A very, very quick post to direct readers to a special edition on autism spectrum conditions carried by Nature. I am still reading through the various articles which cover topics such as the numbers game, the assortative mating theory, biomarkers and much, much more.
Stay tuned for a Nature on autism part two post (as soon as I manage to read through the interesting bits).
The accompanying editorial doesn't really set a good tone for the articles. First they say that autism is a "psychiatric disorder" and then follow it up with this -
ReplyDelete"Second, although most parents struggling with children with autism would jump at the chance to mitigate or cure the symptoms, it is not appropriate to think of autism solely as a disorder needing treatment. As psychiatrist Laurent Mottron vividly describes on page 33, people with autism bring particular talents to many professional settings, including the scientific laboratory"
Talk about a mixed message.
Thanks MJ. I'm still in the process of digesting the various content before being able to pass anything like an informed reply.
ReplyDeleteHaving scanned the article by Buchen on scientists and autism, it is refreshing to see the comments at the foot of the article by Fransesca Happe on heterogeneity and remembering that autism is a spectrum.
P.S. 'Moving the chains' was a good post, glad the kids enjoyed the snow.