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So, according to findings from a recent study by the CDC, about 1 in 150 American children (on average) has some form of autism. That's a lot higher than previously thought. What I'm wondering - and haven't been able to figure out yet - is how many of these autistic kids have Asperger's or other "high-functioning" forms of autism, and how many have severe social and/or verbal handicaps. From what I can infer, most of the kids on the autism spectrum fall into the former category, because it was apparently somewhat difficult to discover them. If most of these 1 in 150 kids had impaired function in some area, I think we would have noticed the prevalence of autism before now.
I think these numbers are significant, not because they indicate a "crisis" or (cringe, whimper) an "epidemic," but because they illustrate that, while autism certainly isn't the norm, it isn't all that weird or rare either. Chances are, you or your children know someone with autism (like me, for instance). And, even more significantly, it indicates that there must be some kind of evolutionary advantage to having individuals with autism sprinkled liberally throughout the human population. If there weren't, there wouldn't be so many people with Asperger's or other mild forms of ASD.
Autism is all about brain architecture. Nobody's quite sure what causes the differences between autistic and "neurotypical" brains, but basically what happens is that one part of the brain - the part that's involved in social behavior - doesn't develop as much as it should. The usual trade-off is that other parts of the brain tend to overcompensate for this deficiency, so you get people who can do rocket science but have trouble carrying on a conversation.
Social skills - the ability to communicate, bond, form groups, work together - is an important human trait, as crucial to the species' survival in modern times as it was back when we lived in caves and hunted the woolly mammoth. But the ability to dream, innovate and focus obsessively on getting the details right is also important. There are a few people who can do both well: most of us have to do one or the other, and any human population needs both kinds of people.
I support autism research, so that children with ASD of any kind will be lucky enough to get the support I did, to understand themselves and to lead successful, fulfilling lives. But I don't think we should be looking for a "cure" for autism, if such a thing is even possible. I think we have something that the rest of the world needs.
I think these numbers are significant, not because they indicate a "crisis" or (cringe, whimper) an "epidemic," but because they illustrate that, while autism certainly isn't the norm, it isn't all that weird or rare either. Chances are, you or your children know someone with autism (like me, for instance). And, even more significantly, it indicates that there must be some kind of evolutionary advantage to having individuals with autism sprinkled liberally throughout the human population. If there weren't, there wouldn't be so many people with Asperger's or other mild forms of ASD.
Autism is all about brain architecture. Nobody's quite sure what causes the differences between autistic and "neurotypical" brains, but basically what happens is that one part of the brain - the part that's involved in social behavior - doesn't develop as much as it should. The usual trade-off is that other parts of the brain tend to overcompensate for this deficiency, so you get people who can do rocket science but have trouble carrying on a conversation.
Social skills - the ability to communicate, bond, form groups, work together - is an important human trait, as crucial to the species' survival in modern times as it was back when we lived in caves and hunted the woolly mammoth. But the ability to dream, innovate and focus obsessively on getting the details right is also important. There are a few people who can do both well: most of us have to do one or the other, and any human population needs both kinds of people.
I support autism research, so that children with ASD of any kind will be lucky enough to get the support I did, to understand themselves and to lead successful, fulfilling lives. But I don't think we should be looking for a "cure" for autism, if such a thing is even possible. I think we have something that the rest of the world needs.
