Autism and Television

Last week, I was sent a link to a slate.com article that discussed a statistical connection between rates of television viewing and rates of autism. Being the aunt of an austistic boy (most autistic children are boys-- 4 to 1 boys to girls) and the parent of an infant son, my interest was piqued. I went to the actual Cornell University website to read the research. I was fascinated that: 1) the authors were economists, 2) that the TV-autism connection (and the TV-ADD/ADHD connection) was not drawn before, and 3) that I didn't hear about this on the news. (In fact, I still haven't heard about this on the news which just BLOWS MY MIND. Perhaps because most Media outlets are, ahem, on television?)

I don't get it-- we should be putting our children's needs first, but only when their needs fit with our television viewing habits? Hmm... I think this might be another sign of the apocalypse. (Yes, I'm being tongue-in-cheek!)

Edited to add:
Yesterday morning, I finally heard the report discussed in the Media. It was a 20-30 second radio spot on a major news radio station. They got a sound bite quote from one of the Economist authors of the study and the reporter stated that autism researchers were dismissing the study. Still haven't heard word about it on TV.