Simon Baron Cohen recently released a study in which he found that 1 in 64 Cambridgeshire children have autism. Any reasonable person would find such a result both astonishing and alarming. Has 1 in 64 British children ever had the same horrible disorder at the same time? If one broke down these numbers for boys I imagine it would be something like 1 in 25 UK boys affected with autism.! And yet Baron Cohen insists that there is no need to be “alarmist” and that this catastrophic increase is due to “better awareness and detection.” Right.
In an interview with the British paper, “The Independent”, Baron Cohen, “dismissed suggestions that changes in lifestyle or environment were behind the rise. They put it down to improved awareness, and the inclusion of milder conditions.” I know- it IS preposterous.
It gets even more absurd. Baron Cohen argues that “undiagnosed cases are likely to be at the mild end of the spectrum.” Based upon what? I lived in Cambridge for a year and experienced the National Health System firsthand. After I broke the index finger on my right hand (yes I am right handed) I was given an appointment to see a doctor and get an x-ray in three weeks time. My finger was flopping around and any kind of movement caused terrible pain. I called back my GP’s office to plead for an earlier appt and was told that this is the way the system works and I have to wait my turn. That is just the way it is in the UK.
So if I understand this correctly, Baron Cohen believes that all these undiagnosed cases of autism are probably high functioning kids with minor impairments and no need for “labels.”
Simon Baron Cohen recently released a study in which he found that 1 in 64 Cambridgeshire children have autism. Any reasonable person would find such a result both astonishing and alarming. Has 1 in 64 British children ever had the same horrible disorder at the same time? If one broke down these numbers for boys I imagine it would be something like 1 in 25 UK boys affected with autism.! And yet Baron Cohen insists that there is no need to be “alarmist” and that this catastrophic increase is due to “better awareness and detection.” Right.
In an interview with the British paper, “The Independent”, Baron Cohen, “dismissed suggestions that changes in lifestyle or environment were behind the rise. They put it down to improved awareness, and the inclusion of milder conditions.” I know- it IS preposterous.
It gets even more absurd. Baron Cohen argues that “undiagnosed cases are likely to be at the mild end of the spectrum.” Based upon what? I lived in Cambridge for a year and experienced the National Health System firsthand. After I broke the index finger on my right hand (yes I am right handed) I was given an appointment to see a doctor and get an x-ray in three weeks time. My finger was flopping around and any kind of movement caused terrible pain. I called back my GP’s office to plead for an earlier appt and was told that this is the way the system works and I have to wait my turn. That is just the way it is in the UK.
So if I understand this correctly, Baron Cohen believes that all these undiagnosed cases of autism are probably high functioning kids with minor impairments and no need for “labels.”
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