Funding, science and egos

Autism is to have a new definition. So will Asperger’s and other developmentally related deficiencies. Is this good or bad? The psychiatrists offering advice say they are taking into account social, political and scientific aspects of a definition. One can only hope that these have indeed been the motivations behind the current proposed redefinitions: that they haven’t, in fact, resulted from academic in-fighting, battles for resource allocation or clashes of the sorts of titan egos that tend to domin
ate in science, even when it’s conducted in the public interest. After all, at the end of the day, the definitions are valuable only if they meet one very basic, if somewhat pedestrian, criterion: getting kids who need help the best help that exists. All the rest, however fascinating, is just talk.

A cartoon of a Science Warrior tromping all over town…