Do Kids Get Autism from Watching TV?, page 2

reply to post by pmbhuntress

Thank you for sharing what is not, unfortunately, an uncommon story. When I was growing up (1950s-60s) autism was rare. Supposedly, girls were immune to it. Try telling that to the family with TWO autistic daughters. We now know that is not true.

There can be mild to severe autism. One boy (mildly autistic) I know probably could get a job, but, the rest of the children I have seen will not.

There is some merit to having children with disabilities interact with "normal" children. "Mainstreaming" children used to mean placing them when they were ready to interact. Sadly, it has turned into a cost saving device, shoving children out before they were ready, to cut down on the costs of special education.
Merely placing a child in a "normal" classroom will not "cure" the disability. The intense work that must be done to allow even a moderately, let alone severely, autistic child to have a better quality of life is enormous, way beyond what most people can conceive.

My heart goes out to all families of not just autistic children but children with similar disabilities of social interaction.
Oh, and, yes, adults better believe that a small child who has a "bad day", as you so truly said, can easily disable an adult.

TV? My understanding of autism is that the infant seems to be developing normally in all respects, until a point between the first and second year. Then parents see a reversal of development. Some other similar but non-autistic conditions are caught around the age of three, when the parent realizes for sure something is not right.

So I wonder how much time an infant would have to spend in front of a tv. Could it be alpha-waves or some field bombarding and interacting with the brain in some way?
Study needs to be done, as researchers are finding out that, while the brain can repair damage and be malleable, even psychological/emotional trauma can hardwire the brain. It is this hardwiring that sets even "normal" children up for later continuing displays of social reactions to that trauma.
Bottom line, whatever is causing this increase in autism better be found out before long.

Also, bottom line for the human race, it would be better to hardwire the human brain with loving interactions than hateful interactions. Behaving with self-respect and respect for others may be our only salvation. Maybe the commands to forgive and to love one another, and even love your enemies, is the only way for us to survive. It goes against what we would like to do, but maybe we need to hardwire our brains differently to survive.