NAS - A charity or a business ?

Hope said:

Autism is simply better understood and documented than it was before. There is NO evidence that autism is a 'side-effect of the modern age', although it is possible that the predisposition genes for autism were valuable from an evolutionary perspective.

And there is no 'epidemic': autism is NOT a disease. An 'epidemic' is the wrong word to use in this context, because before greater awareness, people with autism still existed (including aspergers). As far as we are aware, they always have done!

Really?  The use of mercury in the modern environment could very well be causatory or contributory for one, the truth is science has yet to identify the cause(s) of autism:

http://www.icdrc.org/documents/Mercury%20in%20Autism.pdf

"A review of medical literature has shown that exposure to mercury, whether organic or inorganic, can give rise to the symptoms and traits defining or commonly found in ASD individuals. Mercury can cause impairments in social interaction, communication difficulties, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, which comprise the three DSM-IV autism diagnostic criteria. Additionally, mercury can induce features prominent in ASD such as sensory abnormalities, emotional/psychological changes, movement disorder, impairments in abstract or complex thinking, severe sleep disturbances, and self injurious behavior. Males are more affected than females in both conditions.

Physiological abnormalities more common in ASD populations and known to be caused by mercury exposure include gastrointestinal problems, autonomic nervous system disturbance, unusual EEG activity, immune system alterations, irregularities in neurotransmitter systems, and non-specific brain lesions."

And by the way, if you re-read my previous post, you will see that I said "something akin to an epidemic..." I didn't say is an epidemic, and I'm well aware of what epidemic means.  In fact if you look here: dictionary.reference.com/.../epidemic you will see that even if I had said it was an epidemic, it would still have been correctly used.

Hope said:

Autism is simply better understood and documented than it was before. There is NO evidence that autism is a 'side-effect of the modern age', although it is possible that the predisposition genes for autism were valuable from an evolutionary perspective.

And there is no 'epidemic': autism is NOT a disease. An 'epidemic' is the wrong word to use in this context, because before greater awareness, people with autism still existed (including aspergers). As far as we are aware, they always have done!

Really?  The use of mercury in the modern environment could very well be causatory or contributory for one, the truth is science has yet to identify the cause(s) of autism:

http://www.icdrc.org/documents/Mercury%20in%20Autism.pdf

"A review of medical literature has shown that exposure to mercury, whether organic or inorganic, can give rise to the symptoms and traits defining or commonly found in ASD individuals. Mercury can cause impairments in social interaction, communication difficulties, and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, which comprise the three DSM-IV autism diagnostic criteria. Additionally, mercury can induce features prominent in ASD such as sensory abnormalities, emotional/psychological changes, movement disorder, impairments in abstract or complex thinking, severe sleep disturbances, and self injurious behavior. Males are more affected than females in both conditions.

Physiological abnormalities more common in ASD populations and known to be caused by mercury exposure include gastrointestinal problems, autonomic nervous system disturbance, unusual EEG activity, immune system alterations, irregularities in neurotransmitter systems, and non-specific brain lesions."

And by the way, if you re-read my previous post, you will see that I said "something akin to an epidemic..." I didn't say is an epidemic, and I'm well aware of what epidemic means.  In fact if you look here: dictionary.reference.com/.../epidemic you will see that even if I had said it was an epidemic, it would still have been correctly used.