Research is conducted every day in the science and medical fields. The most important research, in my opinion, is the research that helps create cures to diseases and medicines that help people live quality lives.
One thing that I find to be a very interesting topic, is the increasing diagnosis of children with autism. The number of children with autism continues to go up every year and there is still no known cause. If I could conduct research that would benefit children, I would choose to conduct research to find first the cause of autism. I think if we can find out what causes autism, then we can reduce the number of children diagnosed with this condition. After finding out the cause(s) of autism, I would then work to try to find a cure for it. Autism is such a complex condition, since it is a spectrum, children can vary from very high functioning to very low functioning. I think it would really benefit children, families, and the world if we could find out why this is occurring, how to prevent it, and ideally, how to cure it.
Cassie,
ReplyDeleteYou make great points! I had the same questions when I taught preschoolers with ASD. What I've learned over the years is that Autism truly is a spectrum and difficult to pinpoint the cause. So much controversy blew up when the idea of vaccinations was the cause of Autism. Parents stopped vaccinating their children and deaths increased. To be honest, when my Husband and I became parents, we opted to follow Dr. Bob's alternate vaccination schedule because of our internal fears. After conducting further research, we learned that the schedule isn't as beneficial as we thought it would be however, it made us feel a sense of relief to know that our baby wouldn't receive 4 vaccinations at once. I listed some website resources on my blog that may interest you. Google CARD and see if they have a program in your county. It's a great resource!
Cassie,
ReplyDeleteI am just posing questions here - not trying to make wakes, but isn't it possible that Autism isn't caused by anything and that it is just there; like a child who has ADD/ADHD, a learning disability, dyslexia etc.? I know that this is just hypothetical but I think the major increase for diagnosis in Autism lately is that we are simply more aware. I am not discrediting that Autism isn't real and that children with Autism don't need services at all, just wondering if there is a cause or if it is just something a child is born with...
Danielle - I have written several thesis papers on this topic in undergrad school and research shows that most children do not show signs of autism until age two. With that being said, I wouldn't see how autism could be something that a child is born with. I do agree with you that we are more aware than we were fifty or even twenty years ago, however, the environment as a whole has changed significantly in those fifty years as well. There are so many new pollutants, technology producing radiation, etc. that are new to our country and we don't know the long term affects of these things. The bottom line is that we don't know what causes it, or like you stated, if it even has a cause. THAT is why more research needs to be done. We need more facts.
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