HANDING OUT WHITE CANES AND GUIDE DOGS

By ANNE DACHEL

I watched the news video and read this report from ABC 30-TV in Fresno, CA. Autism: PLAY Project (Click here.) It's all about productive play for young autistic children starting at 18 months up to five years.  I noted the phrase, "the number of cases are growing at an alarming rate," yet with no explanation for why this might be happening.

We hear lots of exciting things about Dr. Rick Solomon, Autism Expert, and his play therapy which can turn non-verbal, unresponsive children into ones who speak and interact. This is the best Dr. Solomon can say about why we have all the affected kids everywhere: "There's no doubt that it's gone from being recognized from one in 10,000 to one in 150. And among boys it's one in every 88. So something seems to be going on."

So what is Dr. Solomon telling us here?  The word "recognized" brings up the "better diagnosing-greater awareness" myth, as if we finally figured out what was really wrong with these kids. Then he says "Something seems to be going on."  SEEMS TO BE?  Could we be more specific?  New parents or parents-to-be have got to be worried.  Could my child be next? Why isn't everyone scared to death?  What if kids were going blind at this sudden increased rate? Would we just be teaching them to read in Braille and handing out white canes and guide dogs?

That's what we're doing with autism.
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Anne Dachel is Media Editor of Age of Autism