Musings of a Recovering Lutheran: Autism caused largely by environmental factors? 
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 

     Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? 

Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Isaiah 6:8 (KJV)

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Autism caused largely by environmental factors?

I seriously doubt it. But that is the conclusion reached by a study that was partially funded by Autism Speaks, an advocacy group for autistic children and their parents. (h/t: Instapundit)

Key quote in the article:

"I think they're really on shaky ground to say that," Dr. Paul Law, director of the Interactive Autism Network at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, told the Times.

"Their data is so similar to everybody else's, and yet they come up with another conclusion," added Robert Plomin, a behavioral geneticist at King's College London. "I don't know how this happened."

Even though we have an autistic son, I don't belong to groups like Autism Speaks. I am weary of the hidden agendas of these types of these groups. Let them do politicking on their own time. Include me out.
Posted by Recovering Lutheran at 4:26 PM
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1 comment:

Ken & Carol said...

I read the couple of articles that your link lead to. I thought they were saying that both genetics and early environment may play a role, though how you separate these may be arguable. I suspect you are wise to avoid their presumptive conclusions, but research costs money so it's a Catch-22 problem.

Thursday, July 07, 2011 2:21:00 PM

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