Autism Blog - January « 2011 « Left Brain/Right Brain

Archive for January, 2011

Sharyl Attkisson didn’t get the memo

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Most news reporters understand that vaccines don’t cause autism. One hold out is CBS correspondent Sharyl Attkisson, whose latest story attempts to link a pediatric flu vaccine to autism spectrum disorders. She bases her report on a recent vaccine safety update from the FDA that notes an uptick in reports of febrile seizures following Fluzone, [...]

Posted in Autism | 49 Comments »

How the Lancet reviewed the 1998 Wakefield Lancet paper

Friday, January 28th, 2011

A recent discussion here on LeftBrainRightBrain involved the peer review process and, in specific, how the 1998 Lancet paper by Wakefield and coworkers was reviewed. As I prepared a response I saw that (a) the response was getting long and (b) this gives a discussion of the peer review process in general, which could be [...]

Posted in Autism, MMR, Science, Vaccines, Wakefield | 63 Comments »

Proposed DSM5 autism diagnostic criteria made public

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Below is the proposed DSM5 revision to the diagnostic criteria for autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder Must meet criteria A, B, C, and D: A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across contexts, not accounted for by general developmental delays, and manifest by all 3 of the following: 1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity; ranging [...]

Posted in Autism | 16 Comments »

Nova Scotia man receives apology for seclusion

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

In Family gets apology after autistic man confined in room for weeks, The Star reports: A Nova Scotia special care home apologized to the mother of a 20-year-old autistic man who said her son was locked for periods of time over 15 days in a room without a bathroom. The unidentified man’s confinement at the [...]

Posted in Adults, Autism | 1 Comment »