From: "Lisa Gardner"
Newsgroups: alt.alien.visitors,alt.magick,alt.satanism,alt.politics.org.fbi
References: <28Ds9.5248$U97.506612@new
Subject: Re: Scientists baffled by increase in autism
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2002 20:43:43 GMT
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"Indrid Cold" wrote in message
news:3DB30BB0.720D6466@clem.mscd.edu...
> Lisa Gardner wrote:
> > Charles D. Boner wrote:
> > you should allow "ingmar bergman" a system update
> > > > Satyr wrote:
> > > > > maxpontifex@yahoo.it (Pontifex Maximus) writes:
> > > > > Scientists baffled by increase in autism
> > > > >
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=344227
> > > > > By Andrew Johnson
> > > > > 20 October 2002
> > > >
> > > > Some researchers suspect the answer to the rise in autism is easily
> > > > explained: breeding. Highly functional autistics are nothing new,
but
> > > > in the past, they usually ended up in monasteries, or their
functional
> > > > equivalents, academia. In our modern society, these kind of folks
> > > > often end up in the tech sector, and as high tech has become
lucrative
> > > > and sexy, so have they. Now that they are reproducing, sometimes,
due
> > > > to increased mobility, even mating with those who share some of
their
> > > > autistic tendencies, the highly functional autistics are producing
> > > > autistic offspring.
> > > >
> > > > It's still early days yet, but this seems to be the most promising
> > > > explanation.
>
> Eugenics anyone?
> http://clem.mscd.edu/~princer/eugenics.htm
>
> > > The dramatic increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism
> > > over the last five years could be due to environmental factors, a new
> > > study suggests.
> > >
> > > Researchers from the University of California found that a 287 per
cent
> > > rise in the condition there could not be explained by increased aware-
> > > ness or better methods of diagnosis, as first suspected.
> > >
> > > Instead, scientists believe children may be born with a genetic
> > > predisposition to autism which is triggered by an unknown external
> > > factor. [...]
> >
> > I love that. 'An unknown external factor'.
> >
> > "We've gone looking for this 'unknown external factor everywhere'.
> > We have torn apart the brains of mice, we've experimented on cats,
> > we've had children come into our labs for behavioral experiments,
> > we've done *so* much. We have all of these concrete statistics,
> > and we are doing all of our science in *the most objective way
> > possible* - we aren't letting our *feelings* interfere with it or
anything
> > like that, *god*, no.
> >
> > *Allowing feelings to enter into our research of autism or our treatment
> > of it just wouldn't be real science*, you know. We don't want those
> > watery *feelings* messing thing up, after all."
> >
> > "I mean, this is *serious stuff*, this research into why so many
> > children are being born with the seeming inability to relate to
> > the emotions of others, to feel emotions, or to understand emotions!!
> > We simply *can't* let the feeling of emotions get into our research
> > on the subject! Those messy emotions just simply *cloud everything
> > up*!"
> >
> > Lisa Agnes Gardner
>
> So are you blaming the parents?! (*)
[...]
No, I am saying that there is an attitude in the world that emotions
'get in the way'. This attitude is leading to infants that don't have that
troublesome characteristic, emotions, around for anyone to deal with.
I have also heard someone else propose that so-called autistic
people are in reality - at least the high functioning ones- *more*
emotional than are other people, including being more empathic
than others.
When they are dropped into this world, it is so overwhelming for
them, that they just 'close up' completely and don't allow themselves
to feel *anything at all*.
Lisa Agnes Gardner