Why asking what causes autism is the wrong question
Lindsay O'Dell, The Open University and Charlotte Brownlow, University of Southern Queensland The animal rights charity PETA recently made a link between autism and drinking cow’s milk. The article on its website discussed research that linked a diary-free diet with a reduction in symptoms of autism in children . The charity cited two particular research projects which suggest a link between drinking cow’s milk and autism. It was originally released a few years ago, but has recently been relaunched on social media causing much discussion. The research that underpins PETA’s claim is based on two small-scale studies. One was a “blind” study of 20 children, half of whom were given a diet free from gluten and casein – a protein found in mammalian milk – and half who had an unchanged diet. The children were observed for a year and the study concluded that the development of the children in the experimental group was significantly better than the control. The secon...