Time for a new generation of Autism “Experts”?
Farewell to Pingu I usually succeed in keeping to the science in this blog and refrain from sharing my other wider opinions. Today I slipped up. Rather like James Simons, founder of the Simons Foundation, I do not have a high opinion of many supposed experts, particularly when it comes to autism. Autism is often a backwater, where “academics” can still write the occasional quasi-scientific paper on some touchy-feely aspect that they consider important and make a name for themselves. On the back of this, they can advocate for their perception of autism and often encourage ever-wider diagnosis in people who are less and less severely affected. So far this is fine; we are all entitled to have our own opinions, so no comments on Autism Speaks, Autism One, or the various National Autism Societies. They all have the best intentions. I should highlight the Simons Foundation and the UC Davis MIND Institute as being excellent scientific sources of objective information. The only re...