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link (http://www.click2houston.com/family/10088353/detail.html)

TV Watching Tied To Autism, Study Says

Updated: 7:11 am CDT April 2, 2008

Researchers from Cornell University said they have discovered a link between TV watching and autism.

The authors looked at county-by-county information on when cable TV entered an area, as well as precipitation rates.

The analysis showed that children from rainy counties watch more television and that areas with high precipitation also had higher autism rates.

"The analysis shows that early childhood television viewing could be an environmental trigger for the onset of autism and strongly points to the need for more research by experts in the field of autism," said Michael Waldman, a professor of economics at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management.

A news release from Cornell reported that the autism rate was 1 in 2,500 children 30 years ago, but has increased to as high as 1 in 166 as TV viewing has increased.

The authors looked at indirect views such as weather and cable penetration rates because there was no data to track autism against how much time children spend watching TV.

"Our analysis is not definitive, but it certainly raises questions that seem to have gone unasked in autism research to date," said Sean Nicholson, an associate professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell.

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting.

I find this odd. Besides, does autism just suddenly develop? I thought it was something you were born with that varies in degrees and can get worse over time.

I suppose all these home-bound kids are fat too, and obesity is also linked to autism. x_x

I dont know much about this disease, but when i was a baby/child my mom would sit me in front of the tv frequently to watch cartoons and i'm fine. I'm sure there are other triggers they could be studying, maybe its something in the genes?

Take it from someone that has an autistic brother herself, the hypothesis is bull ****!!!

Like someone else says you are born with it. Except for not every autistic child is a particular way. They range from so mild you wouldn't even know to blown out severe where they are so inside their own little world that it is almost impossible to not take care of them without medication and frequent help.

My brother is not middle-of-the-range autistic because he loved Barney and Sesame Street!!!

I don't agree with it at all.

these ******** studies that say things like "people whose favorite color is red are at higher risk of cancer than those who favor blue" are just using a 'post hoc ergo propter hoc' fallacy. because A happened before B, A must have caused B. same thing applies to that other thread about eyesight quality being determined by the time of year the person was born. stupid. statistics mean nothing, it's scientific proof that matters.

these ******** studies that say things like "people whose favorite color is red are at higher risk of cancer than those who favor blue" are just using a 'post hoc ergo propter hoc' fallacy. because A happened before B, A must have caused B. same thing applies to that other thread about eyesight quality being determined by the time of year the person was born. stupid. statistics mean nothing, it's scientific proof that matters.

Thats exactly right. For all we know, they probably only survey like 3 people when making these stupid statistics.

the study is a load of crap autism has nothing to do with tv watching

The thing with all these studies is that they're all just simply correlations...just because something correlates doesn't necessarily mean it's related. But still, they put the studies out there and stir people anyway about a "finding" that's probably not anything major and people buy into it without considering the detail that it's just a correlation, not a direct relation.

The poor kids who really have full blown autism - doesn't have a danged thing to do with it.

The autism-spectrum kids, however, are another story entirely. By spectrum, meaning that they clearly don't have the full blown syndrome, but they're expressing symptoms: Inability to socialize or pick up on appropriate social cues, isolated and obsessive interests, repetitive speech patterns and behavior: It's entirely believable that TV causes THIS. Think about it...mommy and daddy pop their Precious Little Snowflake in front of the TV when they're too busy to watch them, and letting the kids go play would just be too dangerous. Kid sits there, watching the same shows over and over...he's not playing with other little kids, learning social skills or just in general being active...and there you go. You can even account for the gender bias (skewed male) in autism diagnoses: not only are male kids more likely to be plopped in front of the TV in the first place, but the very real differences in the brain make isolation and fixation a lot easier.

The poor kids who really have full blown autism - doesn't have a danged thing to do with it.

The autism-spectrum kids, however, are another story entirely. By spectrum, meaning that they clearly don't have the full blown syndrome, but they're expressing symptoms: Inability to socialize or pick up on appropriate social cues, isolated and obsessive interests, repetitive speech patterns and behavior: It's entirely believable that TV causes THIS. Think about it...mommy and daddy pop their Precious Little Snowflake in front of the TV when they're too busy to watch them, and letting the kids go play would just be too dangerous. Kid sits there, watching the same shows over and over...he's not playing with other little kids, learning social skills or just in general being active...and there you go. You can even account for the gender bias (skewed male) in autism diagnoses: not only are male kids more likely to be plopped in front of the TV in the first place, but the very real differences in the brain make isolation and fixation a lot easier.Well then technically it's not the tv that's directly causing it, but the poor parenting.

I think it's Mercury Poisoning.

And I live in the city with the most lead poison cases in children and autistics. (I sometimes wonder why I live in this city!)

Didn't autism exist BEFORE television? What was the cause then? Radio? :rolleyes:

Didn't autism exist BEFORE television? What was the cause then? Radio? :rolleyes:i never thought of that

i never thought of that
I would love to ask that question to the stupid people who spent money on that study.

Didn't autism exist BEFORE television? What was the cause then? Radio? :rolleyes:
I'm sure it's been around forever. Not sure when someone gave it a name, but had to be before the late 40s.

I have an autistic brother, and this is absolute ****. Why does there have to be a cause for everything? I believe my brother was born with this disorder, even though we did not discover it until he was in the 4th grade. It is also hereditary, my cousin has it. And even though he won't admit it, my father shows classic signs. I believe it is just something that happens and there is no cause, no one/thing to blame.

Jo luvs ketchup,

I'm very sorry to here about your family's struggle with it. It can be pretty hard no matter how mild the case may be. I've been through the ups and downs with my own brother. If you ever hit a rough patch, I'm here for you and you can talk to me if you want to because I sure as hell understand.

I don't buy this study. If this were true, wouldn't we all be autistic to some degree... :eek:

I think if you re-read the original story, it says that the study found that television could be a potential TRIGGER for autism; in other words, they aren't saying that TV causes autism, but that in children that have, or may develop autism, it could be a contributing factor.

isn't autism one of those disorders that science just doesn't really have any answers for? I would think that ANY study that may provide even an inkling of hope would be beneficial because there is so much we need to learn about this disorder.

I don't think TV itself causes autism, ADD, learning problems, or other disorders. It's the parents who sit their children in front of the TV that should be to blame. When children are staring at a TV screen, they are not reading a book, interacting with other children and adults, exploring the world, and engaging in creative play.

I work as a special education aide and I wonder how many of the kids who receive academic support and behavior therapy would need these services if the parents would just start acting like parents. You don't know how many times I've heard the excuse, "Miss 'Homeriffic', I didn't study or do my homework because I was watching TV." :rolleyes: