HLTC23H3 Lecture Notes - Autism Research Institute, Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Thiomersal Controversy
Document Summary
Baker 2008: trace the history of how mercury came to be used in vaccines. Parents and clinicians who have framed autism in biomedical terms have been critical agents in promoting both the concept of the autism epidemic and primary of its vaccines as a cause. The passion behind their arguments stems from a long history of advocacy on behalf of their children. Often in the face of psychiatric theories perceived as parent blaming and in adequately funded developmental and educational resources in many communities. After the death of psychoanalytical theories , optimism was conceptualised to have been rooted from a biological model. Researchers have also re- conceptualised autism as a neurodevelopment condition. Four tenets have characterised most approaches by this researchers. The cause of autism is fundamentally biological, not due to parental behavior. Nature of the cause remains unknown, but varieties of studies have highlighted the importance of genetics. Autism is conceptualized as a spectrum of disorders.
