Epidemic is defined as spreading rapidly among individuals in an area or a contagious disease that spreads rapidly. Myth is defined as a fiction or half-truth. In a recent article in Time magazine, writer Claudia Wallis proposes a question "Is the Autism Epidemic a Myth?" When did autism become an epidemic? And why should the epidemic be a myth?
In this article, Wallis bases her questioning on anthropologist Roy Grinker and his new book "In Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism", as a source for some of the answers. In Grinker's opinion, the change in cultural conditions and people's definitions and perspectives have changed throughout the years. He uses the resources that have now become available, to analyze the sudden increase to people affected by autism.
According to "Abnormal Psychology", Mash & Wolfe, during the 17th and 18th centuries, if a parent were to have a child with a physical/mental incapability, disability or deformity, they were considered an......
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