Minnesota: Autism statistics in Somali community sparks investigation

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Autism statistics alarm Somalis

A cluster of affected kids has sparked an investigation in Minnesota. Health officials are puzzled by the data. By MAURA LERNER, Star Tribune August 24, 2008

As an educator, Anne Harrington had her suspicions. As a pediatrician, Dr. Dan McLellan also had his.
Both noticed an unusual number of Somali children turning up in their autism programs in Minneapolis and began to wonder why.

Now that question has captured the attention of state and federal health officials, as fears about a possible surge in autism have swept Minnesota's Somali community.

...In Minneapolis, fears have been fueled by some puzzling statistics. Last year, Somali children made up just under 6 percent of the school population, but 17 percent of those in the early childhood autism programs (14 of 81 children). The numbers have been creeping up for several years, especially among young children.

"People are worried," said Saeed Fahia, who heads a Somali community group. "Nobody remembers any autistic children in Somalia. I'm sure there must have been some, but there were not that many."

.... more at the link

[varkam]

1. Smart money's on Gardasil. eom

[KittyWampus]

2. there may be a genetic pre-disposition towards adverse reactions to vaccines

or are you one of those idiots who pretend vaccines are 100% safe 100% of the time for 100% of the children?

[trotsky]

3. Impressive!

Combining an ad hom with a strawman in one sentence!

[KittyWampus]

5. I attacked only those who refuse to admit vaccines do, in fact, cause adverse reactions

Science is working on tests to help discover WHICH children may be allergic to what vaccines.

So there's no strawman, either.

[trotsky]

6. Uh, yeah, it's a strawman.

Because it's a position that NO ONE holds, but it makes your attack look justified.

[KittyWampus]

7. lol! Like, someone is blaming the Somalian cases of autism on Gardasil?

and you don't even have the guts to apologise to me.

MY POINT was that there might be a genetic disposition unique among Somalians toward adverse reactions to vaccines that may contribute towards developing Autism.

Fact- medical science is trying to find ways to test which kids are at risk for adverse vaccine reactions.

Because some kids DO have adverse reactions to vaccines.

Which a LOT of DU'ers just brush aside as an insignificant issue.

[trotsky]

8. You just used the term "idiots"

and *I'm* the one that is supposed to apologize? :rofl:

Here, you obviously need a few of these: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Use them whenever you read something that seems silly.

MY POINT was that there might be a genetic disposition unique among Somalians toward adverse reactions to vaccines that may contribute towards developing Autism.

Then next time, try stating your point rather than a strawman coupled with an insult.

[KittyWampus]

9. so you DO believe that vaccines are 100% safe, 100% of the time for 100% of all children?

No, I don't need a fucking sarcasm smilie.

[trotsky]

10. I just told you that position was a strawman.

That should have been enough information to glean whether I or anyone else believes it.

(It also indicates that evidently you do indeed need a fucking sarcasm smiley.)

[Orrex]

14. I think DU-at-large would benefit from a 'Fucking Sarcasm' smiley. Let's see if it works:

:fucking sarcasm:

Hmm... Nope.

[varkam]

12. No one believes that.

:shrug:

[varkam]

23. I figured that the "sarcasm" tag wouldn't be needed, but I was wrong.

Fact - Watching you scream and writhe your way through this thread has been great fun.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

27. yes its important for you to emphasize your hate with "smilies"

but your message of condescension is so clear, your efforts to try to humiliate
or insult those who disagree with you, that no one needs to see a sarcasm
image to "get" what you are doing, or trying to do.

I surely would not expect civil discourse from you.

[varkam]

34. Your irony thingie is broken. eom

[LeftishBrit]

31. Why must it be vaccines? Why not infections, foods, pollutants, any number of things?

[Orrex]

4. Yes of course. Every vaccine is 100% safe 100% of the time for 100% of the children

Absolutely everything in allopathic medicine is absolutely safe for absolutely everybody, and it's absolutely guaranteed to work in absolutely every case.

[varkam]

11. Three cheers for false dichotomies!

:rofl:

[Orrex]

13. LBN: Gardasil Responsible for the Fall of the Roman Empire

You probably heard stuff like "over-extended military" and "lead water pipes." Feh. These are incidental concerns.

The true devil of The Empire came as a consequence of an pre-emptive attack on HPV. One minute it's a shot in the arm of a 15-year old girl, the next minute the Visigoths are pulling down your Colliseum.

Have we learned nothing from history?

[semillama]

15. Alexander the Great was another victim

Sure, the history books that are bought and paid for by Big Pharma will have you believe he died of a fever, but really it was a bad reaction to Gardasil.

[varkam]

16. Gardasil was also one of the many things with which Satan tempted Jesus.

Little known fact - but it's true. I read it on the internet.

[Liberal Veteran]

17. Gardasil also was responsible for the death of the dinosaurs.

[Orrex]

20. Gardasil is why Lucifer was cast out of Heaven

When the stars threw down their spears
And watered Heaven with their tears
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made Gardasil a mandate make thee?

[Liberal Veteran]

21. Well, that only makes sense because Merck is Satan incarnate.

:D

[Orrex]

22. Actually, that's how Merck signs my shill-payments

$666.00 each week, just for parroting the company's slogans.

Satan has exquisite penmanship, by the way.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

28. Trust you to spam any thread that disagrees with your "pro vaccine" stance

funny how you get away with that.

Notice that those who you so belittle don't bother to pollute or shit on your threads.

[Warpy]

30. You forgot the Titanic

Without all that heavy Gardasil in the hold, the ship would have remained afloat indefinitely.

[Hannah Bell]

18. I'd think the most likely hypothesis is kids get put in special ed

more frequently when there's language/cultural differences causing communication problems.

The article doesn't say anything about the criteria for placement. Does the school do it? Does there have to be formal physician diagnosis? are the programs solely for autistic children?

Too many unknowns.

[trotsky]

19. I think that's a big part of it.

Also two snips from the article:

... Yet because of cultural stigmas, she has kept her son's autism a secret from relatives. "Not only is it high among us here, but we Somalis don't accept this disorder," said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

Preceded by this:

"People are worried," said Saeed Fahia, who heads a Somali community group. "Nobody remembers any autistic children in Somalia. I'm sure there must have been some, but there were not that many."

So because of cultural stigmas, one woman keeps her son's autism hidden. Ya suppose that might be a factor why people don't remember autistic children in Somalia?

[xchrom]

24. ...

"Not only is it high among us here, but we Somalis don't accept this disorder," said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

'not only is it high among us here' -- nothing more need be said.

[LeftishBrit]

32. In addition...

it is likely that very premature or sick babies do not long survive birth in a country like Somalia; whereas once their families move to America, their chances of survival under such circumstances increase. It is well-known that prematurity, low birth weight, and birth complications increase the risk of autism in those who survive. Possibly prematurity and other birth complications are commoner in Somali children because of earlier maternal malnutrition. It would be interesting to find out more about the average birthweight of Somali refugees' infants as compared with other American-born infants, and whether this group shows a link between birthweight and risk of autism.

Also, it may be that pregnant mothers and unborn and newborn babies are exposed in America to infections which they did not encounter in Somalia, and to which they may therefore have little immunity. This could also increase the risk of autism.

[LeftishBrit]

26. I agree - very good points!

[HamdenRice]

25. I don't think this could be genetic

That's because the Somali refugees resettled in the U.S. are extremely genetically diverse. To start off with, the various peoples of northeast Africa are among the most genetically diverse in the world. That's because according to the "out of Africa" theory of human origins, all the genetic diversity of all the people of the world is present within Africa.

More specifically, among Somali refugees resettled into the U.S., the so-called Somali-Bantu predominate. In general, it has been difficult for Somalis to gain refugee status to come to the U.S. An exception was made for an ethnic minority in Somalia, "Somali Bantu," who were severely discriminated against, and who fled to neighboring countries during the civil war and failed state era.

Somali Bantu are the descendants of slaves captured and brought to Somalia by the Muslim majority and their places of origin are from a wide swath of east Africa. Therefore it seems unlikely that they would have very similar genetic makeup compared to other groups.

Moreover, contrary to what the article in the OP says, other reporting on this strange statistical cluster suggests that Somali children in the U.S. who were born in Africa have different (lower, normal) rates of autism compared to Somali children born in the U.S.:

http://cbs13.com/health/somali.community.autism.2.780617.html

"Perhaps the most troubling is that all of the Somali children the Minneapolis Schools have identified with autism were born here in Minneapolis, like Shaimake. The district doesn't have a single child born in Somalia who immigrated here receiving special education services for the disorder."

<end quote>

A similar cluster is found among Somali children in Sweden, where the Somali community calls it the "Sweedish disease."

The Swedish medical community thinks it may have to do with vitamin D deficiency, so they are leaning toward an environmental angle.

[tburnsten]

33. Is that why?

"That's because according to the "out of Africa" theory of human origins, all the genetic diversity of all the people of the world is present within Africa."


That why South Africa has a decent sized population of caucasians?

[HamdenRice]

35. Europeans came to South Africa in two recent waves

I'm assuming your question isn't ironic?

The Dutch arrived around 1600 to establish a station to provide provisions for their ships headed to their East Indies colonies, but they gradually expanded throughout the Cape portion of S. Africa.

The British began arriving around 1800, taking over the Dutch colony as a result of the Napoleonic wars in Europe.

Lots of other Europeans immigrated to South Africa from the 1880s (after gold was discovered) but live almost exclusively in the cities.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

36. There could really be something to that

Somalia is a desert country near the equator, so the people evolved in an environment with lots of sunlight.

Somali women go around pretty covered up, but they still would have gotten a lot of sunlight on their hands and faces while working in the fields, selling in the markets, etc. It doesn't take much sun exposure to give you your minimum of Vitamin D.

Now transfer Somalis to Sweden or Minnesota, where the winters are dark. In late December in Minnesota, the sun rises around 8AM and sets before 5PM, plus it's cold, so you're going to be even more covered up.

This could be devastating for a population that has never experienced significant variations in daylight before. My brother the doctor has a friend who works in a public health clinic that sees a lot of African immigrants (not just Somalis but also Liberians and Sierra Leonians), and he says that most of them have Vitamin D deficiency.

[LeftishBrit]

37. Certainly a possibility worth investigating!

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

29. Somali students “are showing the more severe forms of autism,...

Minneapolis Somali Community Shows High Rate of Autism
August 30, 2008 11:00 AM
by Anne Szustek

...Statistics reported by the MinnPost show a graver prognosis for Minneapolis Somalis, with more than 12 percent of autistic students in district preschool and kindergarten programs said to speak Somali at home. The paper writes that more than 17 percent of those in the district’s early childhood autism program are Somali speakers.

Whatever the exact number of Somali autistic children in Minneapolis, “We’re definitely seeing it, and something is triggering it,” Dr. Chris Bentley told the MinnPost. Bentley is the director of Fraser, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization that provides assistance to families with autistic children.

Anne Harrington, autism specialist for the Minneapolis Public Schools, told Twin Cities CBS affiliate WCCO that the Somali students “are showing the more severe forms of autism, not the broad spectrum of autism that we see in our general population,” which includes Asperger’s syndrome, a milder type of autism in which social development is more delayed than cognitive development.

http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/health/July-August-08/Minneapolis-Somali-Community-Shows-High-Rate-of-Autism.html