Creatively Ironic

I like the wikipedia entry for autism. This is from the first paragraph:

Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability, patterns of interests, and patterns of behavior.

This entry also makes a claim about prevalence that I didn't know. Namely, that although autism is four or five more times likely to effect boys than girls, if the autism is severe, then the ratio is more like 1 to 1.

Speaking of prevalence, UPI writer Lidia Wasowicz does a good job talking about the fabled "1-in-166 children with autism" myth:

The ubiquitous one in 166 figure popping up on and off the Internet is the simplified form of six in 1,000, the highest rate studies suggest for the most liberally inclusive category of autism, which encompasses the mildest forms of the condition, scientists say.

I linked to another article on autism by her in an earlier post. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) estimates more conservatively that the incidence is 1 in 1,000 children.