19 April 2009
Always Look Beyond the Claims
04/21/09 14:28 Filed in: Research
Recently I had a consultation in Sandwich, Illinois, which meant that I had the opportunity to drive through the countryside on what must certainly have qualified as the loveliest day so far this spring. This type of opportunity is one of the more pleasant side effects of serving a largely rural area.
As I was driving down Route 30 - once referred to by Car and Driver as the Heartland Highway (I swear it was, though I cannot find a valid reference at this point) - I encountered a sign that says “NO WIND FARMS” with a web address at the bottom of it. I was curious enough to stop by the roadside and take a picture of it, and to check out the web address when I got back to the office.
Up front I should note that I have a considerable amount of personal interest and curiosity in alternative energy choices and sources. What I expected to find at the website, frankly, was a bit of propaganda about why having wind farms would be a bad thing - ruins the view, lowers property values, etc.
However, what struck me most - and disheartened me a bit - was a reference to a study, completed by a medical doctor - one Michael A. Nissenbaum - that suggests that people living within a few thousand feet of the turbines are experiencing health effects - headaches, difficulty sleeping, increased need for prescription medications, etc.
Any consumer of scientific information should be aware that the claims made by researchers and others are only as good as their research techniques and level of objectivity. This is extremely important in our field, as parents and professionals supporting and working with people who have developmental disabilities are routinely bombarded with various and sundry claims surrounding treatment for one thing or another, often with little to no good research to support it. I found with a bit of looking about online that this situation - like our review of the 2006 study of the relationship between television viewing and autism (which I will re-post soon to make available for reference) - presented a nice opportunity for evaluation of scientific claims. Read More...
As I was driving down Route 30 - once referred to by Car and Driver as the Heartland Highway (I swear it was, though I cannot find a valid reference at this point) - I encountered a sign that says “NO WIND FARMS” with a web address at the bottom of it. I was curious enough to stop by the roadside and take a picture of it, and to check out the web address when I got back to the office.
Up front I should note that I have a considerable amount of personal interest and curiosity in alternative energy choices and sources. What I expected to find at the website, frankly, was a bit of propaganda about why having wind farms would be a bad thing - ruins the view, lowers property values, etc.
However, what struck me most - and disheartened me a bit - was a reference to a study, completed by a medical doctor - one Michael A. Nissenbaum - that suggests that people living within a few thousand feet of the turbines are experiencing health effects - headaches, difficulty sleeping, increased need for prescription medications, etc.
Any consumer of scientific information should be aware that the claims made by researchers and others are only as good as their research techniques and level of objectivity. This is extremely important in our field, as parents and professionals supporting and working with people who have developmental disabilities are routinely bombarded with various and sundry claims surrounding treatment for one thing or another, often with little to no good research to support it. I found with a bit of looking about online that this situation - like our review of the 2006 study of the relationship between television viewing and autism (which I will re-post soon to make available for reference) - presented a nice opportunity for evaluation of scientific claims. Read More...
