TV might cause autism. – By Gregg Easterbrook – Slate Magazine — Most people reporting on this story are leaning to an indictment of statistical science. They say it’s running amok and this is ridiculous and bogus. Sounds ridiculous to me too.
Today, Cornell University researchers are reporting what appears to be a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and television watching by children under the age of 3. The researchers studied autism incidence in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington state. They found that as cable television became common in California and Pennsylvania beginning around 1980, childhood autism rose more in the counties that had cable than in the counties that did not. They further found that in all the Western states, the more time toddlers spent in front of the television, the more likely they were to exhibit symptoms of autism disorders.
The Cornell study represents a potential bombshell in the autism debate
Yeah, all causality is inferred in this type of “research.” I think it’s far more likely that kids who are already autistic are just way more comfortable watching TV than interacting with the real world.
Don’t know about autism, but I have seen studies that show television may contribute to so-called cases of Attention Deficit Disorder.
I think this is another excuse to label people with adhd and autism as being lazy.
I loathe the use of “statistically significant relationship” to try and confuse the ordinary reader. The word is “correlation” damnit.
Okay, “statistically significant correlation”, then.
The authors raise an interesting hypothesis about increased TV watching as an environmental trigger for autism, and I don’t see anything in the paper (the actual paper they wrote, not the Slate writeup about it) that casts doubt on what they found.
Researchers might also turn new attention to study of the Amish. Autism is rare in Amish society, and the standing assumption has been that this is because most Amish refuse to vaccinate children. The Amish also do not watch television.
The Amish also don’t drink fluoridated or chlorinated water, pastured milk, preservative laced bologna, chemically cured ham, plastic cheese, or processed bread; breathe formaldehyde gas from mass produced furniture and carpets, carbon monoxide, second hand tobacco smoke, or the fumes from any of a million other modern products.
The Amish do breath a lot of fresh dung, eat whole grains, wear home spun cloth, breath paraffin wax fumes, and have higher incidences of minor intestinal and skin infections.
#6, I was at Penn’s Caverns this past summer where I saw a few Amish visiting the tourist sight. From what I could perceive by watching them, they are deep in ignorance. Deep. Which is okay, BTW, since they do not have to associate with sales people and corporate America who would have them for breakfast. But, I saw it in their eyes, especially the teenage girls, how much they do not know about life. It’s a shame, really.
#7….0113….I may think you need heavy medication, but I don’t think your stupid by any means…..but your ignorance of the Amish is amazing. I’ve seen the Amish in action when it comes to *sales pitches* and from what I know and have seen, it’s the sales people from corp. america that should be on guard.
As to the innocence of Amish girls, they know what they need to know to have a happy, productive life….without all the bullshit. But then I can bet you could teach them a few things about wild and farm animals that they may not be up on.
The claim about the Amish having fewer cases of autism is false. It always turns up in propaganda claiming thimersol causes autism and that various fanciful treatments can cure it. The doctor promoting the claim is among those making money off phony cures. Repeat. There is no actual scientific evidence to support the claim that the Amish have fewer cases of autism. Possibly fewer reported cases since they are less likely to use medical and social services. But, that proves nothing.
As for the the whole ‘the Amish are perfect’ song and dance. please. That myth is fading. High rates of domestic abuse, rape and incest are not exactly perfection. Even in the largely balmy stories after the serial killing recently, dissenters told about the flip side of living such a narrow, restricted, life.
#9, but who listens to dissenters.
Interesting study. However, I belive it is more likely that it is more genetics than TV or anything else. That seems to have the most proof to back it up. It just can take a long time for the gene to kick in.
Hi!I would say there are some channels like Discovery/NGC/BBC which do have interesting shows which have nothing to do with saas bahu and tears..:-)
One thing that I find DD laggin behind is packaging. People are now so used to good quality signals and nice packaging, that it is usally a pain to watch it in DD. For example, when DD and ESPN telecast a match, I prefer to watch it in ESPN, as the DD stuff is usally amatuerish, with the telecast being cut during the last ball for the advert and coming back only after the 1st ball of the next over..
But CAS has made it difficult to view those channels in Chennai..:-(