Autism: A Disease of the Rich? – Freakonomics Blog
July 19, 2010 in Special Needs News by Admin Dawn
The higher rates of diagnosed autism among the wealthy has long been thought to be a result of higher rates of diagnosis (or “diagnostic ascertainment bias”) – i.e., wealthier families having better access to those who diagnose autism. However, a new paper argues that the disease itself might actually be more common at the higher end of the income spectrum.
via Autism: A Disease of the Rich? – Freakonomics Blog – NYTimes.com.
The Freakonomics author is always willing to be controversial. What do you think of his take on this study? Also interesting to read the comments below.
Poppycock. What if the reason wealthier families have a higher rate of diagnosis has to do with the fact that, without money, it’s damn hard to get anyone to do a thorough evaluation of any child? Or how about the fact that most insurance companies don’t cover evals, or most proven treatments for Autism? If private insurance won’t cover it, you know Medicaid won’t. So who can afford the evals more often? Those with either more money or more credit. It’s unbelievable how much debt people go into trying to get diagnoses and help for their children. Autism is REAL and doesn’t cherry pick. Class division of this sort is remarkably unhelpful.