TV Causes Autism? I doubt it...

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Found this article http://www.slate.com/id/2151538/, via the the freakonomics blog
http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/

Not had time to read it properly; could be of interest.

I've hardly ever watched TV, as a small Child, and I'm om the Spectrum. I didn't even watch two hours of TV a day, at any point during my Childhood.

Hey, I know.

For those of us, who want somethining done about abuse (a.k.a bullying but I'm not one for pansying words) in school, perhaps it would work if we could convine the curebies that it causes autism.

TV causes autism?.....Yeah, right!

Perhaps TV could worsen the symptoms of autism, but it most certainly does not cause autism. Autism is a neurological disorder, or on a broader scale, biological. It is not the result of improper care when the kid is young.

Well if video games count i must be must have fully blown autism
because my parents could not get me off the sega master system!

i use to play that thing 12 hours a day non stop!

TV causes autism? I find that hard to swallow. I think it's nothing more than they latest alarm from those who wish to scapegoat TV for all of our problems. I would bet alot of people don't know there was a rise in SAT scores after 1981, and 1981 was the year MTV signed on playing music videos. Could the birth of MTV had something to do with a rise in SAT scores?

I wonder if anyone has studied the reading habits of autistic spectrum people. I wonder if it would ever be published if it were found autism spectrum people read much more than the general population leading to the conclusion, that reading too much can give you autism. There'd be a lot of outcry against it I'm sure.

I have to admit I did watch a fair amount of TV as a kid, such as cartoons and action/adventure shows. The main reason for that was my parents were very restrictive on my going outside for various reasons, including a trouble making boy who lived next door. I never socialized with other children my own age until I was 6 and went to school. The only people I talked to before that were my own family who often treated me as an inferior because I was the youngest and wasn't as good at things like they were. I basically ended up spending alot of time alone not only watching TV, but playing by myself, which is where I was most happy.

What was also alluded to in the article was could other factors be involved, and is TV viewing nothing more than a symptom of those other factors? Staying indoors is one such factor mentioned, which exposes children to poor indoor air quality. Staying indoors can lead to lack of socialization, which can cause problems for children in school later whether on the spectrum or not.

To me, this is more scapegoating of TV, and nothing else.

My opinion.