XPost: misc.health.alternative, alt.psychology   
   From: markprobert@lumbercartel.com   
      
   #1 Fan wrote:   
   > Someone wrote...   
   >>>>> The TV says that 1 in 166 kids are now autistic. The risk is lower   
   >>>>> with hispanic and black kids...   
   >   
   > I've always suspected that the current "epidemic" of autism is similar to   
   > the previous epidemics of ADD and teen suicide that came before.   
      
   Demonstrably nottrue. The so-called "epidemic" is the result of   
   diagnositc re-assignment, the expansion of the diagnosis, and the   
   expansion of special education.   
      
   Ten   
   > years ago almost every boy was diagnosed as having attention deficit   
   > disorder and forcibly treated with Ritalin,   
      
   Can you say, "Flat out lie?   
      
   and today the same boys are   
   > diagnosed as autistic and forcibly treated with whatever drug and   
   > expensive psychotherapy.   
      
   Hamm..can you say "Flat out lie?"   
      
   > Evidence of my theory can be found in the lower rates of autism among   
   > blacks and Mexican kids.  Since the parents of those children tend to be   
   > poor and can't afford tens of thousands of dollars a year on therapy for   
   > their kids, their kids manage to avoid being diagnosed autistic like   
   > their kids' more affluent white peers.  Wealthy white parents don't   
   > hesitate to ship their kids off to a psychiatrist every time he acts   
   > like a brat, so it is not surprising that this is the group that gets   
   > slapped with the autism label.  Since black kids and Mexican kids   
   > especially tend to be uninsured and since psychologists don't work for   
   > free, the epidemic of autism is less serious among those groups.   
      
   This person is in dire need of a clue.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)