Very interesting article in the Seattle PI this morning, "Study looks at autism, rain"Check out the full article if you have the time. This is not, of course, definitive or proof of anything but I thought it was pretty darn interesting.
Here is an excerpt:
Cornell University researchers said children living in rainy counties appeared to have higher reported rates of autism than those in drier areas, after analyzing data from Washington, Oregon and California.
Washington counties west of the Cascades, for example, got four times as much precipitation and had autism rates twice as high as those in the East, according to the study's co-author, Sean Nicholson.
In rain-soaked Seattle, some parents saw these findings as yet another piece in a complicated puzzle. There is no known cause of autism and no established cure.
"I kind of think there is something to the kids not getting enough vitamin D," said LeAnne Beardsley, whose 4-year-old daughter, Keely-Fae, has been diagnosed with autism. "This study really doesn't surprise me at all."
Wow! So does this justify a trip from my beloved Pacific Northwest to a sunny clime during the winter?
