Autism, Somalis, Minneapolis and Sweden.

This is a very odd:

Autism Rates Soaring For Somalis In U.S.

...

"We have seen a tremendous number of children that are Somali, but born here in the United States or in Minneapolis who have autism," she said.

Out of 100 children in the Minneapolis Schools early childhood special education classroom program for autism, 25 percent of them are Somali. The district as a whole has only about 6 percent of students who speak or hear Somali language at home.

"They are showing the more severe forms of autism, not the broad spectrum of autism that we see in our general population," said Harrington...

More...

This is a fascinating development. No doubt terrible. But this may actually lead to a better understanding of what is going on with this affliction.

The article continues:

Perhaps the most troubling is that all of the Somali children the Minneapolis Schools have identified with autism were born here in Minneapolis, like Shaimake. The district doesn't have a single child born in Somalia who immigrated here receiving special education services for the disorder.

...

Doctors in Sweden are calling for research on another possible cause of autism that could hold answers for the Somali community in Minnesota. Sweden has a high incidence rate of autism in its Somali children as well.

Flagged.

This is a major concern and needs looking hard at. Could it be that their systems are not used to the vaccines? Somalia doesn't vaccinate its children. Could this be that the children born to parents without a history of vaccination are more prone to development problems?

Interesting. Sad, but interesting.

nutrition would be my bet.

Somali foodstocks will differ mightily, perhaps they're lacking key enzymes to absorbe essential nutrients? perhaps essential nutrients are rare in Western diets. sunlight exposure might be an issue, too, think about Vitamin D deficiency.

anyway, it's a lead and can hopefully resolve the cause. might help vaccine makers, too, who knows.