House of Eratosthenes

The lady this story quoted, along with the perhaps thousands that she represents, has a chance at the top slot in my list of people I absolutely, positively, do not trust.

“Autism is a major public health challenge, and this study is another call to action that we need to be able to provide care across the lifespan,” she [Geraldine Dawson, chief scientific officer of Autism Speaks] said.

An earthling would say (or think), “This study is another call to action that we need to figure out what in the blue fuck is happening and take some steps to prevent it from happening some more.” Whatever is your favorite pet theory: It’s over-diagnosed, kids aren’t getting a whack in the seat of the pants when they need it, single mothers don’t know how to relate to their sons and are “ordering” a diagnosis when they simply don’t know what to do, the power lines over the house are poisoning the babies, they’re eating lead-based paint they peel off the side of the house, there’s mercury in the water…

Whatever your view on those, we should all come together on this. We should all like my thought a hell of a lot better than hers. For starters, it doesn’t just completely reek of the smell of “money-grab.” And then there’s the desire to offer a normal life to the millions of kids not-yet-born, who might have a chance not to suffer from this affliction be it real or imagined.

Gawd, I’m sick and tired of the arguments that it “exists.” Of course it exists! But this has led to a stigma against proffering the notion that this or that child might not have it. And so according to our prevailing notions, any child that might possibly have it, must have it. Nobody wants to be stigmatized.

Remember how everyone you knew in the 90’s had carpal tunnel? How about ADHD? Fibromyalgia? Part of the problem of promoting name recognition of diseases is that they tend to be diagnosed in people who may have some of the symptoms but not all. Parents and patients themselves are more happy having a diagnosis than not and this plays into the situation. So, as organizations embark on campaigns to elevate public awareness of a certain disease you see a resultant increase in diagnoses for that disease.
- Penny | 10/06/2009 @ 08:09
OCBASASBDII.
- mkfreeberg | 10/06/2009 @ 08:45
Autism is a rare and devestating disorder, especially to the parents of these children, who cannot love them in the ordinary sense. It is being over-promoted by people who recognize themselves in it; exactly the type of people whose genes, in combination, will tend to produce autism. Liberalism is a mental disorder.
- xlibrl | 10/06/2009 @ 09:22
I immediately thought of you Morgan when I heard this crap…well, maybe second after I yelled “Bullshit!!!”
- tim | 10/06/2009 @ 13:46

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Recent

Items of Interest

Monthly Archives

What They Say

Links

Autism May Be More Common Than ThoughtTuesday, October 6th, 2009

Autism May Be More Common Than Thought
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009