1er November 2002 – In the Silicon Valley Californian and Canadian (Ottawa region), we are worried, because cases of autism are on the rise. To explain the phenomenon, a controversial hypothesis is circulating: computer cracks, men and women, endowed with superior technical skills, but little inclined to social relations, have given birth to offspring more vulnerable to developing this disease.
It was an investigation by the state health services of California that raised the alarm. The report noted an increase in pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) – including autism, Asperger’s syndrome, disintegrative disorder and Rett syndrome – by 273% in that state between 1987 and 1998. This increase is similar to that observed in several industrialized countries, including Canada.
One might think that this increase in cases is attributable to immigration and improved diagnoses over the past decade. However, it seems that this is not the case in California where a large study rejected this hypothesis.
The other lead that seems to confirm the hypothesis of a disease linked to computer cracks comes from psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen of the University of Cambridge. To measure the degree of PDD in normal adults, the psychologist has developed a test with 50 behavioral-type questions. He found that the people who performed best on his test (and thus likely have symptoms of PDD) were physicists, mathematicians, engineers, or computer scientists.
Autism is considered by many to be the childhood psychiatric disorder with the strongest genetic component (between three and twenty genes are believed to be involved in the development of this disease) even though it is caused by multiple factors. However, several researchers are investigating the side of environmental causes, because according to them, a disease linked to a genetic disorder cannot grow at such a rate in such a short period of time.
Stéphane Gagné – PasseportSanté.net
According to the Globe and Mail, October 19, 2002.
