Autism Surging - Some Plain Truth From Dr. McCarton

Published: July 13, 2007, 11:30 am

Tags: m d, autism rates, cecelia mccarton, simon baron cohen, autism disorder, autism awareness

With news of autism surge in the UK the response was swift. Vaccine causes autism believers claimed vindication. Simon Baron-Cohen, for reasons that aren't clear, went 180 degrees in the opposite direction. Not content to point out the current scientific consensus negating the existence of a causal relationship between vaccines and autism the Baron-Cohen went on to say that we should assume that the surge is simply a result of changing diagnostic criteria and increased awareness. On that assumption there is no scientific consensus.From Cecelia McCarton, M.D. comes some common sense and some truth speaking: we simply don't know what is behind the staggering increases in reported cases of autism. The implication of that factual statement is that we should not as Baron-Cohen advocates assume that environmental factors play no role in the autism surge that the world is witnessing.Dr. Cecelia McCarton is a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She

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