A previous estimate had put the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (including Asperger's, which affects the young artist pictured above) at one in 150, but a new telephone survey and a more in-depth CDC estimate indicate the disorders are more common. Some of the rise may be due to improved detection, but Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, says, "The concern here is that buried in these numbers is a true increase. We're going to have to think very hard about what we're going to do for the 1 in 100."

Others are more critical of the study's findings. The telephone survey in particular, which found an autism rate of 1 in every 91 children, has drawn fire. Researchers asked parents two questions: whether they had ever been told by a doctor that their child had an autism spectrum disorder, and whether the child currently had such a disorder. If they answered yes to both, the child was counted among those suffering from an autism spectrum disorders. But autism researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto says the explanation of the disorder is given to parents was insufficient, and notes that the second question didn't actually ask about a doctor's diagnosis.

Also, 40% of parents who answered yes to the first question said no to the second, which is odd because autism spectrum disorders are considered incurable. Researchers think this means some children were initially misdiagnosed. This calls the whole study into question a bit, as it underlines how difficult autism spectrum disorders are to diagnose at all. Dr. Susan E. Levy, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics subcommittee on autism, says, "With diabetes you can get a blood test. As of yet, there's no consistent biologic marker we can use to make the diagnosis of autism."

A genetic test for autism may be on the horizon. Until then, autism research and diagnosis will likely remain controversial. The CDC survey, whose full results have not been released yet, found a prevalence of about one in a hundred by analyzing children's health and education records — when it is fully made public, it may gain more acceptance than the telephone survey. But as long as a diagnosis is made based on somewhat subjective behavioral symptoms, scientists and parents will probably always disagree on how many children have autism, and how severe the problem is. It's interesting to note that half the parents of autistic children in the telephone survey believed their children's disorder was mild.

The new studies do add some evidence, however, to support the notion that the percentage of autistic children is rising. Unscientific yet popular theories about the dangers of vaccination have somewhat clouded a real effort to find out why this might be. If autism really is growing more prevalent, we need to figure out if any environmental factors are contributing to this growth. And be need to me sure our society is equipped to serve the needs of a growing number of autistic children and adults. Dr. Insel says the new studies raise "a lot of questions about how we are preparing in terms of housing, employment, social support — all the issues that many of these people are going to need. It also raises questions about how well we're prepared in the educational system to provide for the special needs of many of these kids." The educational system in America right now is neither very flexible nor very hospitable to children who fall outside a certain behavioral norm. This should change anyway — perhaps these new studies will provide some motivation.

Studies Show 1 In 100 Kids Have Autism [AP, via CBS]
Study: More Cases Of Autism In U.S. Kids Than Previously Realized [CNN]

In his blog, The White Coat Underground, internist PalMD takes Oprah to task for her claim that, "homeopathy treatment is similar to how a vaccination or immunization works." He counters, "You can measure the antibody response provoked by a vaccine. You cannot measure anything provoked by homeopathy because the only think homeopathy produces is a bill." To Oprah's admission that, "there are different theories behind homeopathy. But lack of convincing evidence is a big concern with homeopathy's acceptance by conventional medical doctors," PalMD responds,

No! Homeopathy's "lack of convincing evidence" is not some problem we uptight "conventional doctors" have—-it is the fundamental problem (along with the absurdity of it) with homeopathy. It has not been shown to work. This is rather important in medicine.

Newsweek's critique is more far-reaching. Writers Weston Kosova and Pat Wingert call Oprah out for her embrace of Suzanne Somers's potentially dangerous "biodentical" hormone regimen, Jenny McCarthy's potentially dangerous argument that vaccines cause autism, and Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, which is potentially dangerous if you, like Oprah's guest Kim Tinkham, take it to mean that you should use positive thinking instead of actual medicine to cure your illnesses. Oprah is in a unique position, they write:

Her most ardent fans regard her as an oracle. If she mentions the title of a book, it goes to No. 1. If she says she uses a particular wrinkle cream, it sells out. At Oprah's retail store in Chicago, women can purchase used shoes and outfits that she wore on the show. Her viewers follow her guidance because they like and admire her, sure. But also because they believe that Oprah, with her billions and her Rolodex of experts, doesn't have to settle for second best. If she says something is good, it must be.

Oprah told ET Online that "I trust the viewers, and I know that they are smart and discerning enough to seek out medical opinions to determine what may be best for them." And in a longer statement released to Newsweek, she said,

The guests we feature often share their first-person stories in an effort to inform the audience and put a human face on topics relevant to them. I've been saying for years that people are responsible for their actions and their own well-being. I believe my viewers understand the medical information presented on the show is just that-information-not an endorsement or prescription. Rather, my intention is for our viewers to take the information and engage in a dialogue with their medical practitioners about what may be right for them.

But the truth is, many do look to Oprah as an oracle. She had far too much power to pretend that her excitement over certain treatments ("After one day on bioidentical estrogen, I felt the veil lift," she wrote in her magazine) is just more information or people to consider. Oprah's opinion is persuasive to many people, more persuasive, perhaps, than the advice of their own doctors, and she has a responsibility not to recommend that her viewers sacrifice their money and possibly their health for treatments that have no scientific basis.

Kosova and Wingert say Oprah hasn't given equal weight to critics of Somers or McCarthy's positions. She read a statement by the CDC denying the link between vaccines and autism but then allowed McCarthy to conclude the segment. McCarthy said, "my science is named Evan, and he's at home. That's my science."

Health is unpredictable and scary, and it's natural to want to rely on "my science," to crave a certain feeling of control. Oprah offers that control, telling viewers, "we have the right to demand a better quality of life for ourselves. And that's what doctors have got to learn to start respecting." But this control is an illusion. We can't demand better health from our doctors, from supplements, or from the universe. At some point, we have to take what comes our way. Oprah's message of "living your best life" has been helpful to many people, but sometimes your best life comes from accepting your lot, and looking at your options with a clear, critical eye.

Live Your Best Life Ever! [Newsweek]
Oprah's Website Of Woo—-Can It Change? [ScienceBlogs]
Oprah Responds To Newsweek Report [ETOnline]

First, the essay: David Finch's marriage is in trouble, because, he feels, he's no longer able to hide his "real self" - neurotic, distant, obsessive - from his wife, Kristen.

She started observing my unusual behaviors - rigid adherence to routines, unusual reactions to social stimuli, conditional regard for the needs of others - as I became less capable of hiding them. Before long, my endearing quirks multiplied and became exponentially more annoying until eventually her life was flooded with my neuroses.

Kristen, who happens to be a speech pathologist who works with autistic children, eventually comes to suspect her husband in fact has Asperger's Syndrome, the Austism spectrum disorder frequently associated with obsessive behaviors, and that typically interferes with development of social skills and empathy. She administers a test at home - "an armchair diagnosis that would later be seconded by a health-care professional." The two set about addressing David's Asperger's by targeting the specific behaviors jeopardizing their relationship.

Whenever my routine got disrupted, or I was made to do something that didn't interest me, I would shut down, unable to engage in any constructive way. To get me to overcome this, Kristen started pushing me to my breaking point, backing off just before I was about to snap. If she thought I could handle 10 minutes of a TV show I didn't pick, but 20 minutes would send me over the edge into meltdown, she would change the channel after 18 minutes.

The author is clearly a willing student, able to apply his uniquely single-minded focus to identifying "bad" behaviors, keeping track of them, addressing them. Indeed, his willingness to take complete blame for anything wrong with his relationship seems almost of a piece with it. He does a wonderful job of expressing the relief that someone must feel at realizing that what he'd thought was a personality 'problem' is in fact a syndrome beyond his control - and the unique position of being hyper-aware of, almost detached from, a physiological impulse that determines his behavior. As he puts it,

We're not out of the socially crippling woods yet, and we probably never will be, at least when it comes to my fixations and repetitive behaviors...But over all I'm a good patient, and we've made steady progress. We've even reached a therapeutic milestone. When something is wrong, Kristen is able to whisper to me those three magic words: "Can we talk?" And instead of shutting down and freezing her out with silent brooding, I'm able to provide an equally magical response: "Yes."

The essay is heartening and touching and tremendously hopeful. It's a testament to the power of love and partnership and doubtless encouraging, too, to all those parents and people who worry Asperger's can't be addressed. The new awareness of the Autism spectrum and the prevalence of Asperger's is a great thing, and pieces like this are an important part of raising awareness and, one hopes, aiding in destimgatizing the syndrome. I was glad to read it, just as I was glad to see an episode of Made in which a much-mocked boy explained his Asperger's syndrome to his classmates. But it also made my heart sink a little. Because lately, people have been tossing this term around a lot, without knowing what it means. "He can't help it, I think he's on the Asperger's spectrum," remarked my boyfriend's sister recently when he was demonstrating what was obviously just self-absorbed and assholeish behavior vis-a-vis a family dinner he didn't wish to attend. I pointed out that, if this was true, his "Asperger's" seemed limited to those situations when he didn't want to do something or endear himself to anyone. My second-cousin recently diagnosed her philandering on-again off-again boyfriend as "having Asperger's" to explain his appalling behavior, despite the fact that he didn't seem to meet any of the clinical criteria (as long as we're all amateur diagnosticians here.) And when, at a reunion event, a childhood friend's boyfriend answered his phone ten times in the course of a heartfelt discussion of her dad's illness, she turned to me confidentially and said, "I think he has Asperger's."

No, he doesn't. Or, maybe he does, but that's not really for us to say. Yes, this is a far more common syndrome than many people realize, and the spectrum is a wide one, leading to many undiagnosed cases. But it's also an actual clinical syndrome, and cheapening the term does no one any favors. if this keeps up, US is going to be diagnosing celebrities any second. Maybe I'm extra-sensitive because I've watched several people in my family struggle with Asperger's, and watched the toll it took on their lives and sense of self. Or because I used to work with a specialist who treated kids on the spectrum and learned a lot about the clinical definitions, challenges and realities of it. For one thing, plenty of folks with Asperger's are considerate and treat their girlfriends well. For another, some people are assholes who were poorly brought up. As the author of this lovely and informative essay could tell you, Asperger's is more than a word.

Somewhere Inside, A Path To Empathy [NY Times]

[Cannes, May 18. Image via Bauer-Griffin]

• Iran has consented to review the 8 year prison sentence, but judiciary officials deny that Saberi is on hunger strike. • Yesterday hundreds gathered in Philadelphia to march for gay rights. It is reportedly the first national rally for equality held outside Washington, DC. •  Ugh: Swiss authorities are investigating the appearance of a condom in a 7-year-old's Happy Meal. • New research has found that men with mental health problems are at an increased risk of passing their issues on to their sons. • A British mother was nearly killed while birthing her abnormally large son. Her child weighed 13 pounds, 10 ounces, which is almost double the average birth weight. • A recent study has found that the brothers of women who are fertile late in life tend to live longer, but their wives (sisters-in-law to the older mothers) do not. • Researchers have found that African-American women face a much greater risk of dying from breast cancer than white women, regardless of socio-economic status, the age at which they are diagnosed, the type of cancer, or type of treatment. • This fascinating report compares the leisure habits of different countries. Findings include: men in Italy have 80 minutes more of down time per day than women, and the French spend more time sleeping and eating than any other country included in the study. Fuckers. • Doctors have found new ways to identify autism in infants, which they hope will lead to better treatment of the disorder. • A new study from the Children's Hospital in Boston indicates that kids who watch adult-targeted TV are more likely to be sexually active at a younger age than those who stick to Saturday morning cartoons. • A woman in Dubai has been convicted of accidentally killing her fetus in a traffic accident and has been ordered to pay blood money to compensate for the (possibly) resulting stillbirth. • The Sleepy Eye Police Department is investigating the theft of Snoopy's nose. • Bear trapping is big business in China, where bears are held captive in order to collect their valuable bile. The bears are often held in cages no bigger than their own bodies. •  Following the case of the 8-year-old girl who was married to a man 40 years her senior, Saudi Arabia has begun to consider banning marriage for girls under the age of 18. • A 17-year-old girl who dialed 911 when her father had a seizure was berated by the cop who answered the call because she began swearing. Click here to hear the full tape. • Silvio Berlusconi has demanded an apology from his wife, Veronica Lario, for her recent comments about their possible divorce. •

• Cabergoline, a drug that makes women stop producing breast milk, is usually prescribed to women with HIV, but now, women are reportedly taking it for "social reasons" like wanting to return to work or not wanting the shape of their breasts to change. • A Toronto judge has ruled that a mother is using her breastfeeding schedule to keep the father of her 29-month-old daughter from seeing his child. The father says if the mother used a breast pump and gave him milk, he'd be willing to keep up with the feeding schedule. • A British sheep named Dolly has given birth to sextuplets. Sheep usually give birth to only two or three lambs at a time. Now Dolly's owners are hand-feeding the lambs because she doesn't have enough teats for all six. • China has moved the last six pandas still living in the Wolong Panda Breeding Center to another breeding facility. The preserve was badly damaged in last year's earthquake. • This Japanese potty training video shows a talking animated toilet bowl and dancing poop and pee with faces. • Residents in Melbourne, Florida are complaining because a church is holding a three-week program of "Great Sex For You" sermons in the auditorium of the local elementary school. • Voters in the Appenzell Inner Rhodes region of the Swiss Alps voted to ban naked hiking after dozens of German nudists started hiking through the region. Violators will be fined. • Eight-year-old Texas girl, Emma Hicks, steered her grandmother's SUV off the road after her grandmother had a seizure, saving both of their lives. • New U.S. Census data shows that in 2007 black college graduates made only 78 percent of the salary for comparably educated whites, which is the biggest disparity in pay between whites and blacks since 2001. • A grand jury has indicted two New York City police officers for allegedly raping a woman after they escorted her from a taxicab to her apartment while she was drunk. • New research shows children who are firstborn, breech or whose mothers are 35 or older have a significantly greater risk of having autism. • A British woman has been locked up until May 5 for violating a court order prohibiting her from having noisy sex. • Researchers have identified an area of the human genome that may contribute to the development of pelvic floor disorders like pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence, which will affect one-third of all U.S. women at some point in their lives. • Drinking diet soda may reduce the risk of forming kidney stones. Researchers found the citrate and malate content in many diet sodas may be enough to inhibit the development of calcium stones. • Cosmopolitan's new executive editor Nicole Beland has enraged Catholic League president William Donohue by writing about a sexually repressed woman, "It's not easy to undo damage caused by years of exposure to Catholic-school nuns or overly conservative parents." Donohue says, "It would never occur to Beland that a woman who is sexually repressed might have been molested growing up ... No, for Beland it is empirically obvious that Sister Mary Alice did it." Really? That's the most offensive thing he found in Cosmo? •

Conventional thinking says that Asperger's and other autism spectrum disorders are four to sixteen times as common in boys as girls. But Gould thinks a more likely ratio is 2.5 boys to every girl. She says the underdiagnosis is caused by "a stereotyped view of what Asperger's is, which is based entirely on how boys present with the condition." Tony Attwood, author of The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome, agrees, saying:

Boys tend to externalise their problems, while girls learn that, if they're good, their differences will not be noticed. Boys go into attack mode when frustrated, while girls suffer in silence and become passive-aggressive. Girls learn to appease and apologise. They learn to observe people from a distance and imitate them. It is only if you look closely and ask the right questions, you see the terror in their eyes and see that their reactions are a learnt script.

Getting clinicians to see this "terror" is especially important, because, according to Attwood, "undiagnosed Asperger's can create devastatingly low self-esteem in girls." He even says that "in my experience, up to 20% of female anorexics have undiagnosed Asperger's."

Doctors Are 'Failing To Spot Asperger's In Girls' [The Guardian]

• It seems that safe sex is recession-proof! Condom sales have been increasing as the economy worsens and people look for cheaper ways to entertain themselves. • High school students in Illinois published a "Hooking Up" edition of their award-winning school paper. Administrators claim that they did not have to confiscate any copies of the paper, since they were so quickly snatched up by students and teachers. • Meet Chloe, the only cat who loves to shower. The aquatic Persian will jump in the shower at any chance she gets. • Photographer Jenny Wicks is fighting gingerism with her art. She has snapped pictures of people from all over Britain in efforts to capture the unique beauty of redheads... and she's succeeded. • After publicly claiming that their entire engagement was only a "stunt," Drew Peterson's ex-fiance, Christina Raines, has moved back in with him. • It looks like even "Bridezillas" are scaling back: sales of wedding gowns in the U.S. are expected to decrease 2.8%. • Good news for all the real-life Jims and Pams out there: a new survey shows that 31% of office romances lead to marriage. • Research from Indiana University shows that single ladies are better at expressing their emotions in text messages than men. Women are more likely to use emoticons and write longer messages. • Cordula Volkening, a 52-year-old woman from Brooklyn, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer a year ago. After learning that she had only a few years more, Volkening decided to bravely start a new career as a painter. • Just in time for Valentine's Day, researchers have found that material gifts may lead to more happiness than "experience"-based gifts, especially when the experience goes badly. Apparently, it is easier to forget a crappy gift than a terrible dinner or a poorly chosen vacation. • Yesterday, a woman believed to be 115 years old passed away in Chicago. Virginia Coll was not previously recognized as one of the 88 people living aged over 110 and above. • While head lice have a long history of nesting in human hair, scientists believe that crabs are a slightly more recent phenomenon. David Reed theorizes that crabs originated in the pubic hair of gorillas, and only later spread to humans. • A Saudi judge has sentenced the victim of gang-rape to 100 lashes and a year in jail for adultery. Authorities accuse the woman of attempting to get an abortion after she found herself pregnant as a result of the attack. • Through studying prairie voles, a rare monogamous rodent, scientists hope to discover the biological source of love. • Men from Sydney will be among the first in the world to try a twice-monthly male contraceptive injection. • In order to keep up with changing technology, the Queen's website has received a facelift. • Cotton candy could soon be more than just a fairground staple: scientists may have found a way to use the fluffy treat to regrow human tissue. • A special court ruled today that there is no link between autism and vaccination, despite what many parents may think. While this may be a good thing for some, it is an all-around bad week for parents of autistic children: a bill was defeated yesterday that would require mandatory insurance coverage for children with autism. • A pregnant Brazilian woman was attacked last Monday evening in Zurich by a group of skinheads. They allegedly carved the initials of Switzerland's right-wing party into her stomach after hearing her speaking Portuguese. The attack caused her to miscarry twins. •

• Celebrity hairdresser Andrew Barton says he has experienced a 67% surge in requests for blonde hair products compared to this time last year. Barton believes that women are dying their hair to counteract the gloom of the credit crunch. Which makes absolutely no sense, considering all the expensive touch ups necessary to maintain a blonde hue. • A new study has found that certain chemicals, commonly found in food packaging, upholstery and carpets may reduce women's fertility. • Scientists have begun to investigate a recent drop in the average age of puberty among girls. They believe that the increase in childhood obesity may be a factor, since fat can be a source of estrogen. • New research indicates that losing weight can significantly reduce urinary incontinence among women. • Further evidence that premature birth may be tied to autism: a U.S. study has found that children born more tan three months early are two to three times as likely to show signs of autism. • Front runner for the "most evil man alive" competition, Josef Fritzl, has invited the world's leading psychiatrists to examine him. He says they "should look into the deepest depths of my soul and learn from it for future cases." We find this deeply disturbing. • The so-called breast cancer gene may also indicate a man's likelihood for developing a particularly aggressive form of prostate cancer. • A new poll shows that more than half the respondents, while happy with their homes, would like to live elsewhere. • Here's the latest results from the seemingly endless pile of no-shit studies: circumcisions are twice as likely to be performed in states where Medicaid pays for them as in states where they are not covered. • Encouraged by security improvements throughout he country, thousands of Iraq women are running for local government. • According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of crimes committed in Britain by girls has soared 22% in the past few years. • At South Devon College, students as young as 14 watched a pole dancing demonstration as part of the school's Be Healthy Week. The video of the performance actually does not appear at all sexual, and looks incredibly challenging. • It turns out that UV light-enhanced tooth bleaching is not only ineffective, but is also terrible for your skin. A study also found that the procedure can damage teeth permanently. • Serena Williams has been named the all-time career prize money leader in women's sport, besting golfing legeand Annika Sorenstam. • 

New research published today from Cambridge University reports that high levels of testosterone in the amniotic fluid of pregnant woman are linked to the development of autism traits by the age of eight in a study of 235 children from birth. The findings mean that it may be possible to detect autism through an amniocentesis, like Down Syndrome.

But doctors say that now is the time to start debating if having a prenatal test for autism would be desirable, even if it was scientifically possible. "There is a test for Down's syndrome and that is legal and parents exercise their right to choose termination, but autism is often linked with talent. It is a different kind of condition," said lead researcher Professor Simon Baron-Cohen in The Guardian.

Autism is a developmental disability that involves a biological abnormality in the brain, but it is not a learning disability or a mental health problem. The test would not be able to identify whether a child would be born with high-functioning autism that can be associated with an increased ability in certain areas like math or music or on the low end of the spectrum with disabilities so extreme they cannot communicate. But Baron-Cohen says, ethically the same issues apply wherever the person is on that spectrum.

A test for autism means that parents may choose to terminate a pregnancy if they discover their child may develop the condition, but it could also lead to new treatments. There are drugs that block testosterone that could theoretically be given in the womb, but Baron-Cohen says even developing a treatment for autism is controversial. "What would we lose if children with autistic spectrum disorder were eliminated from the population?" he asked.

Even if there was a way to treat autism, there is still the question of whether it is a naturally occurring condition or one caused by environmental factors. Though autism rates have risen dramatically in recent years, there is still debate over whether the "autism epidemic" is due to increased awareness and diagnosis or an actual increase in autism cases. According to Babble, in a new study in California, where autism rates have increased more than 500 percent in 10 years, researchers determined that the increase in autism is likely due to external factors and are investigating the effects of metals, pesticides and infectious agents on neurodevelopment. This may confirm what many have suspected, that thought there are genetic predisposition to autism, environmental factors are at work as well.

New Research Brings Autism Screening Closer To Reality [The Guardian]
New Study Says Autism is Environmental [Babble]

• A Dalmatian named Button gave birth to a litter of 18 puppies, which puts her total number of offspring in the thirties. • And yet another study shows that virginity pledges don't really work. Someone better tell Jordan Sparks. • A mother used lifeguard training to save herself and her two young daughters after their family car slid off the road into a freezing pond. • Male cyclists, triathletes, and skiiers may be at greater risk for developing eating disorders. • Older women who are more physically fit are less likely to have decreased cognitive function as they age, study says. • Just what we need: a new injectable treatment named Reloxin claims to be better than Botox. • A Nebraskan woman faked labor pains when she was caught shoplifting. After arriving at the hospital, police were informed that the woman was not even pregnant. • A cat wandered onto the set of a live weather forecast in Germany. The meteorologist scooped up the cat and let it help point helpfully toward the weather map. • Twitter uses raise $12,000 to help an abused woman leave her husband. • Washington Attorney General Rob will ask lawmakers to raise the sentencing for domestic violence felonies. • New research finds that black women face greater challenges when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder. • A study has found that men who do not find curvy woman more attractive than athletic women are more likely to father children with autism. • Something else to be paranoid about: the germs that live on doctor's scrubs and lab coats could kill you. • The cosmetics industry is facing serious reform, as the Obama administration looks to change the current standards of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) •

Marcotte's piece is tied to the recent measles outbreak in San Diego that sickened 11 children and was touched off by a couple of Whole Foods shoppers who refused to vaccinate their children out of fear over a disproven link between thimerosal (which hasn't been added to any childhood vaccine since 2001) and autism. Luckily, neither the yuppies' kids nor the infants that had yet to be vaccinated died.

Marcotte points out that by deliberately refusing to vaccinate their children, anti-vaccine parents are relying on the efficacy of mass vaccinations to protect their own children — risking the health, naturally, of other people's children who are either too young to be vaccinated or, perhaps, come from countries that do not regularly vaccinate their children — for the sake of making what is, in effect, a political point that they don't trust the federal government's oversight of the pharmaceutical industry.

Marcotte also points out that the loss of universal vaccinations means a resurgence in the need to quarantine children and their families when outbreaks do occur. Some, if not all, of the anti-vaccine advocates might be able to afford not to work outside of their homes, if they work at all, and the burden of caring for and quarantining a sick child for three weeks might not be untenable. But for single-parent (usually female-headed) households or two-income households, taking three weeks off of work to comply with a government-enforced mandate made necessary by the parents who won't vaccinate their kids might not be tenable.

This brings me to an interesting and quick observation made on the show, which is that child quarantines worked just fine in pre-vaccine communities where most women with small children were housewives and could handle being stuck at home for 3 weeks. But nowadays, most mothers have outside employment, and maintaining a quarantine is nearly impossible. If the anti-vaccination people had their way, and we got rid of vaccines and childhood diseases started to run rampant again, we would only be able to control it through quarantine. And that would mean a whole lot of women would lose their jobs because they couldn’t handle both quarantines and holding down a job.

Marcotte is suggesting that the return to quarantining would mean, for many women, a forced return to traditional stay-at-home parenting roles, which is something feminism (and medical progress, for that matter) was supposed to prevent.

Anti-Vaccination = Anti-Feminist? [Pandagon]

Related: Thimerosal In Vaccines [Federal Drug Administration]

According to the Journal, "Parker survived and is now 20 months old. He has poor language and motor skills and may never walk. Already hospitalized three times, Parker's medical odyssey has stretched the Cardens' finances and put a huge strain on their relationship." It got to the point where the Cardens had to get help from their parents to buy groceries for their family, which included three other children in addition to Parker.

A piece in the Washington Post outlines the pros and cons of increasingly advanced fetal DNA testing. Proponents of the test, which "use 'gene chips' to detect much subtler chromosomal variations than standard prenatal testing can," like Baylor's Arthur L. Beaudet, argue that for people who want maximum information, they deserve to know. "Some of these disorders are quite burdensome. They require lifelong nursing care. In some cases these children never walk, never talk, never feed themselves," Beaudet tells the Washington Post. "It can have a major impact on the family. People say, 'I wish you had given me the opportunity to know ahead of time. It's really destroyed our lives.' That's why women want to know."

Opponents say that not only is the test not accurate enough, but that its use could lead to eugenics. "The question is, what is the information used for?" David Prentice of the pro-life Family Research Council asks the Post. "If it's for informing the parents so they can be prepared for what might come, that's great. But if it's being used for eugenics purposes — for abortion — we would be against it." Where I think this could add a new wrinkle in the abortion debate is that perhaps some pro-choicers will believe that aborting a special needs child is morally wrong. This is pure speculation based on anecdotal evidence, but possibly it hews too close to eugenics for some, even considering the dire emotional and fiscal costs to the family involved.

But let's get back to Trig, the public face of special needs. Unfortunately, his mother, for all her purported caring about other children with Down syndrome, does not support the raising of taxes to fund special needs programs. She came out against Colorado's Prop 51, which according to the Guardian, "would provide thousands of children and adults with autism, Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy and other disabilities with critically needed care, through a phased-in sales tax of 0.2%." The proposition has been championed by a McCain/Palin supporter, former Colorado first lady Frances Owens. Palin is against the ballot measure because, "There's got to be an alternative to raising taxes. It's a matter of prioritizing the dollars that are already there in government. What I did as governor of the state of Alaska was prioritize for a great increase in funding for our students with special needs up there. And I think that Colorado can do that also."

But, as the Guardian points out, "It's hard to see how this could become a reality. McCain has sworn to an immediate government spending freeze. And Palin, in Colorado Springs, promised to cut taxes and balance the budget in one year. If past experience is any guide, all that means is cutting programmes affecting children with special needs." Again, as with Bristol's pregnancy, and the Alaska Governor's history of non-support for pregnant teens, it seems that the only children Palin cares about supporting are her own.

The Toughest Test [WSJ]
Fresh Hopes And Concerns As Fetal DNA Tests Advance [Washington Post]
Special Needs And Conservative Creeds [Guardian]

Earlier: Ask Not What Bristol Palin Can Do For You, Ask What Sarah Palin Can Do For Your Pregnant Daughter

The worry now, says the Scientific American, is that fewer parents are vaccinating their children because of the earlier study. "The CDC confirmed 131 measles cases in the U.S. between Jan. 1 and Aug. 1 of this year, more than double the number of cases reported annually between 2001 and 2007," Scientific American reports. Larry Pickering, a pediatrician and immunization expert at Emory University and the CDC tells the Washington Post, "Often these [un-vaccinated] children will cluster…If a measles case comes into this cluster, this virus is very easily transmitted. The clustering of people without protection against measles is doubly worrisome."

Study Finds No Autism Link in Vaccine, Digestive Problems, MMR Scrutinized [Washington Post]
New Study: Measles Vaccine Doesn't Cause Autism [SciAm]

Earlier: Loose Lips

MOE: Whoa 8:45 on the dot!
ON THE NOSE.
MEGAN: That's impressive!
MOE: I'm never on time!
MEGAN: Me neither!
MOE: So guess what? I thought I made this reservation to fly to Seattle tomorrow and it turns out the reservation is for today and tomorrow's flight is sold out, and tonight's flight is sold out!
MEGAN: Hey, I've never been to Seattle and I've always meant to go and I totally actually did that once, only I didn't find out until an hour after the flight actually left. I felt like the world's largest idiot.
MEGAN: Anyway, so the British judges ruled in favor of the Nazi sado-masochistic orgy guy in his lawsuit against the tabloids, because I know we were all on the edges of our seats about that.
And Rudy Giuliani's annoying male progeny is suing Duke for kicking him off the golf team because it will ruin his plans to become a professional golfer. You know, his shitty golfing won't, but Duke cutting him would. Apple, tree in terms of sheer annoyingness and hubris.
MOE: Um, does his mean young people actually might bother voting in this election?
That's a story about an attack ad the Let Freedom Ring foundation is running on MTV. Um, do conservatives ever do youth outreach? Also, in this campaign? What? Also, as attack ads go, it's pretty tame. And cost like $13 to produce.
MEGAN: God, I love the names of bullshit conservative groups! There's always some play on freedom, freedom to own guns and have your religious beliefs imposed on others and to not pay taxes, just not freedom of speech and right of assembly and to IM without the government reading it and to have an abortion.
MOE: Duke is one of those schools that could probably turn a lot of decent impressionable young conformists into abject douchebags but Andrew Giuliani probably had an advantage. He's suing the Duke golf team for booting him off in a "bizarre scheme"…
A bizarre scheme otherwise known as "What can I say, I got sick of the little bitch."

The suit contends the new coach, O.D. Vincent, wanted to reduce the size of the team and trumped up or exaggerated "minor" incidents as an excuse to cut Giuliani. Vincent, who had caused a stir at UCLA when his team there posed naked - holding ball baskets - in Golf Digest, accused Giuliani of driving out of a parking lot too fast, tossing a putter, busting a driver and throwing an apple at a teammate during an argument.

MEGAN: I think that throwing shit at people is generally grounds for getting kicked off of shit.
MOE: I predict success for young Andrew, because it is Duke and as everyone knows money pretty much buys you whatever there.
MEGAN: Well, there and everywhere else.
MOE: Yeah Duke is just apparently particularly bad, according to that story about rich dumb kids whose parents get courted on special fundraising tours starting when they are like 12.

Cissy Bunn acknowledges her daughter didn't fit the academic profile of a Duke student. "She's bright, she had good grades, but she doesn't meet the superstar status," Mrs. Bunn says. "Did my normal child take the place of somebody who could really make a difference in the world? Sure, yes, to an extent. But there are so many things you can lose sleep over. I'm happy for me and my child."

MEGAN: My alma mater has a special 2-year program for stupid little rich kids (and the occasional person with actual potential). It gets them a group of students that will pay full tuition and doesn't need financial aid, but lowers the average SAT scores of the university so much that they take those students out when reporting it to US News & World Report, so the magazine won't rank us anymore.
MOE: Anyway, I just remembered that story because it was kinda truly gross. Like, if elite boarding school and private tutors can't land you a 1300 on your SATs I am sorry but nothing will and you belong fucking elsewhere.
(I say that as a former private SAT tutor who managed to coax 1300s out of some reeeeeally rambunctious kids.)
MEGAN: SATs are a bullshit test anyway. Standardized tests are a tool of the Man, which is why I did so well on them. It's a matter of whether you know or have learned how to game the system. I think it's not that someone like that isn't smart, it's that she doesn't feel like she has to try because she'll get what she wants anywhere, so there's no need to learn how to game the system.
MOE: (I didn't realize at the time I should have been buying their Ritalin off them.)
MEGAN: It's sort of like how financial institutions figured that even if they fucked up hard core the government would still bail them out, so there was no need to practice self-regulation or risk-management, since there was little risk.
MOE: That's a fair point. I mean, I personally hated the "system gaming" stuff because it was like, "No the point of this test is to see whether you know implicitly how to game the system." So I just basically told the kids CONCENTRATE. And focused on critical reading and vocab. One kid asked me if I had been watching too much Dawson's Creek.
I wonder what Maude Bunn is doing these days! I bet she's on Facebook.
MEGAN: I never watched Dawson's Creek. I think the WB didn't come in so well on my TV at college. But James VanDerBeek or whatever went to my sister's college before he made it, if being on one show is considered "making it."
I mean, it's better than I've ever done, but then I'm kind of a shit actor even when I'm a decent liar.
MOE: I think that's a big deal if only because without Dawson's Creek we never would have had Television Without Pity.
One of the most important cultural institutions of our time.
And I say that as someone who doesn't even watch TV.
MEGAN: Which sucks now that Bravo bought and redesigned it.
MOE: Well, that would suck even more if I watched TV. So did you check that Erik Wemple item about how the Washington Post's 97-part Chandra Levy series is quite possibly doing better pageview-wise than their Pulitzer-winning Walter Reed series? Although there is no actual data they are releasing to support this so it is fundamentally speculation? Speculation based on no underlying grievances or suspicions whatsoever??
MEGAN: Oh, by the way, Michael Savage is "clarifying" his shitty stupid assholic remarks on autism being a fake disease. It turns out that the uptick in diagnoses is due to doctors and drug companies peddling their wares like they did with ADHD, even though there are no drugs to treat autism. I hate that fucking guy. Fuck him, someone, please find him and beat him about the head.
Also, OF COURSE it's doing better, it's seriously written like at a 3rd grade reading level and published in like easily-digestable chunks and containing little in the way of actual new information. Like, you keep waiting to learn something and then never do if you read anything about it
MOE: I mean, is one thing to joke that, like, fibromyalgia or bipolar disorder is fake, but autism? Did he miss that Babysitter's Club? Also, in all seriousness, what are they prescribing to the autistic kids? I mean, I don't know nothing, but if it's SSRIs that's sort of a racket. Beyond that, regarding the Post, you know how carefully I monitor the Most-Viewed list because it provides a hilarious counterpart to the New York Times Most Emailed List. And right now Chandra is #5. I really think most of the Dana Priest investigations did better than that. The real mystery is Public Enemy Robert Novak, whose column — syndicated column! — is always like #1 or #2 for at least a few hours.
MEGAN: Also, you heard, the guy Bob Novak hit was a homeless dude? And he really did roll onto the hood and fall off and Novak drove away? I'm like, for real-real? You hit a guy at rush hour and figure no one will notice? What did he think this was, New York?
MOE: (Oh and guys! I know bipolar is real!! As is fibromyalgia! But it is true that bipolar is way over-diagnosed so the pharmas can maximize the profits on their schizophrenia meds before they lose their patents, so that is all I am saying!)
MEGAN: Also, I don't think that most autism patients are on medication. My cousin isn't. It doesn't really work like that, not that Michael Savage fucking knows because he knows so little about it.
MOE: You know who makes me appreciate our beloved commenters more? Yglesias's!
MEGAN: Oh, totally, his commenters all hate him. Oh, wait. Did I mention that I've been here long enough — 9 months since I first wrote for you guys — that I have commenters that hate me too?
MOE: Hahaha I thought they all loved you! They are always like "Megan is a captain of industry and Moe is the one who says outrageous shit that doesn't even make sense," which anyway, brings me to Savage, and his "autistic kids are just little brats who obviously need a good spanking" line of argument. And shit like this will resonate with folks who wonder what happened to the days when you used to grin and bear it and not belabor things — shit, not even talk about things — and everyone sort of fell in line, except that one kid in every family who just sorta became a "black sheep" or a hermetic spinster or an alcoholic or a suicide case…you know? And I basically think most of it comes back to the economy. Anyway
You got bumped off over there?
We should probs address the Berlin speech.
MEGAN: Yes, I got bumped off but I am back and, actually, that speaks to the issue in my family because my cousin who has Asperger's syndrome, his grandmother on the other side of the family was like, whatever, you're just coddling him, his father was the same way and everyone on our side of the family was like, ohhhhhhh.
Yes, Berlin. 200,000 screaming Germans. We should all be friends! Hooray.

• In an interview on Glamocracy (also known as "the other place I blog") with Glamour's Cindi Leive, Barack Obama said that he's infuriated by right-wing attacks on his wife. Maybe he and Bill will actually have something to talk about next time they talk. [Glamocracy]
• The Nation has a new sex columnist, JoAnn Wypikewski. JoAnn thinks that there are "legions of little girls jumping out of their panties" for Obama, which manages to be stupid, demeaning, creepy and sexist all at the same time! "Ugh" is right. [The Nation, Salon]
• Oh, and conservative talk show host Michael Savage thinks that autistic children are just "[brats] who [haven't] been told to cut the act." Why the fuck do people listen to this asshole again? [Media Matters]

• But the FDA says it's cool to eat tomatoes now, just not peppers. Fools, the last thing Americans need to be told by the government is to eat fewer fresh veggies. Right hand, left hand? [CNN]
• And the first Obamite to sell out is coming to town soon. Dan Shomon masterminded Obama's 2004 Senate campaign and is now selling his connections to Obama in Washington. He won't be the last, that's for sure. In Washington, Democrats sell out just as quick as Republicans. [Politico]
• China has issued new regulations by which artists will be allowed to perform there, following Bjork's Tibet shout-out. Guess a good Olympic half-time show is totally out. [NY Times]
• In good news, though, Kay Ryan is set to be this country's 17th poet laureate on Thursday. [NY Times]

• ANTM cycle 8 winner Jaslene Gonzalez: Now the face of Lot29. What? A Top Model winner actually booked a job after wrapping the show? [WWD, sub req'd]
  
• Yes, still more on model Gemma Ward's film debut in The Black Balloon: Her character's name is Jackie. Jackie helps her boyfriend learn to accept his brother's autism. Also, Ward will be starring in another movie coming out this year, a thriller titled The Strangers which co-stars Liv Tyler. [WWD, 1st item]
  
• The new Versace fragrance is supposed to smell lke Donatella and its bottle is supposed to look like a Versace dress. We assume this means it actually smells like cocaine and cigarettes. [BellaSugar]
  
• Video! Marc Jacobs interviews Jennifer Jason Leigh, still has blue hair. [MySpace]

• More proof that everything is better in Japan: a machine washable suit will be introduced early next year. [USA Today]
• Alyona Akhmadullina, 29, is the biggest up-and-coming designer in Russia. Seeing that fashion is obsessed with all things Russian right now, expect to see her become fetishized and exploited in no time at all! [WWD, sub req'd]
• Three women in Birmingham, England were hospitalized after collapsing while waiting for a store to open after Christmas so they could score the big deals. [BBC]
• A la Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi, Ferragamo is also having a big ol' par-tay in China this year. [WWD, 3rd item]
• The dollar sucks against the pound right now, which means British fashion isn't selling so well stateside. Boo hoo, Stella McCartney. [WWD, sub req'd]
• Britain's Accessory Designer of the Year Tom Binns aspires to make women look trashier. [Vogue UK]
• Ew: Long pointy finger nails scare us. Do not want. [BellaSugar]
• Mazel Tov Karl Lagerfeld: Our favorite Krazy Kraut celebrates his 25th anniversary of designing Chanel in 2008. [Sassybella]
• Memo to all those celebrities shilling fragrances: The fragrance industry's sales are slipping. [WSJ]
• Fuck coffee: Fashion labels are going fair trade, too. [Times of London]
• The late Queen Mum was quite the soothsayer: bitching and moaning over the course of 80 years that fashion was too damn expensive. [Telegraph]