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研究者认为，自闭症也许和孩子小时候看电视有关。

研究者通过对自闭症患儿数量剧增的调查研究发现，自闭症患儿数量的不断增加与无线电视及视频的使用有关。据英国国家自闭症协会统计，英国自闭症患者达到创记录的水平，110个人中就有一人（50多万人）患自闭症。30年前，2500分之一的人有这种症状，现在的数字是166分之一，增加了15倍。

研究者想调查英国早期电视的出现是否促进了当今有自闭症患儿的出现。Cornell大学的研究者说，因为环境因素的影响，有自闭症倾向的孩子可能不断表现出症状。看电视可能就是环境因素之一。

Cornell大学的Michael Waldman 和 Sean Nicholson说，自闭症孩子通常是在3岁前出现症状。根据他们的研究，加利福尼亚州、俄勒冈州和华盛顿州，开始通过联系许多下雨天看电视的孩子来证实他们的理论。

研究者认为，他们的研究结果显示的低于40%的自闭症诊断，可以通过孩子被迫放在家里看电视的次数来说明。当降雨量高时，自闭症发生率非常高，降雨量低时则相反。

他们没有说看电视如何成为自闭症的触发点，只是简单的说明了两者的关系。然而，已有研究表明，有自闭症的孩子接受视觉信息过程中，脑的某些区域活动异常。这些部位的发育主要是在早期。

Cornell 大学的研究关注对自闭症群体的调查研究结果。根据整个美国自闭症的发生率，英国应该有几百个自闭症患者，但是他们连10个都没找到。

英国的健康恐慌者曾把MMR疫苗和自闭症联系在一起，但是经过科学的研究，并没发现两者之间有联系。

国家自闭症协会成人服务部领导Carol Povey说，她并不担心自闭症发生率是否上升，因为引起自闭症的原因还在调查研究中。

此研究可能会让自闭症孩子的父母感到不安。来自伦敦42岁的Deborah Packenham，她8岁的儿子Ieuan患有自闭症，她说：“我认为，电视是引起自闭症的环境因素的观点是很难把握的，甚至是危险的……，这使父母冒着痛打自己的危险，让孩子小的时候看电视。”

什么是自闭症？
自闭症的症状包括，社交障碍、对很窄范围内的事物着迷、重复做或说什么事情。Asperger综合症也有同样的症状，但是其患者常常有正常或更高的IQ。

神话和事实
神话：自闭症（包括Asperger综合症）很少见。
事实：英国大约有53.5万人患有自闭症（包括Asperger综合症）。

神话：患自闭症的人有特殊能力。
事实：有特殊天赋的人称为专家。2～3％的英国人有学习障碍，但这些人中只有极少数有不寻常的特殊才能。

神话：Asperger综合症是中产阶级疾病，是父母为其不良行为找借口而编造的。
事实：Asperger综合症是一个确实存在的疾病。11－13岁的孩子好发，其影响可以是破坏性的。

Autism: Is there a link to watching television?
Early exposure to TV implicated in new study
By Ian Griggs
Published: 22 October 2006

Autism may be linked to children watching television when very young, according to researchers.

Scientists investigating the dramatic increase in the number of autistic children have said the rise coincided with the use of cable television and videos. Autism is at record levels in the UK, where one in 110 people - more than half a million - has the condition, according to the National Autistic Society.

Researchers investigating autism in the US said that, as recently as 30 years ago, it was thought one in 2,500 people had the condition. Today the figure is one in 166, a 15-fold increase.

Scientists wanted to investigate whether the early introduction of cable television in the US had contributed to the current generation of children with autistic-spectrum symptoms. Researchers at Cornell University said children prone to autism might go on to show symptoms because of environmental triggers. Watching television could be one of them.

Michael Waldman and Sean Nicholson from Cornell University said autistic children usually develop the condition by the age of three. Their research, conducted across California, Oregon and Washington states, set out to prove the theory by linking the amount of television a child watches with the number of days when it rained.

The researchers said their study showed just under 40 per cent of autism diagnoses could be explained by looking at the times when children were forced to stay in and watch television. When rainfall was high, autism rates rose sharply. The opposite was true when rainfall was low.

They did not say how watching TV could act as a trigger, but simply tried to show a relationship. Research has shown, however, that autistic children have unusual activity in parts of the brain that process visual information. These areas develop in the early years.

The Cornell study looked at the results of an investigation into the Amish community. Based on the autism rates across the US, there should be several hundred autistic Amish, but fewer than 10 were found.

Health scares in the UK linked the combined MMR vaccine with autism but scientific studies have failed to find a connection.

Carol Povey, head of adult services for the National Autistic Society, saidit had an open mind on whether autism was rising. "The causes of autism are still being investigated," she said.

The findings are likely to upset parents of autistic children. Deborah Packenham, 42, from London, whose son Ieuan, eight, is autistic, said: "I think the idea that television is an environmental trigger for autism is difficult to grasp, dangerous even... it risks parents beating themselves up for letting their children watch Teletubbies when they were younger."

WHAT IS AUTISM?

A range of symptoms, including difficultiesforming relationships and communicating. Sufferers can be obsessed with a narrow range of interests and do or say things repetitively. Asperger syndrome shares some of the symptoms, but sufferers often have average or above-average IQs.

MYTHS AND FACTS

Myth: Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is rare.

Fact: Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is thought to affect about 535,000 people in the UK.

Myth: People with autism have extraordinary abilities.

Fact: Sufferers with extraordinary gifts are called autistic savants. Between 2 and 3 per cent of the UK's population have a learning disability, but only a tiny number of these have an unusually high level of specific talent.

Myth: Asperger syndrome is a middle-class sickness made up by parents to excuse bad behaviour.

Fact: Asperger syndrome is a real condition. It is often spotted at around 11-13 years of age, and its effects can be devastating.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1919102.ece

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