Row over pupil's autism T-shirt

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/6672563.stm

any comments ?

Does mercury cause autism ?
I thought that was nonsense.

Ingest enough mercury and you’d be feeling pretty autistic.... There's like a billion and one physical causes for "autism", or better "generalized social retardation with some narrow-mindedness thrown in".

From what I've read the general consensus among much of the scientific community is that mercury does not cause autism. However there are some people, both medically qualified and not, who still believe mercury is a factor - so it depends which scientist you ask, although the majority would say there is no link.

I don't know what to say. I think it is a shame, particularly for the child, that such a fuss was made about the T-shirt, but ultimately, his parents should not have been using their child to put forth their own personal theories. If they want to campaign, they should do it in their own names, not use their child as a slogan bearer.

I think the parents are misleading the media as to why this child was prevented from wearing the T-shirt. they were going on an outing, in the public. The school believed that the shirt would identify him (and by extension the group) as disabled.
Many schools are governed by privacy protection laws, which includes preventing students from being identified as disabled, or more specifically autistic. They mentioned that the student wore the shirts within the school-where he'd already be "identified". They just didn't want him to wear a noticeable shirt that would notify strangers who they were.

Here in the states, it can be impossible to "visit" a special ed class if your child isn't enrolled there already. They claim privacy for the students and so you can't observe the natural, daily activities and how the staff deals with events. Some schools go even further and try to prohibit parents from observing their own kids in their classes. It's a real pain for some Americans.

Its quite public in Canada, I stop by the real special classes and say hi. I even some what befriended one.