Many experts of this mutation believe that there is such an increase of these cases, not because there are more children developing this mutation, but because these cases are now familiar with teachers and school officials, and they have been instructed to watch kids who might be developing slower than other kids or kids that seem to be socially awkward.
Having just learned about this in biology class, I find this article very interesting. Autism is a common genetic disorder, which seems to be studied and examined by experts very closely, so it may seem strange to others that scientists haven't found a way to prevent this disorder. Since autism is not known to be passed down from generation to generation, there is no definite way for anyone to tell whether a child will be succeptible to this genetic disposition.
As a person who is interested with working with children in the future, I found this article very enlightening. As I came across this article, I decided to do some background research, and found that many people are ignorant when it comes to autism and other mutations. Many people asked whether or not autism was contagious. I believe that we should all educate ourselves with genetic mutations, as we did in our biology class to understand more about them.
Overall, I thought this article was intruiging to read. I really enjoyed going more into depth about what genetic mutations were and how it could effect people. Based on what I read in the report, steps are being taken and more reports are coming in that there are more cases becoming "mild. Dr. Susan L. Hyman says "We in the field don't have a standard set of definitions about what is mild and severe yet".
Many people wonder why this disorder cannot be "cured". This brought up some good points for me. I thought back to our lab where we collected our strand of simple squamous epithelial cells. Our genetic structure can't be fixed with antibiotics or medicine. That could throw off other traits about you as well. Many experts say that a diagnosis can change as a child grows older, and whether getting better or worse, which gives us another clue in solving this medical mystery.
Source Citation (MLA 7th Edition)
Hoffman, Jan. "Parental Study Shows Rise In Autism Spectrum Cases." New York Times 21 Mar. 2013: A17(L). General OneFile. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.
Picture Source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DNA_UV_mutation.gif
Picture Source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DNA_UV_mutation.gif
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGood job! I feel that the awareness of disorders really needs to be increased. When people are more knowledgeable,there is a better chance that they can find a cure. If it is impossible to reverse the genetic mutation, at least the heightened awareness will get more people involved. They can at least discover news ways to help the children live their hard lives, easier.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty interesting. It's hard to figure out what causes autism spectrum disorders. The fact that adults are now becoming more aware of it is really good, because it'll make it easier for kids in school. Developmental disorders or social problems won't be blamed on the kids. Instead, adults will have to work harder to help these kids get through school. And for kids who have severe autism, their problems will be more visible to the general public, which might mean they can get more support for things. A cure for autism might only apply to the more intense end of autism-spectrum disorders. Some people with Asperger's or low-intensity autism see their condition as a part of their personality, rather than some kind of disease or problem, since some of these disorders are more harmful than others. Either way it's important to know what causes this, so that we can figure out what to do for autistic kids with different learning needs.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good article. I had never really thought of autism as a genetic disorder before I read this. I was also amazed at how little some people know about autism. If we were able to educate ourselves more and learn more about it, we may be able to reduce the amount of people diagnosed with autism in the future. In the meantime, we shouldn't be looking for a "cure", but rather a way to help those affected by it now and tend to their needs. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your article because I think it will raise awareness of why kids sometimes act differently that others and it could be because they have autism. I agree that if people are more aware of autism, we can work together to find a cure. Autism awareness also would help students like us realize why some people differently and have social issues. I think awareness would lead to everyone being kinder to kids with autism because they would know more about the genetic disorder. I also really liked how this article related to the mutations we learned about because it made me realize that I did not even know the cause of autism before and thought it was something people were just born with. This article helped me understand why kids with autism act differently and I hope that autism awareness leads to changes in our schools that can help the kids who have it. Great work!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your article Caroline! I do agree that people are often ignorant when it comes to the understanding of autism and other mutations. A scientific discovery for curing autism could lead to many things. It could lead to other new discoveries for mutations similar to Autism. Also, help conduct people to understand why their piers surrounding them might act differently than they're used to. I also find this article very interesting since this topic is very relevant to our biology class. Very well written blog post Caroline!
ReplyDeleteGood Job Caroline! I found your article very interesting. I too have wondered the rate of autism has gone up. I know that I am not also an expert on this topic. This relates back to how amazed I was when I found out that one wrong letter could change or hurt a whole person, one small error. I think this is very scary to think about and I know that I am lucky and many of my friends are family are too. But I also feel like people should become more aware. If the rate is increasing that is something to be concerned about. This is very scary because in the future there are going to be so many more mutations and I really hope that scientists find a cure. Good job overall on your article!
ReplyDeleteNice job on your post Caroline. I found your article to be very interesting. I think that you connected the article very nicely to our biology class since we just finished learning about genetic mutations. I found it surprising that the likelihood of an American child receiving a developmental disorder is rising. I enjoyed reading about your article and I learned some new things about Autism. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI found your post very interesting Caroline. I didn't realize that the rate of autism has increased over the years. If anyone discovered a way to cure autism that would be amazing. I think it would be very hard to find a cure for autism though since it is a genetic mutation. You did a great job with connecting this article to what we have learned in class about mutations. it's important for people to be more aware of autism and know what causes it.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Caroline. I learned a lot of great facts about autism from reading your blog post. I found it interesting that the rate of the number of kids with autism is increasing because teachers have been told to look out for kids who develop slower and are awkward. By telling teachers to look for kids with these symptoms I feel that they will not be able to tell whether someone is autistic or not, but say that they are anyways. This could lead to the increase in the number of autistic children.Finally, I like how you connected your topic to our class by using genetics.
ReplyDelete