Are you surprised by the study that suggests (some) autism may be caused by watching television?

Sorry, forgot the link: http://www.slate.com/id/2151538/

There seems to be a lot of studies suggesting links to Autism. One is Vaccinations that I can think of right off.

Would it surprise me? No
Do I think the study is conclusive? No
I have known autistic children who do not watch tv.
Could Autism symptoms be aggravated by TV- possibly

What?!! No way!!! I would be totally autistic!!!

This paper was written by 3 Management/Policy students, not by neuroscientists, and it was never published in a peer-reviewed journal. Also, check out their methodology:

…we first establish that the amount of television a young child watches is positively related to the amount of precipitation in the child’s community. This suggests that, if television is a trigger for autism, then autism should be more prevalent in communities that receive substantial precipitation.

Seriously?

It does seem logical, I hope more research is done on the subject.

I do know that I watched television CONSTANTLY as a child and I am not autistic. Also, most the the parents I know heavily monitor their children’s television time. I know I monitor my boys’ tv time more than my parents ever monitored mine. Like Dog, I know some autistic children who have never watched television or watched very little television.

I’m firmly in the “we-don’t-really-know-what-we’re-talking-about” camp as far as medical stuff is concerned. Lewis Black said it best in a bit called “Sunblock.” I’ll paraphrase:

“First they tells us eggs are bad, so I stopped eating eggs. Then they say eggs are good, so I ate TWICE as many eggs! Then they said eggs were bad and, well, now I’m really fucked! Then the yolks are bad, the whites are good… make up your mind! It’s breakfast, I gotta eat!!”

Am I surprised it’s suggested? No.

Am I surprised that it’s reported as news and that people fall for that claptrap? Sadly, no again.

Notice the words “suggest” and “may”.

Makes very little sense. Watching Television is one of the main activitys that autistic children are able to focus on with little difficulty (compared to say, playing a simple board game like chutes and ladders, or sitting still at the table during a meal)