Where's the data?

By
There's been talk recently that autism spectrum disorders, namely Asperger's Syndrome, are over diagnosed. I'd really love to see some data backing up that claim.

An Over Abundance of Autism, Or So They Say

Comments

  1. DarkStarFebruary 04, 2012 11:12 AM

    A friend's son was "diagnosed" as having "personality autism."

    His "IQ" was tested at 130. He's in a class of kids who are developmentally disabled because he doesn't speak well. He only associates with one kid in the class and doesn't want anything to do with the others. Because of this, the school labeled him as I stated.

    His father to the principal: "Given what you state, Albert Einstein meets that definition."

    I admit, I'm confused and getting more skeptical.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SamFebruary 04, 2012 2:20 PM

    Keeping in mind that anecdotes are not equivalent to actually data, you're right to be confused and skeptical. "Personality autism" isn't in either the DSM IV or DSM V. Dad needs to get a second opinion from a professional qualified to actually give a diagnosis. School staff generally are not qualified to diagnose anyone with any thing. They are qualified to recommend parents seek the input of a qualified diagnostician.

    As to IQ, autistics have average to above average over all IQ scores. Each individual will always have splintered abilities with a scatter of higher than average scores in some areas and lower than average scores in other areas. Among those persons who fall into the low IQ score end of the autistic population their low scores often represent the short comings of the tests they take rather than a true measure of their intellectual abilities. Test them in an appropriate manner and many low IQ autistics will earn scores in the average to above average range.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

What's in a flower?

By
Specifically hydrangea flowers. In this post I pointed out that anthocyanin (a family of plant pigments) appears blue at high pH, red at low pH and is responsible for the wide variety of colours in hydrangea flowers. Ilona pointed out that , "in hydrangeas you lower the ph for blue flowers (more acid) and raise it for pink (more alkaline)." I did a bit of checking and found that this is the case . At lower soil pH hydrangea flowers do appear blue and at higher soil pH they appear red. But soil pH is not the only thing that affects the colour of hydrangea flowers. It appears that pH inside the plant cell has an affect as well: Sepal Color Variation of Hydrangea macrophylla and Vacuolar pH Measured with a Proton-Selective Microelectrode Anthocyanin changes its color depending on pH (Goto 1987, Brouillard 1988, Goto and Kondo 1991). In strong acidic conditions it shows red, in neutral, purple and in alkaline, blue. But generally the vacuolar pH of plant cells is weakly aci
Read more

Treating autism as traumatic brain injury

By
I've been doing research into autism, dyspraxia, how the normal brain works, and how an autistic/dyspraxic brain works (or doesn't work). Traumatic injury to different parts of the brain can cause the same problems suffered by autistic and dyspraxic children. Compare this list of the functions of different parts of the brain and the problems caused by injuries to those areas with these descriptions of dyspraxia and autism. What is Developmental Dyspraxia? Developmental dyspraxia is a disorder characterized by an impairment in the ability to plan and carry out sensory and motor tasks. Generally, individuals with the disorder appear "out of sync" with their environment. Symptoms vary and may include poor balance and coordination, clumsiness, vision problems, perception difficulties, emotional and behavioral problems, difficulty with reading, writing, and speaking, poor social skills, poor posture, and poor short-term memory. Although individuals with the disorder may b
Read more

Battlestar Galactica needs more colour?

By
Here are the letters I mentioned in the previous post. The one that started it (I'm guessing these letters were written after the show's first airing at the end of 2003): Galactica Needs More Diversity The problem I had with Battlestar Galactica was there were no major and very few minor African American characters. There were no Black men in the show at all or if they were, they had virtually no screentime. In the original series, Boomer and Tigh were both played by African American actors. In this rendition of Battlestar, those characters were played by Asian and White actors. In the Caprica city, there no African American extras. On the Galactica's bridge, there was only one African American actress. Another Black actress could be found playing a religious official that swore in the new President of the colonies. This was very troubling to me. Do you not want African Americans to watch your show? Do you want to project the idea that African Americans are not part of the
Read more