of it, is actually a mutation, and an unstable one at that. This is supported by people with Ausperger's syndrome, the mildest form of autism, who are often very intelligent, but somewhat handicapped in other ways.

Posted by Anonymoose 2010-09-13 14:14|| 2010-09-13 14:14|| Front Page Top

#8 Is Jennie McCarthy really highly intelligent ...who knew?

Posted by Sgt. D.T. 2010-09-13 15:01|| 2010-09-13 15:01|| Front Page Top

#9 It might well be that the results of bad parenting

Impossible. Multidisciplinary teams evaluate each child on an educational basis, and they aren't inclined to give a diagnosis of educational-autism unless it's really bad because it's so expensive for the system.

To get a medical diagnosis of autism the kid has to take a bunch of tests to evaluate performance, and just showing up as a brat won't cut it.

Posted by gorb 2010-09-13 15:32|| 2010-09-13 15:32|| Front Page Top

#10 Is Jennie McCarthy really highly intelligent ...who knew?

Posted by gorb 2010-09-13 15:35|| 2010-09-13 15:35|| Front Page Top

#11 In most cases of Autism - the kids don't 'act up'.

Its just the opposite - they don't 'engage' at all - they are often off in their 'own little world' - may be staring off into space or playing with toys oblivious to the world around them.

Gorb is right - its evaluated by a Multidisciplinary teams involving a range of test (including physical development and coordination) and interviews with the parents (Does he make vocal noises? speak words? When did he start? Does he understand the words or simply parrot them? Does he play alone or with others? etc...

And of course the hearing tests, blood tests, etc...

Been there. Done that. It is not fun.

Posted by CrazyFool 2010-09-13 15:57|| 2010-09-13 15:57|| Front Page Top

#12 Well, each of her pet silicon boobies cost about five to ten thousand so I guess she figures a classy t-shirt to show them off is just part of the (ahem) cerebrum.

Posted by Sprocket Muppet 2010-09-13 16:04|| 2010-09-13 16:04|| Front Page Top

#13 Nancy Pelosi, are you reading this? Really suprised? Oh wait, you look Really suprised all the time! Booowtox

Posted by Sprocket Muppet 2010-09-13 16:11|| 2010-09-13 16:11|| Front Page Top

#14 they are often off in their 'own little world' - may be staring off into space or playing with toys oblivious to the world around them. CrazzyFoo.

But, but, but it's what I do!

Posted by Besoeker 2010-09-13 16:16|| 2010-09-13 16:16|| Front Page Top

#15 It's OK, Besoeker, you're not alone. ;-)

Posted by gorb 2010-09-13 16:45|| 2010-09-13 16:45|| Front Page Top

#16 I have a brother who is deaf and has Ausperger syndrome, and a daughter who has Down syndrome. While I don't claim to be an expert in either syndrome (I've met actual experts), I do have a fair amount of "hands on" experience. Here's what I know:

1) My father was a college professor, my mother is a practicing dentist. So we (my brother and I) had intelligent parents just like Anon said. However, my brother's Ausperger syndrome may or may not have been a result of my mother contracting rubella in premed (though his deafness certainly was). No way to know.

2) My daughter's condition is probably a result of having an older mother. Or maybe not. Down syndrome is kind of just "one of those things." There was a 1 in 60 chance for us, and we rolled a sixty on the giant polyhedral dice of life.

3) My brother's IQ is roughly 140. My daughter's is (I believe) somewhere 70 and 90.

4) Honestly, I think my brother is worse off. Sure, he has two college degrees... but he still lives with Mom, has never had a job, and doesn't have any friends that I know of. It's possible that my daughter will go to college (more and more people with Down syndrome do), but regardless she is extroverted, highly social, and easygoing. I think she'll do OK as an adult.

5) When my child was born and I was all broken up about her condition, a friend of mine who has a son who is severely autistic came to visit. She said to me "Ha! Stop complaining: your child has the Cadillac of syndromes!" And she had a point.

6)Philosophically, I'm not really sure what the general increase in genetic syndromes means. It may just mean that with modern medicine more of our "mutant" babies are staying alive. It may mean that we are struggling toward another evolutionary stage.

It may mean that God is testing an otherwise decadent West. After all, how we treat these people says a lot about ourselves as a civilization.

Posted by Secret Master 2010-09-13 17:42|| 2010-09-13 17:42|| Front Page Top

#17 SM Honestly, I think my brother is worse off. Sure, he has two college degrees... but he still lives with Mom, has never had a job, and doesn't have any friends that I know of

I know of two people who hold jobs who has Aspergers. One has difficulty in her job. The other seems to be able to do her job very well. Both seem to be stunted socially. Social relationships are very difficult and stressful for both. One woman has two very bright parents. I don't know much about the other woman's family background other than there is not much support and family seems dysfunctional. Both seem to go into an emotional tizzy about things that are somewhat trivial to the rest of us. One seems to be very OCD. She will call and leave a message and almost always call two minutes later and leave basically the same message. One is 50+ and still lives at home with a fairly arranged structured life. If she strays too far away from that structure, it causes her problems. The other one lives by herself but has problems at work, with neighbors, and with her family.

Posted by JohnQC 2010-09-13 18:13|| 2010-09-13 18:13|| Front Page Top

#18 Aspergers is sometimes called "super-nerd syndrome", if that helps any. I'm quite certain assortive mating has something to do with the noted increase -- people who once would have hidden in the basement are able to have careers and meet one another on-line, where they don't have to deal with all that interpersonal stuff.

As for the rest, Temple Grandin (she of the four PhDs, psychology professorship, and designer of humane slaughter houses) was nearly institutionalized as a small child for mental retardation. No doubt that's where most of those now receiving the diagnosis used to end up.

Posted by trailing wife 2010-09-13 18:40|| 2010-09-13 18:40|| Front Page Top

#19 Both seem to be stunted socially. Social relationships are very difficult and stressful for both. One woman has two very bright parents.

That sounds about right. My brother is the fat guy with the beard at the comic book store who really, really, really wants to talk to you about the current Green Lantern... but just can't seem to manage it.

Posted by Secret Master 2010-09-13 18:45|| 2010-09-13 18:45|| Front Page Top

23:45 JosephMendiola
23:00 JohnQC
22:59 gorb
22:57 anon1
22:55 JosephMendiola
22:52 anon1
22:45 trailing wife
22:45 JosephMendiola
22:41 Pappy
22:41 49 pan
22:40 JosephMendiola
22:39 anon1
22:34 trailing wife
22:32 JosephMendiola
22:30 JosephMendiola
22:27 49 pan
22:26 JosephMendiola
22:01 CrazyFool
21:58 No I am The Other Beldar
21:50 Procopius2k
21:45 anon1
21:35 CrazyFool
21:33 anon1
21:30 Besoeker