US News

"The brains of children with autism have a higher-than-normal number of connections, and this may be a reason for these kids' social difficulties, according to two new studies.
"These findings challenge the current belief that the brains of autistic children have fewer neural connections than the brains of typically developing children. The findings could lead to new ways to detect autism early and new treatment methods, said the authors of the studies, which were published in the Nov. 7 issue of the journal Cell Reports."

And the big news from US NEWS: more conflicting science and the only hope is "early detection and new treatment methods." So as we continue to sink into a sea of autism, the press tells us how great it would be to recognize it earlier. I left one comment.
 
 WFAA Dallas/Fort Worth

"Herring wrote and arranged a halftime performance called "Solving Puzzles in the Dark." It is about raising children with autism.

"He is dad to 10-year-old Brennan and 12-year-old Graeam. Both are on the autism spectrum.

"'There's that moment when you realize the child you thought you brought into the world is not that child you have,' he said. 'Then there's the moment you know you're going to love them forever, no matter what.'

"The show begins with the band skipping onto the field. It has narration between the music, with a band member reciting statistics and facts, and at times, emotional highs and lows."
 
This is on the surface very nice. It's certainly a sign of awareness and concern about an important problem, but what's the real message here?
 
Autism is a puzzle and we can't solve it; lots of kids have it.
 
This would be fine if we were also talking about stopping the epidemic and recovering affected children, but we're not. Instead of awareness, we need alarm over autism.
 
This may make people feel good, but it goes nowhere. Since health officials and doctors refuse to acknowledge anything about autism except that vaccines don't cause it, this is the kind of thing left for people to do: recite statistics at halftime show and hold up colored puzzle pieces.  What else is there?
 
CNN
 
"A new study reveals scientists have detected autism earlier than before, CNN Elizabeth Cohen reports.
"The first signs of autism may be visible as early as the first month of a child's life, according to a study published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature.
"'These are the earliest signs of autism ever observed,' says lead study author Warren Jones. . . ."
Listen to medical reporter Elizabeth Cohen at CNN on the video. They're talking about children who gradually stop making eye contact and who go on to develop autism.  Where's the alarm? It's talked about like it's some interesting medical curiosity.
She doesn't say anything about WHY THIS IS HAPPENING. Her message: "The earlier autism is diagnosed, the better."
Everyone else citing this study says the signs are evident as young as two months. CNN seems to have expanded that to one month.
They cite Dr. Max Wiznitzer for his opinion. Wiznitzer has been covered on CNN before saying autism starts in the womb.  We have one more study that really tells us NOTHING about why autism is now an unstoppable epidemic among our children.