What do you know about Autism? Do you think that vaccines, environment, or a combination of both are causes? Do these causes (vaccines, environment, or a combination of both) explain why some have more severe forms while others can function well? Do you know where to go for information about Autism? What do you think about Dr Andrew Wakefield?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield
Rebecca Spellmeyer
16 comments:
Well, I know some thing about Autism but that is mostly due to having the disorder myself. I know that it is a spectrum disorder that ranges from mild to severe, with every little level in between them. I also am aware that those with severe Autism most often to not speak, and seem to live in their own little world. Yet they seem happy. However, the more high-functioning Autistic children have it tough as well when they try to "fit in" to a world they don't fully understand and one that sometimes doesn't even try to understand them. People sometimes mock and laugh at us for acting childish, being loud, and reacting to situations that we don't know how to handle. Those people do not even try to have any empathy for people who have it, in many ways, way harder than they do.
Now, as far as causes go, I have heard that it is said to be genetic but both parents have to carry the gene or have the disorder for the child to be born Autistic. I believe that is most likely the determining factor in some cases, but probably not for all of them. Either way, I believe we are born this way and cannot help being who we are and other so called "normal" people should try to be humane to us because we are humans just like they are and not crazed animals.
Lauren Smith
I know autism is mental condition. I am aware that autism has a wide spectrum that ranges from mild to severe form of autism. People suffering from autism usually live in their own little world. If you are suffering from certain form of autism, then you would be unable to socially interact with others. I read a book called A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time written by a British Author named Mark Haddon. The book was about a, 15 years old Autistic, boy solving a murder mystery. The boy in the book had very strong memory. So I think that some form of autism gives you acute memory. I don’t know if this is true but I have also heard that 1 in every 88 children has or will get autism. Speaking of the causes of autism, I have heard that it has to with genetics. I don’t think that environment has anything to do with autism, maybe environment can make it worse, but I don’t think environment is or can be the cause of autism.
-Nilay
I don't know a whole lot specifically about autism but I know it is a mental disorder. I personally believe that autism could be a heredity type of thing but also something to do with the way a person was raised. I also have no idea where I can get information about autism from. I do know for a fact that people living with autism are strong willed people that try their hardest at everything they do in a day.
John
Honestly, I do not know much about autism. I think they are not attached to reality and are a bit socially awkward. They have behavioral problems in which they cannot control due to their illness. These are my initial thoughts, based on what I have seen and have heard from others. So I guess most people are like me and have assumed these things. I will thoroughly look up what autism is and try to understand it more.
Okay, so autism is an illness where the nerve cells have difficulty organizing itself which results in abnormal behavior. I seem to be right about autistic people being socially awkward but they also are restricted by repetitive behavior. Also, the largest factor of becoming autistic is mostly genetic, where a gene is mutated. Other factors are based on the health of the parents, not much about environment or vaccines.
And what about Dr. Wakefield? He thought he found a connection to gastrointestinal diseases and autism but could not reproduce the same results. He is a doctor, meaning he is a scientist. Scientists often fail, which is why other scientists will pick up their research and try to fix it.
-Charlie
Autism is a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain. a number of thing can affect the severity of this condition, such as diet digestive track changes and immunity. genetics also play a pert in autism, but Many parents are worried that some vaccines are not safe and may harm their baby or young child. They may ask their doctor or nurse to wait, or even refuse to have the vaccine. However, it is important to also think about the risks of not having the vaccination.
^Christopher hodges
I have done a little research on Autism a while back because it interested me after reading a book, and I learned a lot. I learned that the vaccines a baby receives plays a huge role in the cause of Autism. It has been considered that environmental chemicals (stuff in air, food, and water) may cause autism as well. However, there is no actual known cause of Autism as of today. There is really no way to tell why some cases are more severe than others. I guess some kids just get more lucky than others; though when you have autism, you aren’t really all too luck I suppose. I think since Dr. Wakefield acted without approval he should severely penalized for potentially distressing other peoples’ lives.
Chelsey
I don't know much about Autism but I have experienced being around an autistic person before. He was RIDICULOUSLY smart. He seriously knew everything about math and science because he read so much about it. Unfortunely he did have some problems with social skills but honestly he didn't even seem to notice. I think he was just so accademically inclined that being social just didn't matter to him. I never saw anyone really make fun of him, other than maybe being a little irritated when he wasn't following the teachers instructions. But no one ignored him or bullied him. I would say that having autism isn't "normal" but since it isn't a choice I feel like people are usually much more tolerant of it than about other things.
Andi
*unfortunately
I don’t know too much about autism but I do think that whether or not vaccines play a role in causing autism, the amount that babies and toddlers have to receive is ridiculous. The population of people with autism seems to be growing very quickly just like the number of vaccines that have to be given to young ones, which instantly makes you question whether or not vaccines really are part of the blame. I am not sure if they have looked into what kinds of vaccines kids are getting verses the severity of autism they are facing but that may play a role in helping to cure this problem. I worked with 2 boys and 2 girls who were all siblings at a summer camp for 3 years and they had all been diagnosed with autism, making me believe that autism could be somewhat hereditary too. The severity of their cases of autism range from mild to very severe and it affected each one of them a little different. I think that Dr. Wakefield should receive severe penalties for doing what he did.
Elizabeth Luke
I know what Autism is, it is a mental condition. I do know that there is a different range of Austim; mild to severe. I am sad to say that I don't know much more about this disorder as I haven't been around or talked to someone who was Autistic.
As to what causes it, I believe it's a mutated genetic trait that either parent can pass down. I don't believe it has anything to do with vaccines, although I'm sure in some cases this could be true. You can't just say that a certain vaccine will make you Autistic because you'd have to test it on a bunch of children--which is lawfully wrong. The different cases, though, may have to do with the environment. Such as a mild Autistic person could have grown up in a loving home who nurtured their child enough to help them act like someone without the disorder, while having no home and no one to help could make the child severely Autistic.
Unfortunately, I can't say for certain that this would be the case in any situation. With a mental disorder a lot of circumstances could effect the outcome.
Dr. Wakefield is just another doctor to me. Not saying that I found it fascinating what he tried to prove, but there isn't really much you can do to stop doctors trying to solve our problems in life. Should he have tried connecting Autism to vaccines the way he did? Probably not, but he was experimenting and that's what happens sometimes.
Katherine Stack
I’m not all too familiar with autism or people that are autistic. What I do know is that it is a mental disorder that makes individuals shy,or not very responsive but still functional. I’ve read about autism in some cases where individuals with autism are incredible. For instance there’s a man that is autistic but can draw a build down to every little detail just from looking at it once, or being able to play an instrument with such creativity. Like I said before I’m not too sure on this subject so if I had to determine the cause of this disorder, it would have to be a combination of both environment and vaccines. Since many disorders happen because of genetics, the cause of this disorder could be from many reasons such as mal nutrition in the womb or being dropped or shaken. There’s probably many factors internally that play a role in the causes of autism in a person. Vaccines could also play a role. Such as the child body system isn’t able to cope with the drug and so the body rejects it or uses the drug in a different manner then what it is intended for. As for information on autism, it’s probably really easy to get information from the internet, such as WebMD or anything that seems credible. If not a medical center would have pamphlets and people that know things on this matter.
Josue
I’m writing this response from the perspective of someone who knows little to close to nothing about Autism. With that said, I believe it’s a worthwhile topic. From what I have read, Autism is a disorder that affects a person’s social and communication skills, and may also cause people to develop ritualistic, repetitive behavior. It’s my understanding that both genes and environment can contribute to this disorder. I believe Dr. Andrew Wakefield wrote a fraudulent paper claiming the MMR vaccine as a cause, but this was proven to be untrue. I also wonder if the severity of the Autism might be just a roll of the dice. I feel that why some people are worse off, is because of how soon someone discovered that the individual has Autism, and how it is dealt with after the discovery of it. If given proper treatment, the individual with Autism may have the opportunity to function well in society. This involves individualized treatment, social support, and as stated by Temple Grandin, finding a person’s strengths and focusing in on that.
-Sam
Autism is a neurological disorder that affects the way nerves in the brain connect. People with autism suffer varying degrees of communication and social issues. Although I'm not a expert on the issue I believe fully autism or any type of disorder affecting the brain is equally serious to a disease that effects the body such as heart disease. From what I read about Dr.Wakefield he sound like a low quality doctor who should be in prison.
Schnitzel
I know little about autism, and because of the questions asked here, it's apparent that in general, many mysteries still shroud autism, and so I say resources should be devoted to finding out more about it and things that can be done to lessen the negative effects that it can have.
Addison
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