Thursday, December 1, 2011

Teenage Wasteland



It's my sad duty to report that my alma mater is peddling the lowest of no-shit science.

Consider this headline:
Teens with autism face major obstacles to social life outside of school, study finds
Let me see if I can unpack this one: A disease whose defining feature is that it "affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills" is an obastacle to a teen's social life?

Really? No shit!

Here's hoping that the article itself makes a more nuanced case than the headline.
The study found that conversational impairment and low social communication skills were associated with a lower likelihood of social participation.
Sorry, but no. Evidently it's science now to claim that lacking the tools to participate socially is a barrier to social participation.  I look forward to such follow-up studies as "Teens with severe acne suffer from pimples on their face" and "Puberty causes awkward changes to a teenagers body".

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