The awareness of autism has increased significantly which partially due to the increasing amount of research related to curing and understanding the disease. It is also partially due to famous celebrities with autistic children such as Jenny McCarthy and John Travolta. There is a growing fear that autism is becoming more and more common, based upon the growing percentage of children who were professionally diagnosed. Similar to McCarthy, both scientists, parents, and doctors alike have been trying to blame MMR vaccines, which are commonly given to children to prevent the catching of measles, mumps, and rubella. Others are speculating that it is merely a higher level of awareness for the disease that is causing numbers to go up. Is it something we're doing health-wise to give children autism, or are we simply becoming hyper-aware of behaviors that are related to it? Even so, these MMR vaccines given to children don't explain the kids who display signs of autism before receiving the shot. If they were born with autism, then perhaps the parents who received the same vaccine passed it on, which would indicate it is hereditary. Regardless, there is a growing paranoia in parents that their children may be autistic to a point where it seems more important for parents to discover if they are autistic instead of simply valuing their child's health. 
Autism: Paranoid or Prepared?
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I think your last sentence is really important, that parents seem to think it's "more important for parents to discover if they are autistic instead of simply valuing their child's health". This problem started as a health issue and now due to the media attention and paranoi it is becoming a moral issue for why people value health and life. I think that autism, like many other diseases has to do with the genes of an individual and it just might be expressed after so many generations. However, I do think that the general public, myself included, value significant research and scientific support for whether or not something has a causal relationship with a disease. For this, I think it is important that someone do research on this hypothesis in order to get the facts straight.
I like how you presented various sides to the topic. I believe that to a certain extent the increase in numbers is due to the heightened awareness of the Autism but also, there must be another reason for the dramatic probability of kids acquiring the disorder-whatever it is, hopefully we are able to find out soon.
I really enjoyed reading your post because it is a very controversial topic. I can see how people would find it frustrating not knowing what has caused their child to be autistic, but just because one doesn't know the causes I don't feel that blaming helps anythings as well.
I do like that you presented your information this way. One thing that has always bugged me about parents of children with special needs - it's that they feel that they have to be OVERLY protective. Yes, I understand that some disabilities are more prone to certain diseases and conditions, but sometimes guarding your children too much and preventing them from ever getting sick or into trouble can weaken their immune system or moral constructs far beyond any reparable measure.
As with any pathology, we always want to know what the origins are. It was once widely believed (and still is) that vaccines are the cause of autism due to a widely published study by Andrew Wakefield. This data caused an overwhelming belief that this was the root of autism. However, this study has since been retracted because the researcher falsified the data. Unfortunately though, the belief that vaccines are the cause have been too widespread since it's publications. In fact there are parents who are putting their children's health at risk by avoiding giving their children life saving vaccines due to the perceived risk *scary*
I agree with all of the previous commenters--this is a really interesting topic and you did a great job covering it!
You make a good point. I think that the reason there are more clases of Autism is because we have better technology and specialists to spot the condition in children. It seems strange though. With so much knowledge about pregnancy and development, you'd think Autism would be prevented or declined in today's society.
I think that this is a case that requires us to step back and look at the facts - like you said, the more research that is done, the more we know about autism and the more likely/successful we are to be at diagnosing it in children. Does this mean autism is on the rise or is awareness on the rise? One of the best books I ever read was 'How to Lie with Statistics' by Darrell Huff and Irving Geis; I learned so much about the way statistics can be skewed to show what you want to prove (intentionally or not). It's for this reason that I take all statistics with a grain of salt (and much critical thinking).
This is a very interesting topic. I think that is wonderful that people are increaingly aware of autism, but you bring up an interesting point that there may be increased (and sometimes incorrect) diagnosis as a result. Because autism is receiving research attention, hopefully the methods of diagnosis and treatment will become more fine-tuned.