OBJECTIVE: This study attempted to examine the relationship between month and season of birth and risk for autism spectrum disorders.
METHOD: The cohort included all Jewish individuals born in Israel over 5 consecutive years (N=311,169) and assessed by the Israeli Draft Board as part of the mandatory assessment of eligibility for military service conducted at age 17. The outcome of autism spectrum disorders was ascertained from the Draft Board Medical Registry, which contains information about medical and psychiatric disorders for this population of adolescents.
RESULTS: There was no association between month or season of birth and the prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this historical, population-based cohort study do not support an association between season of birth and autistic spectrum disorders.
studying risk sometimes falls flat, apparently.
the Season of a child's birth, to my experience,
must affect them somehow, deep inside,
the concept itself should shed light on the manner of which even parents are not in contact with WHO the child is actually within their own confines (Whether the child is on the autistic spectrum or not..)
i was born in late november and then was kept in the hospital until late december, somewhere deep down the same center that recieves my senses unadultered at this very moment recieved all things seen and felt after birth.
Well, it's a nice thing to see a study say outright "There's no correlation". Instead of the many useless studies you see "There was a 5% correlation between people eating asparagus, and Autism" - and suddenly all expectant mothers avoid asparagus causing the asparagus industry to collapse. :roll:
I really **** hate the Israeli draft.
Of course, I've talked to people in Israel, and being brighter-than-average, they tend not to like it themselves.
So that and my inveterate antipathy towards drafts of any sort likely contributes.
Likewise I met a kid in Columbia called to serve, and know one in Singapore (biggest authoritarian *** state of all the developed countries) so mad about those ones too.
Any rate, I'm curious now:
Are Isreali children with psychological "disorders" are exempt from conscription, or only those with classic autism?
I really **** hate the Israeli draft.
Of course, I've talked to people in Israel, and being brighter-than-average, they tend not to like it themselves.
So that and my inveterate antipathy towards drafts of any sort likely contributes.
Likewise I met a kid in Columbia called to serve, and know one in Singapore (biggest authoritarian *** state of all the developed countries) so mad about those ones too.
Any rate, I'm curious now:
Are Isreali children with psychological "disorders" are exempt from conscription, or only those with classic autism?
[tangent] [paranoia]
i really want my husband dx now, and me, because (from what i've read on pacifist websites) if the draft is re-instated in USA it will probably include both of us.
IIRC it was said it could be for women and men aged from 18 to 35.
[/paranoia] [/tangent]
The findings of this study aren't news to me, as I've been fascinated with the possiblly huge health hazards of vitamin D deficiency in developed countries for some years now.
Schizophrenia is thought by some scientists to be associated with season of birth, suggesting that in-utero vitamin D deficiency causes brain abnormality that makes one prone to develop schizophrenia later in life. There are also lots of other very nasty diseases such as multiple sclerosis and cancers that appear to be associated with the UV levels where one lives or seasons. This is why the kids and I try to have some days in the sun at this time of year, midwinter where we live, to top up our vitamin D reserves, in wanton disregard of the skin cancer prevention fanatics who advocate sun screen even during months in which the UV levels are too low to synthesize vitamin D for much of the day.
The curebies and mad scientists who wish to paint a picture of autism as a form of brain malformation or brain damage would love to dig up a similar correlation of autism with season of birth or latitude of residence, but try as they may, again and again, they only end up collecting data that shows how unlike schizophrenia autism really is. It serves to underline how wrong and seriously neglectful the psychiatric profession has been for decades when it treated autism and schizophrenia as the same condition.
Sounds like a good poll question.
I was born in March.
It serves to underline how wrong and seriously neglectful the psychiatric profession has been for decades when it treated autism and schizophrenia as the same condition.
Also on the question of misdiagnosis, I was reading an article about Fetal Alcohol syndrome over the weekend. It has certain similarities with AS, including that children with FAS have the lack of sociability, empathy and imaginative play, but differs in that FAS causes an inability to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time, and usually a lower than average IQ.
The condition is caused by the mother drinking alcohol while pregnant, and there seems to be no data as to how much is dangerous. Apparently even low amounts of alcohol consumption can lead to FAS, although not to the marked extent of an alcoholic, for example, having a baby.
I was wondering whether or not a lot of the perceived rise in dx of AS may in fact be misdiagnosed FAS. With more women drinking more alcohol in the past few years (when I was a kid it was not "socially acceptable" if you were a lady to be seen drinking, although I'm sure that didn't stop them!) perhaps this helps to explain the so-called "epidemic" of autism - a misdiagnosis.
After my sad experience of misdiagnosis of autoimmune disease over the years, I'm very sceptical of a doctor's ability to accurately diagnose a common cold, much less differentiate between such things as AS and FAS.
If they're mixing up the two conditions (and FAS is difficult to diagnose unless the mother 1)admits to drinking while pregnant and 2) the child has the physical characteristics of FAS, which are not always present in milder cases) then it would appear that AS is on the rise, where in reality it may be not increasing that much if at all.
Alison (not bitter - not)
I'm personally very sceptical about a lot of the stuff that is being written about FAS these days. I suspect that some cases could be misdiagnosed AS or ADD or simple inherited studidity. If high IQ is inherited, as it obviously is, the same is certainly true of low IQ too. We have all met families in which one of the parents is obviously a bit simple, and one or more of their kids the same. These days kids have all kinds of fancy labels put on them, but you never hear anyone admit that their kid is just plain @#$%in' stupid.
FAS is supposed to cause a very distinctive facial appearance, so if there are supposed to be "mild" cases without this precise and tangible marker I'd be sceptical of those cases.