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Autism Vox

August 20th, 2008

Minnesota Has the Highest Autism Rate?: Depends on How You Count It

Darn, I thought it was my own state of New Jersey that does: According to the most recent figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2007, about 1 in 150 8-year-old children in multiple areas of the United States had an ASD, and New Jersey has the highest prevalence rate, […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 16 comments

August 19th, 2008

Another Test to Detect Autism Earlier

Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia are studying how to use 3-D imaging to analyze the facial structures and brain abnormalities of autistic children, in the hopes of developing a formula to identify autism in young children. From a press release:
“When you compare the faces and head shapes of children with specific types of autism […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 21 comments

August 10th, 2008

Incidence, Not Incidents

Autism incidents rising, is the headline for an August 9th story in the Grand Rapids Herald-Review. Two different school districts report having 35 and 52 students diagnosed with autism, versus five and maybe two students ten years ago: It’s been the past ten years that have seen the results of changes in the diagnostic criteria […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 8 comments

August 8th, 2008

Blame it On the Media

“It’s the media’s fault.”
How often do you hear that, or even say it to yourself, on hearing some tired myth or piece of misinformation about autism stated yet again? Michael Savage’s over-the-top “99% of kids are no autistic but brats” comments is but one example.
An article by a team of bioethicists and available online August […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 6 comments

August 7th, 2008

IACC Autism Strategic Plan Implementation Workgroup meets tomorrow

Tomorrow, August 7th, from 11 am to 3 pm EST, there will be a meeting of the Meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Autism Strategic Plan Implementation Workgroup. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss budgetary requirements for the IACC Strategic Plan for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) Research; workgroup findings will […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 2 comments

August 2nd, 2008

Catching Up on the (Vaccine Court) News

Over at Primary Source in an August 1st post, Sharyl Attkisson discusses the case of Hannah Poling and says that “it’s the first time we know of that the government has ‘conceded’ an autism case in vaccine court.” Attkisson then writes:
But CBS News has learned the government has previously been court-ordered to pay on other […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 6 comments

July 29th, 2008

Michael Savage’s Parting Shot

As advertisers and networks have been dropping Michael Savage’s show in the wake of his infamous comments (here’s a list of 20 audio clips), here’s an email he sent to The Hook (Virginia):
The drug companies are very powerful and have worked very hard to silence any voice critical of the misdiagnosis of our children and […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 20 comments

July 25th, 2008

Network Defends Dr. Savage

Talk Radio Network has announced that it will not be firing Michael Savage in the wake of his incendiary comments about autism. From the press release:
Dr. Savage has clarified that his July 16th statements concerning autism were not directed at those who are in fact challenged by this horrible affliction, but were instead addressing […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 32 comments

July 22nd, 2008

A Little Autism Education for Michael Savage

So I finally got around to reading Michael Savage on the Autism Controversy after grading papers, going swimming with Charlie and explaining to the water aerobics teacher why the boombox was contributing to him looking mighty distressed and since the class was over maybe it could be turned off?, making Charlie’s lunch, overseeing him practice […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 49 comments

July 10th, 2008

Chicken or Egg: What’s Behind the Increase in Autism?

Dr. Antonio Hardan, the director of the autism clinic at Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, says this in a July 9th ABC Local (Bay Area) report about increases in autism diagnoses throughout the region:
“If you are diagnosed with autism you will get more services from the county from regional centers than if you just have […]

By Kristina Chew, PhD -- 20 comments