There have been over twenty peer-reviewed studies that have established that there is NO LINK between vaccines and autism. Unfortunately, con artists and greedy, dishonest lawyers distort this truth by promoting pseudo-science. Celebrities such as Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey make matters worse when they claim that vaccines cause autism. Frightened parents then keep their kids from getting their shots, and then children get diseases from their unvaccinated classmates.
Autism is complicated. I think Savage was saying, in a rude way, some kids may enjoy the attention they receive by behaving in a autistic way, not talking, not interacting. It may be a manipliative behavior learned by the child. It would be interesting to study the cases where autism has gone away and see if there was a common pattern of parent/sibling behavior. A doting parent may be a problem.
And those MRI studies showing that brains of autistics with specific symptoms are different than normal brains? They're just part of the racket. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-10/jws-msb100604.php
Yes, In many cases there are physical symptoms but not always. Either way it is amazing that in many drug trials a suprising number of placebo subjects experience the same cure as the medicated subjects.
Mercor: "Yes, In many cases there are physical symptoms but not always." There are always symptoms as you can see in DSM IV, although not necessarily those that can be found given our limited knowledge of brain structure and function. "Either way it is amazing that in many drug trials a suprising number of placebo subjects experience the same cure as the medicated subjects." Actually it's not really amazing at all, it's called the placebo effect which is quite real and applies to any disease.
That was my point in trying to understand where Savage was going with his comments. If placebo effect exisits and phyiscal symptoms exist, then it may not be a medical situation but a behavior issue.
our experiences, our thinking pattern, our thoughts, who we decide to be, does change the structure and function of our brains
I would agree but in infants "our experiences" ie: not being fed or cared for or human touch alters the structure and functions of the brain FIRST in these instances. I'm pretty certain these cannot be undone.
Mercor, We are small fish in the big pond of how the system works. I get the distinct impression that funds available for research hinge on using novel idea's to approach old problems. Whether theses new ideas result in valid findings is less important, it provides money to keep researchers researching.