I was listening to NPR this morning and they did a segment on the
"epidemic" of autism sweeping the country. Unfortunately, many
insurance plans do not cover extended autism treatment, so states
are beginning to mandate coverage.

There is no pill to treat autism, so treatment means various types
of psychological "therapies" that cost $500 an hour. A typical
child diagnosed with autism might require 40 hours of "therapy" a
week, or $80,000 a year.

One "therapy" being promoted was a very expensive treatment called
Applied Behavioral Modification or some shit and it involves
encouraging positive behaviors and discouraging negative behaviors.
Sort of like cookies and time-outs except that it costs $1500 per
session. Fortunately, laws mandating equal coverage will ensure
that Dr. Phil gets paid for his vital services.

I began working with autistic boys in 1963. Back then, Bettleheim
developed a treatment protocol based on the idea that erratic
mothering caused autism. I still wince thinking of the guilt tripping
of hapless mothers that went on.

Why are we still listening to these jackasses?
I saw a UCTV researcher report that there are 24 DNA markers
associated with autism, and that if a kid as 12, there's a high
probability of it developing. But she also said there were cases where
it went into remission.

She also noted that the proclivity is sometimes triggered by exposure
to vaccines and/or pathogens.

The TV says that 1 in 166 kids are now autistic. The risk is lower
with hispanic and black kids.
I called a school nurse in the Ozarks, and old friend. She didnt know
any autistic kids, said that there may be one in a district of 4000.
Posted on the net is the data that Amish kids have a 1:15,000 rate.
In both the Amish and the Ozarks, we're looking at cultured of small
family farms where kids have very little exposure to junkfood, sugar
cereals, and soda.

Day Brown wrote:

You may be interested in this:

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsauti125331613aug14,0,1913106.story

Note the resumes of these researchers at one of the top research only
institutions in the US.

As for the vaccines, the quality evidence says otherwise. No link.

"Mark Probert" lumbercartel.com> wrote in message
news:2A8xi.1429$7f.493@trndny09...

-Phil Clemence wrote...

It is only ever a problem if it interferes with someone's productivity.
If rocking back and forth all day was useful on a factory assembly line,
then the behavior would be defined as normal and encouraged, and workers
who didn't exhibit it would be forcibly treated and drugged to cure them.

Thanx for the link:
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hsauti125331613aug14,0,1913106.story
Given that there are, so far, 24 DNA markers often found in autistic
kids, I dont think mercury, or virus exposure, or anything else can be
nailed down as the cause.

But if you know anything at all about statistics, the mere *fact* that
small Ozark hill towns and the Amish have such low rates should ring
loud alarm bells about a cultural effect. In both cases, the schools
are small, the attendance rates are high, and the rate of contagious
pathogens is a lot lower because bugs dont have time to mutate thru
enough kids before it runs out of new victims.

In both cases, the kids have far lower levels of sugar cereals, junk
food, & soda. Back in the 1960's Hippies began moving in to the Ozarks
because the land was cheap and the climate was clean. Even when I
moved in in 1975, land was 200$/acre. Both the Hippies and the Amish
kept their kids away from chemicals, candy, junkfood, and- the TV
remote.

-Phil Clemence wrote:

Someone wrote...

I've always suspected that the current "epidemic" of autism is similar to
the previous epidemics of ADD and teen suicide that came before. Ten
years ago almost every boy was diagnosed as having attention deficit
disorder and forcibly treated with Ritalin, and today the same boys are
diagnosed as autistic and forcibly treated with whatever drug and
expensive psychotherapy.

Evidence of my theory can be found in the lower rates of autism among
blacks and Mexican kids. Since the parents of those children tend to be
poor and can't afford tens of thousands of dollars a year on therapy for
their kids, their kids manage to avoid being diagnosed autistic like
their kids' more affluent white peers. Wealthy white parents don't
hesitate to ship their kids off to a psychiatrist every time he acts
like a brat, so it is not surprising that this is the group that gets
slapped with the autism label. Since black kids and Mexican kids
especially tend to be uninsured and since psychologists don't work for
free, the epidemic of autism is less serious among those groups.

#1 Fan wrote:

Demonstrably nottrue. The so-called "epidemic" is the result of
diagnositc re-assignment, the expansion of the diagnosis, and the
expansion of special education.

Ten

Can you say, "Flat out lie?

and today the same boys are

Hamm..can you say "Flat out lie?"

Mark Probert wrote...

How much income do you derive from autism-related services?