NYT "Freakonomics" post - Autism is a disease of t

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http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2 ... -the-rich/

The comments alone are worth the read.

Hm... according to Michael Savage it's a disease of the poor. I'm glad I'm an autistic adult instead of an adult with an autistic child... I'd be SO confused....

One of the suggestions made was to study Aspies born 1980's era; what about those of us born before 1980?

Disease of the rich...that's funny! I grew up pretty poor, myself--after my parents divorced, my mom had to work sometimes three jobs just to make ends meet. Put it in another perspective: I had to put off paying my admissions application fee for college because it ($50) would've meant us not having groceries for about a week and a half.

I hope people dont start thinking that growing up in a wealthy or high-class family actualy causes autism.

You should be suspicious when anyone calls it a "disease" which it isn't... That is the first indication that their facts and point of view is biased and/or lacking substantial evidence.

I could see it being an issue with both High and Low ends of the economic spectrum...
High end is always on the go, and eats poorly... often take out.
Middle class families in my opinion are the most likely to have a family meal at the kitchen table and eat a proper breakfast.

As for school snacks I don't care who you are, unless you're a stay at home mom with lots of extra time.... 99% of kids take pre-prepared snacks that are just horribly high in preservatives to school, lunches are often pre-processed "lunchmeats" peanut butter or some other processed food.

I dare just about any one of you out there to try going a full week without eating any "processed foods"

That all aside, I don't really think it has much to do with it. If it was the case, I suspect every "genetic mutation" disorder, MS, MD, CF, mongloid, hermaphrodite, morphadite, etc etc etc would also be linked to the same thing.

It's a modification of genes that is becoming more and more prevalent... why would DIET have anything to do with it?
It's environment at the core, and diet may play a small role, but there is much much more at work here.

I was raised in a working class family - hardly rich - and I have Asperger's. Today, my family and I live below the poverty line, and yet my daughter has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Again, hardly a "disease" of the rich.
And I agree - it's not a f&%)ing disease. I'm not diseased, and neither is my daughter.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Most of this obviously has to do with the fact that rich families can afford to take their kids to psychological assessments if they notice something odd!
There are probably many more undiagnosed AS kids from poor families, in poor school districts, that never receive any help. They said they accounted for this...but...you can't really with small sample sizes.

I am not diseased. I'm a mildly handicapped intellectual.

I am not diseased. I'm a mildly handicapped intellectual.