Recently, I visit the wikipedia site with the intention of editing a page. I could have opted for something trivial like the Christmas tree, but I chose to edit the page for Autism – I added a remark about the instances of autism in boys being higher. I supported it with a link for ASA, ( Autism Society of America)
My research was limited to references to the CDC (Center for Disease control and prevention )quotes Autism as four times more likely in boys than in girls)
My comment was removed over night, and removal was justified by a wiki-er with far more knowledge of wiki-ing procedure and luckily for me, made time to write back explaining how things get to stay on the wiki pages.
While I am learning SO much, I am also blown away because only ‘real’ fact I knew about Autism is not a ‘fact‘ at all. The CDC makes this statement, as do many of the organisations to which I belong, and I absorbed the ‘accepted knowledge’ and assumed it to be correct because it is from a “reliable source” The truth may be that there is little of no research to support much of what is presented, and possibly we are misinformed.
Wiki-ers are encouraged to base their statements on facts referencing peer-reviewed research from one of the recognized journals.
Sadly I cannot invest the time to look into the research at this time as I am as always committed to the furtherance of those associated with Autism to make their way in this world, but I am sure that many parents and educators take for granted what they told by official organisations and I am considering the detrimental effects.
What other non–subjective assumptions have I made?
My concern is that we know so little, and much of what we learn, absorbed, accept is ‘hear-say or Chinese whispers or worse – manipulative propaganda.
I am not one for conspiracy theories, but now I have to re-think all my “accepted knowledge” about Autism and consider everything subjectively.
The truth is out there!
Keep on keeping on.
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