Newsweek reexamines anxieties surrounding autism, a mystery with no known cause. The uncertainty is fueling an ongoing vaccine debate and harsh divisions within the autism community about how to view and treat the disorder. While some feel that autism is a disease in need of a cure, others are calling for neurodiversity, the idea that differences in human behavior should be celebrated.

“Our feeling is that the autism spectrum is an intrinsic part of our personality that cannot be separated,” says [Ari] Ne’eman, [president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network and a 20-year-old university student with Asperger's syndrome.]

And he worries about research that might one day locate genes and other markers that could help doctors test for autism. Researchers say such knowledge would allow them to intervene early, during a critical window of development in the first year of life. Ne’eman’s fear? That autism will become like Down syndrome—essentially selected out of the population.

An accompanying chart of NIH research funding shows autism is expected to receive $128 million this year, or approximately $85.33 for each of the 1.5 million people diagnosed.

Of the conditions named, Down syndrome receives the smallest amount of research funds, both in the aggregate and on a per capita basis, with a total of $17 million or $48.57 per person diagnosed.

Brain cancer gets the most on a per capita basis, with $1,566.66 for each person diagnosed, while breast cancer gets the most on an aggregate basis: $705 million, or $291.32 for each breast cancer patient.

[Chart in the print version of the magazine only; not posted on the web.]

Related Newsweek story: Testing baby’s brain. Infants with early signs of autism respond well to therapy. Are health systems up to the task?

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Asperger's, Down syndrome, NOT2BEMISSED, advocacy, autism, cancer, genetics, research news, testing, therapy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post