• autism
• language

"What is it about autistic people that prompts the trope of the alien? How are autists different from other human beings, in such a way that a gifted autist can feel that living among humans is like living with Martians? How can a gross but effective sound bite create the sense that aliens are snatching our children to make them theirs ? I am of the school that thinks you can learn about X by reflecting on what makes something not-X.

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• autism

April 2 is Autism Awareness Day. If you are new to the Blogora, I should disclose that I have 2 autistic sons: Nick (20) and Daniel (18). The autism rate is now 1 in 150 births, but I just heard on NBC that the rate is 1 in 94 for boys. A recent study in California found that this dramatic increase can't be accounted for by better diagnosis. And it's NOT (repeat NOT) from vaccines. Slate has had good continuing coverage of the science, such as here. And don't listen to anything Jenny McCarthy says.

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• autism
• rhetoric of science

Seems the original study was fabricated. What misery one irresponsible person can cause. . . .

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• autism
• protest

We see the world, as Burke told us, through terministic screens. This insight, along, perhaps, with Orwell's "Politics and the English Language," as well as widespread belief in the (now-discredited) Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as well as General Semantics, led my generation to fixate on changing language in hopes of changing the world. It is not, of course, that simple; language is neither totally irrelevant to social change (as some "realists" might say) nor is changing language an appropriate substitute for normal or contentious politics in liberal democracies.

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• autism

I suppose we've flogged this topic to death by now, but "Dr." Savage's radio network has issued a disclaimer/apologia of sorts:

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• autism
• sheer. . .evil

The viciously right-wing talk show host Michael Savage tells us autism is a fraud. I have a few used diapers I'd like to send him if anyone has his address:

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• autism

The story of Alex, who has high-functioning autism, being voted out of his kindergarten classroom in Florida, has caused a lot of media/blog comment this week. I'm kind of curious--for those of you who know Florida--what kind of school district this is. Our family experience with our two autistic children has been that the wealthier/more professional (especially university professionals) the school district, the worse is the treatment of the disabled.

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• autism
• campaign rhetoric 2008

Oh, jeez. Now Obama's joined McCain in proposing the vaccine-autism link. Stupid, stupid, stupid--with potentially life-threatening consequences if children do not get vaccinated. It's all about funding for early intervention, plus a serious commitment to providing care for adults with autism.

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• autism

Looking cheerful at the doctor's office, with his Elvis haircut.

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• autism

Today is International Autism Day. CNN today has a number of useful articles and videos on the subject. The seemingly increasing number of autistic children (now 1 in 150 births) is still a mystery--is it better diagnosis or is there some environmental cause (and no, it's not the mercury in the vaccines)?

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