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Autism seems to be more widespread that ever–unless statistics are wrong: a new study show that the rate of autism has risen 23% in the last two years, with one in 88 children affected. Could there be a REASON behind this? Scientists studying the problem have begun to find some advantages to being autistic.

In the Wall Street Journal, Jonah Lehrer writes: "A few dozen adults, both with and without autism, were given a difficult perceptual task, in which they had to keep track of letters quickly flashed on a computer screen. At the same time, they also had to watch out for a small gray shape that occasionally appeared on the edge of the monitor.
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More and more US schools have their own police forces. Pupils are being arrested for throwing paper planes and failing to pick up crumbs from the cafeteria floor. The state has taken over discipline from the classroom teacher and is now criminalizing normal childhood behavior–or is it?

In Austin, Texas, 12-year-old Sarah Bustamantes was arrested for spraying perfume on her neck in class after the other kids were taunting her and saying she smelled bad. In the Guardian Weekly, Chris McGreal quotes Sarah as saying, "They were saying a lot of rude things to me. Just picking on me. So I sprayed myself with perfume. Then the teacher called the police."
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But we’re learning more – Scientists have determined that people often look like their dogs, now a canine chromosome explains why they sometimes ACT like them too. This chromosome, which confers a high risk of the person who has it developing a compulsive disorder, may be linked to both human autism and dogs. Researchers are now discovering that autism is often overlooked in girls and is tied to anorexia. At least there’s one less thing to worry about: Vaccines do NOT cause autism.
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Sometimes bad things happen, but here’s something GOOD to know now that more of the Swine Flu vaccine is finally being released: A recent study published in a peer-reviewed journal found that 2 to 5 year old children diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum disorders had blood mercury levels similar to those oftypically developing control children after adjusting for a variety of sources. Thus mercury in the children’s blood did not appearto be the cause of autism.
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