Friday, August 27, 2010

Commentary: Brightness Amid Bleak Autism Media Coverage

Interesting piece by Anne Dachel Media Editor of Age of Autism. However, I think that any coverage of autism - provided it's accurate and has accountability - is a positive because it's putting the issue in front of society and hopefully will lead to greater acceptance, rather than stigma.

Mainstream press coverage of autism has been so overwhelmingly bad for so long that I have no expectations when I scan the news. Newspapers and TV stations will casually announce that one percent of children have autism. The public is left to deal with the frightening admission that no one knows what causes autism so there’s no way to prevent it. And there’s no cure for autism.
The message in the media is that if you’re unfortunate enough to be the parent of an affected child, there’s little medical science can do. If you’re planning to have a baby, you’ll just have to take your chances. Most parents still hear the same thing from doctors that I did 16 years when my son was finally diagnosed at age seven.

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