Autism is not mental retardation

Autism is not mental retardation. This is a difficult point to get across because up until now this is how the scientific community has viewed this condition.

However, we know that many people with severe autism are actually quite intelligent. We didn't start finding this out until some dedicated parents were able to obtain facilitated communication for their children. It turns out that despite the appearance that their children were totally non-verbal, they are actually quite good at expressing themselves through the technology of computer-assisted speech.

You will still see many references from authoritative sources which ascribe mental retardation to autism, including WebMD. One case in point is the latest issue of the "Clinical Evidence Handbook" which is a reference guide for clinicians. It is published and widely distributed by the prestigious British Medical Journal. They describe the book as "The international source of the best available evidence for effective care." Well, they missed the boat on autism.

An article on autism on page 63 of the 2007 edition states "three quarters have mental retardation." How do they know this? Statements like this are usually based on the best available research, much of which is many years old. They are just repeating errors from the past. How do they test for intelligence? What accommodations were made in the testing? How do they account for high intelligence scores recently found for many people with autism and asperger's?

One researcher at the University of Williamette, Meredyth Goldberg Edelson, looked into the link between autism and mental retardation and found the data lacking. Edelson examined the autism research to determine whether these claims were based on empirical data, what the quality of the data is, and whether non-empirical claims could be traced to data. She reviewed 215 studies (dating from 1937 to 2003) that made 223 claims about the rates of mental retardation in autism. Only 58 of those claims were supported by data, 165 were made in the absence of data, and 8 made both empirical and non-empirical claims. Newer non-empirical claims cited older empirical claims, often based on faulty measurements.

Edelson's work is backed up by her peers. “Although she is challenging the status quo, the quality of Edelson’s work is excellent,” said Richard Simpson, professor of special education at the University of Kansas and former editor of the journal “Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities.” See this link: http://blog.willamette.edu/news/archives/2006/08/link_between_au.php

Edelson commented on the previous literature that linked mental retardation and autism. “Many claims are based on faulty data or no data at all, and data that is available is 35 to 40 years old and based on measures that don’t even measure intelligence. No one had ever systematically analyzed the evidence in support of those claims.”

What we have to realize is that "the best available evidence" may not reflect reality. In this case "best" is not good enough for those who have autism and their parents. Do not blindly accept expert opinions and remember that at least one-half of all medical literature is wrong. Every day new studies are published that bring to light new evidence that displaces old findings. That is the nature of the scientific method which is a constant revision of what we used to think was true. Remember, at one time it was an expert scientific opinion that the Earth was the center of the solar system.

People who have autism and their parents probably know a lot more about it than researchers. Spend 48 straight hours with someone with autism and you will see what I mean.

People with autism are not retarded. They have achieved great things already and much of it can be easily reviewed right now on the internet. For reference, please see http://www.drlareau.com/aspergians.html . This is a web page I drew up for my family and friends who wanted to know more about autism.