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October 21, 2006 at 04:51:58
TV As The Cause of Autism Study by Evelyn Pringle (Posted by Evelyn Pringle) Page 1 of 3 page(s) |
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First and foremost this is a perfect example of what happens when economists that know nothing of a medical condition try to find some statistical relationship between their beloved data and a condition.
The fact that this study went beyond a water-cooler joke and actually consumed the time, energy, and money required of such a study is beyond irresponsible, it is a slap in the face to the families devastated by this disease and the children who will suffer from it for their lifetime. The fact it was given any relevance and actually reported by someone in the media, as well as being officially announced by the University is reprehensible.
Anyone that seriously looks at the current Autism epidemic must be mindful and cautious of how they approach such a study. After all, this is the disorder once associated with cold and unloving "refrigerator Mothers". Beyond the accusation, many of these families had their children ripped from their arms and the mothers were forced into psychiatric treatment, including electro-shock therapy. The accusations, speculations, and stabs at families have not stopped, even after Dr. Bernard Rimland's clarification that this is a biological illness. Many still believe it results from 'bad parenting'.
We have recently seen other speculative research pointing at 'old dads' and now the most obnoxious and almost light-hearted approach to a serious life-altering ailment, watching television as a cause of autism. This study supports the idiots out there telling us if we would just play with our children and be a parent our kids wouldn't have this problem. So, now those of us with Autistic children it is to be believed, simply stuck our "infants" in front of a TV, again being cold, uncaring, bad parents. It wasn't said, but the insinuations are there all the same.
The first question to those conducting this study must be, "what was their knowledge of Autism before they embarked on this reckless research"?
1) It is apparent from reading the study that they had no knowledge that approximately 25% of those diagnosed with Autism, even in this epidemic, show signs of a serious developmental problem, before they are even one year old. Do they believe that children under this age are actually watching TV or is the supposition that it is the rays or an electronic field being emitted from the Televisions that are causing the Autism. It wasn't clear from their paper.
2) Even those now being recognized as suffering from "regressive Autism", meaning they showed perfectly normal development and then somehow regressed into an Autistic state, normally suffer from regression between the age of 12 and 24 months. Again, really below the age of television watching or at least watching TV in such an unusually massive quantity and differing from previous generations to cause this affect and hence this unexplainable explosion in autism cases since the 1980s. Perhaps the authors had read somewhere that diagnosis' are usually made between the ages of three and five. What they apparently did not know is that it often takes parents years to get a diagnosis as their concerns are down-played or they are urged to 'wait and see', wasting precious intervention time.
3) Did the authors believe that our little 12 month old babies would have been outside on the swing set had it not been for that confounded rain and the tempting new cable TV services being offered in America ?
4) The authors seemed unaware that the epidemic is also surging in other First World nations and now even in India , China , and other nations where TV is not even available to many now suffering their own Autism epidemics.
5) Had they somewhere heard that there is a connection between TV watching and Autism? Because by the age of three or four, long after the onset of autistic symptoms, our Autistic children do become obsessed with the television, but not cable TV or Satellite TV programs. Most of our children never watch regular TV, even at the age typical children do start watching TV. Our children find a particular video or theme of videos and watch them endlessly over and over and over again. Some even into adulthood. At 42 years old, they may still demand that Elmo video they have seen literally thousands if not millions of times. That is the connection between TV watching and Autism. But the cause and affect is actually backwards from what this study suggested. Autism causes obsessive video watching.
6) The most telling omission was the lack of understanding of Autism by the authors by not knowing that almost every single individual diagnosed with Autism also suffers from other serious medical problems. Many children with Autism have serious immune system disorders and a huge number of them have severe gastrointestinal disease that causes debilitating pain and disfunction. There are serious medical complications associated with Autism. The authors of this study made no effort to explain how TV watching could trigger chronic intestinal inflammation, toxic levels of heavy metals, inability to sleep, hard and bloated abdomens, food allergies or intolerances, and much more.
The report itself admits that it was a strange statistic that appeared to show that autism rates were higher where rainfall was higher that triggered the look at television as a possible culprit as an environmental trigger. It is beyond anyone with two neurons left to rub together how far a stretch it took to make that leap from rainfall, to the availability of cable, to television viewing, to Autism (a lifelong debilitating disorder affecting the brain, nervous system, immune system, and gut).
An understanding of the often toxic loads of heavy metals in Autistic children might have lead a researcher to look at the fact that areas with heavier rainfall would be exposing children to more toxins stripped from the air and what is settled on vegetation by the rain itself. Even questioning the high likelihood of mold formation would have been more believable as an environmental trigger than watching television in children really too young to even watch TV.
The study mentions Oregon though only in the early part of the study. A little research may have brought out that Oregon 's Autism rate is the highest in the nation. Four times the national average, the latest statistics in 2006 showed that at a minimum one in every 98 children in Oregon have a diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum. Oregon receives more than its share of rainfall as most people know, but it also has more than its share of abandoned mercury mines as well as other heavy metal mines closed or still operating today. Oregon is one of the worst three states in the U.S. for industrial mercury emissions and it is also a pacific coast state, receiving more than its fair share of mercury and other metals emissions from China 's huge industrial revolution.
Between the rain and natural forest fires, Oregonians are barraged with the constantly recycling heavy metals in our environment. Most lakes and rivers are now marked with the ever-present signs stating, "Do not eat the Fish". This certainly deserves more research and makes far more sense than Tom and Jerry or the Roadrunner as possible environmental causes of Autism in infants and toddlers.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
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TV as the cause of Autism study
I am the mother of a 10yr old boy with autism. I was also outraged when I read the article. My son did NOT watch an excessive amount of television. He did immedately regress folling his MMR/Varciella vacinations. I watched my son who was developing completely normally slip away from me. He stopped responding to his name. Stopped looking you in the eye. Stopped playing games and on and on. This article is nothing more than another distraction to take the focus off what is really causing this epidemic. And almost every parent of a child with autism knows what that is. by April (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Saturday, Oct 21, 2006 at 11:43:42 AM  (0+)
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Everyone should have been watching IMUS
For about three years I have watched Imus in the A.M. His story is that Autism is caused by the preservative in the injections given to babies. Themerosal, and I'm not certain of the spelling on that. His arguments beat the heck out of anything else I've heard. Themerosal is also a preservative in flu shots, that most seniors try to get each year. (NOT ME.) Add that to all of the aluminum salts used in so many products, (American cheese, anyone?) It might be an answer to the Alzheimers and other forms of Dementia so prominent today. Parents can ask for themerosal free injections, by the way. by Pat Herrick (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 169 comments) on Saturday, Oct 21, 2006 at 1:46:29 PM (0+)
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Autism and phony science
Kendra Pettengill wrote a excellent response to Cornell University Professor Michael Waldman's "research" that claims there's a link between TV watching and the epidemic of autism now affecting one in every 166 U.S. children. Waldman now calls for additional research on this ridiculous hypothesis. It is simply beyond belief for the parents of autistic children that this bizarre piece of phony science done by an economist on a devastating condition like autism, was actually given credence anywhere. This comes shortly after the press everywhere cited older fathers having babies as the reason for the soaring autism rate. In the face of a national autism crisis, hundreds of news sites happily picked up Waldman's findings as if they represented legitimate science. The Houston Chronicle and Orlando Sentinel along with hundreds of TV sites from around the country see no problem in speculating on autism like they were discussing Is Pluto really a planet? Shame on you, Michael Waldman and shame on you, CBS Central in New York, and FOX News who published this insulting junk science. These same news sites completely ignored Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) and the Republican leadership recently when Barton's committee successfully prevented The Combating Autism Act from reaching the House floor before adjournment. This bill would have made real autism research a national priority. We have thousands of disabled autistic children in the U.S. that go unnoticed by the Centers for Disease Control who constantly tell us the soaring numbers are merely due to "better diagnosing and greater awareness," and no real cause for concern. The CDC just embarked on a five year study to look at the numbers again. With 80 percent of autistic Americans under the age of 18, maybe when one in every 166 eighteen year olds starts going on disability for life with autism, the academic community and the media will show some genuine concern and professionalism. The words of Laura Bono of the National Autism Association should be sounding an alarm. She recently said, "As those children reach adulthood, the U.S. is ill-equipped to care for them. Not only do we not have enough services for adults now, the light at the end of the tunnel is a train. Frankly, we don't know what we're going to do." by Anne D. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Saturday, Oct 21, 2006 at 8:58:21 PM (0+)
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TV and autism
This study linking TV and Autism demonstrates how desperate the pharmaceutical industry and the corrupt officials within our regulatory agencies are to come up with an excuse for the epidemic in autism other than the truth. The cause is really simple to understand, beginnig in the late 1980s, the government allowed themselves to be talked into adding a slew of new vaccines (purely for profit) to the childhood vaccine schedule for every bogus disease under the sun and each contained a full dose of the preservative thimerosal (mercury). They did this without keeping track of the increased mercury children were getting when each new vaccine was added to the schedule. In addition, when they injected the 3 in one vaccines, that meant there was a triple dose of mercury in those. Also, often many shots are given in one day during a single visit to the doctors office. By the time the FDA figured out how badly it had erred in 1999, by not keeping track of the cummulative amounts of mercury being injected into infants before age two, a decade of newborns had already recieved the shots and autism and a host of other developmental disorders are the result of their grave error. But instead of owning up to the mistake and getting mercury out of vaccines immediately, officials and drug companies have been coming up with rediculous explanations for the epidemic, starting with there was no epidemic, that autistic children were always out there but they went unnoticed and undiagnosed, all the way to the now pathetic comment that autism is caused by watching TV. People are not aware of the severity of this epidemic because they seldom see autistic children because parents don't take these kids out in public because they are too difficult to control in an unfamiliar environment. I advise anyone who has never seen a severely autistic child to go down to your local school and visit the special ed classes and see what these families (and soon society) are up against with your own eyes. The special ed classrooms are flooded with these kids. And then ask yourself whether these kids could have been out there all the long but went unnoticed. And then ask yourself whether you remember anyone who ever caught all these dreaded diseases kids are supposedly vaccinated against today. If not, where are all these sick people who went unvaccined before 1990. Clear and simple, when the vaccine program began, there were diseases that called for vaccinations and they were valid but by now the childhood vaccine program has turned into a racket for the drug companies with most of the cost for all the vaccines funneled through kids and paid for with tax dollars. Many of these severely autistic children are now reaching adulthood and they are going to need to be financially supported for life and many have other serious health problems that will require care for life. If the Republicans get away with immunizing their top compaign doner, the pharmaceutical industry from being held accountable, tax payers are going to have to foot the bill for this generation of injured kids and experts estimate that caring for these kids for life will cost trillions. Evelyn Pringle by Evelyn Pringle (181 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 10 comments) on Sunday, Oct 22, 2006 at 5:08:38 AM (0+)
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Autism and television
I agree with the very thorough point of this article. However, the Cornell study does serve a purpose. Sadly, I have a grandson whose parents have put him in front of a television/dvds for hours on end since birth. It is no surprise that this little guy has serious undiagnosed developmental delays. There is a case for child protective services here, but if parents take the information from this study and decide to eliminate or reduce tv watching before the age of two, I am glad certain folks will be "scared" smart about tv viewing for infants. by Jones23 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Sunday, Oct 22, 2006 at 5:29:31 AM (0+)
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Thank you, Kendra!
Gregg's viewpoint is preposterous, and you gave an outstanding response. Although my words pale in comparison, here's my blogged opinions: click here -Lorin by Lorin Thwaits (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Sunday, Oct 22, 2006 at 9:42:17 AM (0+)
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Autism Study
There's different kinds of research, i.e., correlational, descriptive, experimental. This study is correlational and correlational research does not imply causation. These researchers are guilty of bad science if they are suggesting otherwise. Here's an example. Did you know that there's a direct relationship between ice cream consumption and crime? Yep, as greater qualities of ice cream get consumed, crime goes up also. One might be lead to the conclusion that we should avoid ice cream as a means of discouraging crime. But, I hope, you know intuitively, that would be nonsense. Another variable, temperature, is also related to ice cream consumption and crime. So, as temperature increases so does the rate of crime--but, temperature doesn't cause crime. And, that's the point. by JeffC (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Sunday, Oct 22, 2006 at 3:42:50 PM (0+)
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Refrigerator Economists ?
Isn't amazing what damage can be done to the education and health of several generations of the developed world by a gaggle of 'Refrigerator Economists & Reporters ?' Or would 'Freezer Economists' be a better term ? by GeorgeWade (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Sunday, Oct 22, 2006 at 8:54:08 PM (0+)
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ADD
I don't think Television causes Autism it causes Attention Deficit Disorder: ADD. by Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments) on Monday, Oct 23, 2006 at 3:18:36 AM (0+)
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Criticism Applies to Most Other Theories Then
"For about three years I have watched Imus in the A.M. His story is that Autism is caused by the preservative in the injections given to babies. Themerosal, and I'm not certain of the spelling on that. His arguments beat the heck out of anything else I've heard." Interestingly, about half the arguments in this article are applicable against the thimerosal hypothesis. And I tend to agree with them (except for # 6 -- the literature is ambiguous on that one). Anyway, I have posted criticism of the correlation analysis here. by joseph (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Monday, Oct 23, 2006 at 12:13:53 PM (0+)
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Mold and Autistic Characteristics
OUTSTANDING writing, Kendra. I was so pleased to see your references to mold and its possible link to autistic characteristics. I am the mother of two, ages 6 & 8. We were poisoned by a moldy home (new construction), and my sons would have been diagnosed as autistic. They had severe sensory issues, compulsivity, auditory processing problems, etc. Mold wrecks the gut, preventing children from absorbing the vitamins and minerals necessary to develop neurologically. I treated my boys for mold exposure (antifungals, probiotics... all related to the brain-gut connection, DAN protocol), and they have improved dramatically. My oldest has been released from a special ed classroom and occupational therapy. My youngest is well on his way. I believe the incidence of autism is so high in Oregon because our Building Codes Division is in the pocket of the homebuilders associations. Standards are so low that homes are built with OSB (moldy) wood, closed wet and closed too tightly for energy conservation reasons. This mold/autism connection is not common knowledge because insurance companies and homebuilders associations have more money and more time than we mothers of sick children. Watch Louisiana in the next couple of years. The autism numbers will skyrocket. RHaynes668@aol.com by Renee J Haynes (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Tuesday, Oct 24, 2006 at 3:33:04 PM (0+)
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