TV might really cause Autism?

I find the part about the Amish community interesting....but see what you think.

http://www.autismconnect.org/news.asp?section=00010001&itemtype=news&id=5923

I read an article which said the same stuff but without so much detail in a newspaper artical last week, what bothers me is that a lot of parents that I knwo who have autistic children are the 'tv babysitter ' type parents. There is only one I can think of who isn't and her child is a boy, therefore statistically more likely to be autistic anyway.

We limit how much tv our twins watch but we do let them watch it and will continue to do so despite the total ban advice. I think they enjoy it, they sometimes physically relax whilst watching it and often dance along to the music.

Having said that - our girls are only allowed to watch Baby tv and Cbeebies and Baby Einstein DVDs and only for a short time each day.

No Corrienderstreet, no films, no tv dramas, no news, nothing which isn't age appropriate, oh and no Teletubbies either!

I spent a little time theorising with one of my staff a couple of weeks ago about the statistics of autism in say the 1800's. I have never read a report which accurately describes a person who was most likely autistic. Some people in asylums and so on who might have had autistic tendencies and some who were most likely Aspergers - described as being socially inept etc.

I think if not tv, modern living is certainly a danger to the mental health and development of our children.

If it's not tv, it's playstation, xbox and so on.

I have suspicions about all the fashionable diagnosis types - very few are concurrent with records of people from historical reference, therefore something is modern about it.

Even though the breadth of disgnosis is more specific now and more studies are done to comprehend the reality of an issue, it's too much of a coincidence.

Therefore, the Amish link is no surprise to me at all and it's a good thing it's being examined at last.

My friends son is autistic and was from being born, he has never been stuck in front of the telly or had the pc etc ,he was born with it and has made good progress through play and is communicating well

I'd need to have a closer look at the study to have an opinion on it properly, but my first reaction on reading the article isn't favourable:

I think it's worth remembering the conclusions jumped to with the MMR/Autism scare, and bear in mind just how much pointless, useless, not properly substantiated 'medical' studies continue to spew out in the way of unnecessary fear and wild finger pointing. It hinders progress and causes harm and distress.

I also think it's worth bearing in mind that there are millions of caring, responsible parents out there whose children have autism, and who have enough on their plates to deal with, without having people judging them - on the basis of a possibly questionable study - as parents who couldn't be @rsed and are wholly to blame for their children's disorder due to supposed neglect of their parenting responsibilities.

Sorry, but I am getting so sick of one spurrious medical report after another spreading fear and misinformation, that I'm likely to be unforgiving to just about all of them at the moment.

I'd need to have a closer look at the study to have an opinion on it properly, but my first reaction on reading the article isn't favourable:

 

I think it's worth remembering the conclusions jumped to with the MMR/Autism scare, and bear in mind just how much pointless, useless, not properly substantiated 'medical' studies continue to spew out in the way of unnecessary fear and wild finger pointing. It hinders progress and causes harm and distress.

 

I also think it's worth bearing in mind that there are millions of caring, responsible parents out there whose children have autism, and who have enough on their plates to deal with, without having people judging them - on the basis of a possibly questionable study - as parents who couldn't be @rsed and are wholly to blame for their children's disorder due to supposed neglect of their parenting responsibilities.

 

Sorry, but I am getting so sick of one spurrious medical report after another spreading fear and misinformation, that I'm likely to be unforgiving to just about all of them at the moment.

well, personally i dont' think medics should be allowed to publish 'scientific' papers unless they have done appropriate research training to learn how to do it properly and appropriately. but then again, i am a scientist by training...

no great feelings on what causes autism, though - it must be such a multifactorial disorder that unless i was willing to invest a lot of time and effort into learning a great deal about it i'd rather not have any open opinions. i simply don't know enough to comment, other than to cop out and say that everything in moderation is probably a good thing to apply to children.