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.

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From the Chicago Tribune:

In Illinois, nearly a third of all the schools that fell short of meeting federal achievement standards this year did so solely because of the performance of students enrolled in special education, according to state report card data released this week.

The vast majority of special education students … sit down to the same questions as every other student in their grade.

If, as a group, they fail to meet standards, the entire school could face sanctions specified in the law, from having to provide tutoring to a state takeover or restructuring.

… It leaves administrators with a dilemma: They don’t want to appear to blame their special education students for causing the school to fail, but they also have to explain to parents why their school didn’t meet the bar.

Seattle Times editorial columnist Kate Riley reverses her earlier opinion, and assails her state’s testing standards after her son passes with flying colors.

Here’s the punchline to my son’s letter. He is autistic in a self-contained special-education classroom with limited mainstreaming, can read some words, can add a little and can barely draw a straight line.

She says her son’s portfolio showed progress, but in no way demonstrated mastery of the fourth grade curriculum. The state assessments are designed to implement the No Child Left Behind law.

OK. Let’s get this straight. This stupid assessment doesn’t change the worth of my kid, or any kid. He’s still the nicest, most fun member of the family to be around and he’s got great taste in music.

But what these tests should tell us honestly is whether a student meets one reasonable minimum standard of academic achievement — for all kids. (more…)