Once again, overly-determined biology versus cultural influences. (printer-friendly)

Ironically, this new 'evidence' just furthers my suspicion that autism is really a socially-constructed phenomenon, rather than a biological disorder or disease. A lot of my German friends can't tell when I'm being sarcastic, but that doesn't mean they're autistic, now does it? No, of course it doesn't; we're peering into a part of our bodies we don't fully understand with methods that we cannot vet. Nothing about this article suggests that we understand why this happens, and whether it's a disorder, a normal variation, or something else entirely.

From Theodore Dalrymple: "Everyone has a right to health; depression is unhealthy; therefore everyone has a right to be happy (the opposite of being depressed)."

Something similar has happened with autism, I believe. Instead of disorderly children in need of extra attention and socialization, these children are ill, need to be put in the care of "experts," and *tada!* require medication. Send in the clowns.

[My apologies to Doug Flutie.]