Autism: The Hidden Epidemic

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I don't know if any of you are interested in knowing this, but the whole NBC network is talking about autism all of this week. I didn't know about it until late Monday night. So like, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, CNBC, and local news are talking about stories about intervention, education, diagnoses, etc. Just thought you might be interested. I also saw that CNBC tomorrow will talk about AS a little bit.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032633/?ta=y

I'm pretty irritated with that series right now, seeing as how all they are focusing on is the poor families of these children with autism . . . though, tommorrow, they are supposed to have an interview with an adult with AS - but if that isn't really good I'm going to write them an e-mail saying they need to include a more balanced perspective of the syndrome and interview people like Temple Grandin, Edgar Schnider, Tony Attwood, etc . . . instead of just Cure Autism Now and those types . . .

I haven't seen any of their shows about autism this week, but I'd like to.

I agree with you about showing all different perspectives about autism and AS. However, autism can be really difficult on families, especially those families with a low-functioning child. I don't side or agree with organisations like Cure Autism Now, but I can see their point.

I'm with you animallover, I'm pretty disappointed in the series so far.

I'm wondering..why don't you like the Cure Autism Now type standpoint? I have never heard of CAN before, and I have no opinion yet on this, so why do you take this standpoint?

I wish I had TV... unfortunately I am missing out on seeing it at all.

There have been a few neat science discoveries...

That sort of thing...

I watched some of that, and was very annoyed because they were talking about how great Cure Autism Now was. I think CAN's sort of insulting.

It's my personal thing, but I can't stand CAN. Look, for me, I think that it's just the parents who want scientists to find the cure. I mean, what do the people who have it have a say in this. They are the ones, to me, who can decide if they want to be cured or not.
Anyways, that's my rant on CAN

Also, is there a reason why NBC is having a week long discussion on autism now then before or what.

NBC could be doing this now as a "sweeps" event. In February, May, July and November, TV stations and networks do all sorts of things to get people to watch - it's like a sweepstakes (hence the name), and whoever has the highest ratings wins.

To steer us closer back to topic, tonight's feature is about vaccines' link to autism. Might tune in to see it. Missed the rest so far.

My problem with CAN is that most of the cures/treatments are about altering genes. I understand that life with a child with autism can often be more difficult than with a NT child. There are other ways of helping an autistic kid than biological treatments.

I met another kid with AS once (his was more severe than mine though) who was considered low-functioning until he was about six or seven. He had early and intense intervention with a therapist and he is now considered AS/HFA.

A lot of Aspies on this site (and other sites) tend to really hate CAN for that reason. They seem to think that that organisation wants to get rid of autistic people. I disagree with that. I think CAN's heart is truly in the right place and that they really want to help autistic children and their families. I just don't think they are going about it in the right way.

If you want to see the page about biological cures: http://www.cureautismnow.org/research/index/initiative.jsp

One GOOD thing to come from this NBC coverage: an actual interview with an adult autistic. Specifically, Nobel Prize-winning economist Vernon Smith.

Of course, this actual decent coverage of autism barely even got a line on NBC's site mentioning it. And it was relegated to cable network CNBC, too, not getting anywhere near the exposure that the Today Show coverage has gotten. ::sigh::

Anyway, you can see the clip here, for those who missed it:
http://www.autismspeaks.org/autism/menu/cnbc.asp

Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this, given the curebie stuff that NBC's emphasized in their Today Show segments...

Incidentally, the clips from the Today Show and Nightly News can be found here:
http://www.autismspeaks.org/autism/menu/video.asp

If you disagree with the way these programmes talk about autism and autistics, go to www.autistics.org to see how you can protest against it.