Stanford Study Provides False Hope For Many Parents, Misrepresents Autism Disorders By Excluding Subjects With Intellectual Disability

A Stanford study which excluded autistic subjects with intellectual disability is being used to spread the false notion that autism is not a disability ... just a difference. This misrepresentation of autism disorders appears in the August 16, 2013 San Jose Mercury News (I added the underlining, HLD):"Autistic kids with math abilities show different brain patternsBy Lisa M. [e-mail]"Stanford researchers have unearthed clues about the formidable brains of some autistic children, suggesting that the diagnosis may signal a different cognitive style, not disability. Superior math skills were found in autistic Bay Area children with average intelligence compared with matched children who were not autistic. The two group's brain scans were different, as well. Images of the autistic children's brains while calculating math problems revealed a different pattern of activity than those of non-autistic children.This small but important study, the first of its type, "makes us better aware of the unique talents that these people have, which could help them have better academic and professional lives," said postdoctoral scholar Teresa Iuculano, lead author of the study. "We think it could be reassuring for parents," she said. The study is being published online Saturday in the journal Biological Psychiatry. Like all people with autism, the children had difficulty with social interactions. But they showed strengths, as well, according to the team of scientis...

Source: Facing Autism in New Brunswick - March 12, 2014 Category: Autism Authors: H L Doherty Source Type: blogs