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Autism research critique

On October 17, 2002, the University of California’s Medical Investigation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (M.I.N.D.) Institute presented the “Report to the Legislature on the Principal Findings from The Epidemiology of Autism in California: A Comprehensive Pilot Study”. The study hypothesized that the increase in autism diagnoses might be due to one of several factors, or a combination of factors:
a change in diagnostic criteria
misdiagnosis in the past, as mental retardation instead of autism
children with autism moving into California to obtain better services (p. 3)
The study also aimed to describe
4. how characteristics of children with autism have changed over time
5. to ascertain what parents of children with autism believed caused their child’s autism and to determine if this has changed over time, and
6. to determine if vaccination with MMR vaccine is associated with an increase in the recurrence rate of autism in subsequent siblings. (pp. 4-5)
T...

Posted by: Margaret Rowden

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