E! Online Notices Autism...For Better or Worse
We're not poking fun (or making light of the fact that 1 in 166 kids are diagnosed with autism). We just couldn't help but notice that it's become the cause célèbre lately.E! has received plenty of commentary on their little piece... you may want to add yours!Jenny McCarthy has been spreading a message of hope via the talk-show circuit with her new book, Louder Than Words, which recounts her son's recovery from autism.
America's Next Top Model features a 21-year-old stunner, college student Heather, with Asperger's syndrome. As host Tyra Banks chirped in one episode, "She's making a whole lot of autistic kids go, 'Wow.' " Well, not necessarily the kids, but definitely some of their families and friends.
Meanwhile, Jason Alexander, Minnie Driver, James Franco, Dermot Mulroney and other bold-faced names will perform at the 5th Annual Acts of Love Fundraiser at LA.'s Geffen Playhouse on Oct 15.
And if that's not enough, Brad Pitt's been rumored to donate to Cure Autism Now—need we say more?
Comments
The numbers have officially been changed to 1 in 150.
They have NOT been changed to 12 in 150.
The following is a note from the Centers For Disease Control:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/faq_prevalence.htm
“CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network released data in 2007 that found about 1 in 150 8-year-old children in multiple areas of the United States had an ASD.
“Since the ADDM sites do not represent a nationally representative sample, the prevalence estimates should not be generalized to every community in the United States.”
“1 in 166 children (6/1,000) have an ASD. While the 1in166 indicated the average upper estimate, there have been studies that have found as many as 12 in 1,000 children with an ASD in Europe and Scandinavia. Studies conducted specifically in the United States have found rates between 2 to 7 per 1,000 children in the past decade.”
Regarding the content of the article posted, I do see an increase in the number of diagnoses, but I do not think it will become too much of a “fad” to be autistic.
Care and treatment is expensive, and there is quite a stigma in the workplace for people with ASDs. Factor in more and more lawyers asserting that “My client’s AS made him do it, your honor,” and I think we will begin to go back to seeing ASDs simply as ASDs. A label, nothing more, in other words.