i forget where i read it first but google "autism and pitocin" and you will find a TON of solid results. it's a sadly easy google! wish it was more of a search for the info in a way, cuz it's kind of appalling how frequently women are induced for being somebody's opinion of "overdue" with a drug that should perhaps be taken very, very seriously.

if there is one thing that has not been the trend in child psychology in the past three decades (at least) it's *underdiagnosing.* it's almost as though they can't wait to slap labels on kids -- and medicate them if possible. autism is not one that's terribly easier to miss, either (unless you count aspergers, which is commonly overlooked into adulthood).

no, sadly, the literature seems to suggest that this is not about more accurate diagnosing -- it's about a huge increase in the actual incidents of autism.

i'm no expert -- just another mom reading the literature as it comes out, like all of us. but as i understand it, the question isn't so much if this increase is happening as why it is happening.

I am not sure where the original sources came from but I definitely remember this link being mentioned in the "Business of Being Born" It was the first time I had heard of it.

Personally I think there has to be some genetic link as well. In my school there is one family with three autistic boys and another family with two autistic boys. Coincidence?

One could argue that environment may have played a role but what about Donor X? These children lived nowhere near each other.

This whole autism thing is frightening no matter how you look at it.