Wayne County (NY) Post

"According to the Center for Disease Control 1 out of 88 children in the United States has autism. In our nearly 50 years of service we have witnessed first- hand the staggering rise in diagnosis and have been inspired to develop programs and therapies to address the behaviors and learning styles of individuals of all ages that fall somewhere on the spectrum. Additional efforts have been focused on training and credentialing our staff so that they are fully prepared to lead these efforts equipped with a contemporary, evidence based foundation of knowledge."
 
This would be a nice, feel good, we-care-about-autism piece, except for the line, "In our nearly 50 years of service we have witnessed first- hand the staggering rise in diagnosis..."
There's no explanation.  Because more kids have autism, they need more services and people have to be trained and they're doing that---all the while seemingly content to lose a generation of children to autism.  I posted comments.
 
 
Wall Street Journal

"Children and adults with autism will begin arriving this month at a new autism center tucked into a 214-acre mental-health campus in Westchester County, which promises to help provide an answer to the piecemeal care currently available to many.

"The center, run by New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the medical schools at Cornell and Columbia universities, attempts to address what experts say is a significant challenge: autism rates are rising around the country but access to treatment lags well behind.

"One in 88 children-the majority of them boys-have been diagnosed with a disorder on the autism spectrum, according to the Center for Disease Control. The cause of the increase remains undetermined. ..."

Catherine Lord is featured here, talking about autism as a psychiatric disorder. This place is described as a "mental-health campus." ...They will treat only a couple of hundred people a year.
 
This may look like cutting edge care for autism---but it's really insignificant in the face of the horrific numbers. Notice the usual caveats: "Autism rates are rising around the country" and "The cause of the increase remains undetermined."
 
I can't understand what Dr. Lord is smiling about in the photo.
(The comment section isn't working.)
 
Washington Post

"Kennedy Krieger Institute is offering free screenings for babies between 5 and 10 months old who have older siblings with an autism spectrum disorder. The screenings can detect some early signs that the child might be at risk of developing autism or other developmental disabilities.

"One out of five children with a sibling who has autism will have autism, according to Rebecca Landa, director of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger. Another 30 percent will have language or social delays, Landa said."

The Washington Post is really out to convince parents that autism is genetic and that kids are born with it.  I posted comments.
 
New York Times

"Much of autism's mystery and fascination lies in a paradox: On one hand, autism seems to create a profound disconnect between inner and outer lives; on the other, it generates what the neuroscientist Oliver Sacks calls an essential and "most intricate interaction" between the disorder and one's other traits.
 
"In the autistic person, it seems, hums a vital and distinctive essence - but one whose nature is obscured by thick layers of behavior and perception. Or, as Temple Grandin puts it, 'two panes of glass.'"
 
David Dobbs reviewed Temple Grandin's book, The Autistic Brain, here in this piece. The problem is, Temple Grandin isn't typical. She's accomplished. She has a career. She is a noted speaker. I fail to see how her book gives us real insight into the disaster we call the autism epidemic. Grandin sounds like a curiosity, an interesting anomaly. Actually Dobbs lost me after the first six words: "Much of autism's mystery and fascination ..."
 
Of course, there's no comment section on the article.