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NYT: Minnesota ends, Somalis hardest hit

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Steve Sailer: iSteve

December 18, 2013

NYT: Minnesota ends, Somalis hardest hit

A new study finds that in Minnesota white and Somali children have catastrophically high rates of autism. Here's how the New York Times covers it:

Study Links Autism and Somalis in Minneapolis

A new study found that white children and Somali children living in Minnesota both suffer from a disabling form of autism at a higher rate than the national average.

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

A long-awaited study has confirmed the fears of Somali residents in Minneapolis that their children suffer from higher rates of a disabling form of autism compared with other children there.

The study — by the University of Minnesota, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the research and advocacy group Autism Speaks — found high rates of autism in two populations: About one Somali child in 32 and one white child in 36 in Minneapolis were on the autism spectrum.

The national average is one child in 88, according to Coleen A. Boyle, who directs the C.D.C.’s Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

According to Wikipedia's account of Census data, the Somali population of Minnesota numbers about 25,000. The Census reports that Minnesota's non-Hispanic white population is 4,430,000, or 177 times larger. In contrast, the Somali autism rate is 1/8th higher. Thus, there are a couple of orders of magnitude more white autistics than Somali autistics in Minnesota. But who gets the headline?

But the Somali children were less likely than the whites to be “high-functioning” and more likely to have I.Q.s below 70. (The average I.Q. score is 100.)

"Autistic" has become something of a catch-all phrase for many kinds of retardation other than the more friendly varieties, such as Downs Syndrome. These days it often doesn't mean super-nerdy Temple Grandin-types, but instead just children who need lots of help.

The study offered no explanation of the statistics.

“We do not know why more Somali and white children were identified,” said Amy S. Hewitt, the project’s primary investigator and director of the University of Minnesota’s Research and Training Center on Community Living. “This project was not designed to answer these questions.”

The results echoed those of a Swedish study published last year finding that children from immigrant families in Stockholm — many of them Somali — were more likely to have autism with intellectual disabilities. ...

Black American-born children and Hispanic children in Minneapolis had much lower autism rates: one in 62 for the former and one in 80 for the latter. ...

All the autistic Somali children in the study had I.Q. deficits, Dr. Hewitt said. ...

The implication is that the Somalis have more severe autism than the whites, which could well be true. Alternatively, it could be that whites have more real Temple Grandin-style autism while Somalis have more catch-all retardation, or that Somalis have IQ deficits in general.

Autism rates vary widely across the 14 communities the C.D.C. follows, Dr. Boyle says. Alabama has low rates, while Utah’s and New Jersey’s are high. ...

New Jersey has traditionally offered excellent social services for autistic children. I know a family with multiple autistic children who seriously considered moving there for that reason, so its high numbers may be a recruitment effect rather than the result of all its chemical refineries or whatever.

Generally, says Michael Rosanoff, a director of public health research for Autism Speaks, white children are the most likely to have an autism diagnosis, but that may be because they are more often sent to diagnostic specialists.

Or, then again, maybe not. Nobody seems all that sure. But who has time to investigate whether Minnesota's white children having an autism diagnosis rate 2.44 times the national average is a real problem when there are Somalis to worry about who have autism at 2.75 times the national average?

Somali parents in Minneapolis have complained for years that many of their children had autism symptoms — failure to speak, reluctance to look others in the face, screaming and repetitive behaviors.

At onetime, 25 percent of the children in local special education classes were Somali, while Somalis represented only 6 percent of the student body. While some children back home had the same problems children everywhere do, parents said, autism was so unfamiliar that there was no Somali word for it until “otismo” was coined in Minnesota.

It's not like Shakespeare used the word "autism" frequently.

“I feel good, actually,” Idil Abdull, a Somali mother of an autistic child who was one of the first to demand an official investigation, said when she heard the results. “I was afraid they were going to say, ‘We don’t see anything.’ And we know that our kids can’t talk.

“Autism is silencing the kids of a nation of poets,” continued Ms. Abdull, who has spoken about the issue at the United Nations. “Whether it’s something in our genes and you add it to Minnesota snow or what, I don’t know, but something’s triggering autism. My dad taught me to recite poetry at age 4, and my kid is 11 and he can’t say two sentences. It’s heartbreaking.”

Dr. Hewitt and Mr. Rosanoff say they want to see more research comparing Somali children with autism to those without, including intelligence testing and genetic workups.

The utilitarian notion of the greatest good for the greatest number has been turned on its head over the years without anybody specifically explaining why.

By Steve Sailer on 12/18/2013

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36 comments:

Anonymous said...
Just teach them to be 'creative'.
Intelligence doesn't matter.
12/18/13, 2:49 PM

Anonymous said...
I think the point here is that they are trying to talk about Somalis and found the convenient excuse to do so.

Btw, how are the adult Somalis doing? I live in Stockholm and we're being told that unlike here the Somalis in the US are successful. Anecdotal evidence points to them being the least successful immigrant everywhere but I'd like to know more.
12/18/13, 2:51 PM

Anonymous said...
I'm thinking in Somalia, it's just called 'dumb'.

But we had to bring them here and make it OUR problem.

Damn that idiot Bush for dragging us into Somalia. Invade, invite.

Maybe autism makes for good pirates. At least they are 'creative'.
12/18/13, 2:52 PM

Hepp said...
"Or, then again, maybe not. Nobody seems all that sure. But who has time to investigate whether Minnesota's white children having an autism diagnosis rate 2.44 times the national average is a real problem when there are Somalis to worry about who have autism at 2.75 times the national average?"

Probably because for the most part these kinds of diagnoses are subjective. Seems to me that needing some kind of medical term to explain an undesirable behavior is more of a "Blue State" thing.
12/18/13, 3:12 PM

Anonymous said...
[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

An early TAC story, with a funny edgy cover. They were going to Maine, but I guess found Minnesota was better.

Terrific post, btw
12/18/13, 3:32 PM

Hunsdon said...
As fate, or coincidence, would have it, I am actually reading Mark Bowden's book Black Hawk Down (as opposed to just watching Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down). One thing I take away from it is a respect for the fighting prowess of the Somalis.

If I was supposed to guard something, and got word that Delta (OD-D), backed up by 3/75 Rangers and SEALs, with air cover provided by 160 SOAR, was rolling hot in my direction, I might remember I needed to get my nails done.

The Somalis didn't just stand there and take it; they kept coming. That's some good stuff right there. That's Afghan level willingness to die. No, beyond that: That's Chechen level refusal to roll over.

Of course, then the question becomes, isn't importing Somalis to Minnesota kind of like putting Richard Ramirez in juvie, where he can mingle with all the twelve year olds?
12/18/13, 3:33 PM

Lisa said...
There doesn't seem to be an autism crisis among the many Somalis in Maine, with similar weather and latitude.
12/18/13, 3:41 PM

Whiskey said...
Steve, religious fervor explains why the majority does not count. White original sin, Black redeemers.

Why, its almost as if Barbara Walters thought Obama was the "next messiah" ... hahahaha.

Yes. She said it.
12/18/13, 4:04 PM

Anonymous said...
"I'm thinking in Somalia, it's just called 'dumb'."

Um, no. It's just called 'fella'.

Gilbert P.
12/18/13, 4:13 PM

candid_observer said...
A recent study tied autism to rainfall.

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

Perhaps it's lack of exposure to sunlight that's the real problem, which would extend presumably to Minnesota, northerly as it is (more oblique rays on average, smaller amount of time outdoors because of cold).
12/18/13, 4:34 PM

Mike said...
"I live in Stockholm and we're being told that unlike here the Somalis in the US are successful."

I live in Minnesota and can tell you that if Somalis here are "successful" it is probably in comparison to the local American negro population. The Somalis seek and get employment (typically in some form of unskilled labor like driving a cab or being a parking ramp attendant, but heck - it's still a job), whereas native-born blacks seek and get welfare.

Why so many Somalis came here, from their warm dry country to our cold and snowy one, I have no idea. However, at the moment they seem to have more in common attitudinally with other immigrant groups than they do with the native-born black population. It would not surprise me if the next generation of Somalis backslid somewhat into the dysfunctional American black culture, but they may also retain a little edge over American blacks in the same way that blacks of Jamaican extraction do over them.
12/18/13, 4:43 PM

Anonymous said...
Autism used to be a distinct disease in the vernacular--you know, a kid whose in a self-contained world, who barely interacts except occasionally lashing out at changes in routine.

Now it's just a word on the euphemism treadmill: cretin, idiot, retard, mentally handicapped, and now autistic. I'm sure I left out dozens.
12/18/13, 4:45 PM

ricpic said...
A nation of poets struck dumb by the Minnesota cold...or snow...or something. Anyway one thing's sure, the West is guilty GUILTY GUILTY!
12/18/13, 4:55 PM

Anonymous said...
I wonder if their symptoms might improve if they returned to Somalia. It is worth a try.
12/18/13, 5:09 PM

Anonymous said...
Regarding your friend who considered moving to New Jersey for the highly rated social services, you might be interested to know that Glendale, California, just around the corner from you, has an elaborate special ed program. Glendale is a prosperous town with lots of very nice houses, but the special ed programs disproportionately serve apartment renters. That is, people are moving to a pricy town like Glendale and paying high rents in order to get the services. Much closer than New Jersey.
12/18/13, 5:46 PM

A Working Class American said...
steve sailer wrote:
"The utilitarian notion of the greatest good for the greatest number has been turned on its head over the years without anybody specifically explaining why."

Why? Because Big Money gets what it wants in america.
12/18/13, 5:52 PM

Mr. Rational said...
Neither Minnesota nor Sweden is good for Somalis. This is a very good reason for us to make their social benefits payable only in Somalia, no? We should strongly encourage them to return. It's For The Children!
12/18/13, 6:04 PM

Anonymous said...
At onetime, 25 percent of the children in local special education classes were Somali, while Somalis represented only 6 percent of the student body. While some children back home had the same problems children everywhere do, parents said, autism was so unfamiliar that there was no Somali word for it until “otismo” was coined in Minnesota.
Mild retardation is more difficult, some people have score at mild retardation at age 6 and score low average from 85 to 90 at age 12. Some mild retardation unlike moderate or severe might be cultural.
12/18/13, 6:05 PM

2Degrees said...
Anonymous said:

"Btw, how are the adult Somalis doing? I live in Stockholm and we're being told that unlike here the Somalis in the US are successful. Anecdotal evidence points to them being the least successful immigrant everywhere but I'd like to know more."

I don't know about the US, but New Zealand's very small Somali community is one very big pain in the derriere. Here are a few of the many stories I could send you.

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
12/18/13, 6:12 PM

Power Child said...
Abdull's last sentence reminds me, Somalis are in some ways a pretty interesting people. The sad connection Abdull draws between being a nation of poets and her son's muteness is itself very poetic.
12/18/13, 6:23 PM

Anonymous said...
Swedish researchers explore Somali-autism link

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

"The lack of sunlight in Sweden, combined with the use of sun protection creams and general precautions taken to avoid direct sun exposure is known to cause vitamin D deficiencies. Vitamin D deficiencies could be a contributing factor to the incidence of depression and some experts believe, autism."

So what's different about Somalis and others of African descent?
12/18/13, 6:24 PM

Sulla said...
I figure it is either Lutheranism or the snow. Perhaps a principal component analysis is necessary to sort this out. :-)
12/18/13, 6:25 PM

Power Child said...
@Anony-mouse:

Maybe autism makes for good pirates. At least they are 'creative'.

Look at me. Look at me.

I am the captain now.
12/18/13, 6:26 PM

Harry Baldwin said...
But the Somali children were less likely than the whites to be “high-functioning” and more likely to have I.Q.s below 70. (The average I.Q. score is 100.)

The average IQ for WHITES is 100, you New York Times imbeciles. We can assume IQs below 70 are more likely among all Somalis, whether or not they have autism.

I think the Somalis are suffering from homesickness. There's a cure for that.
12/18/13, 6:30 PM

Anon87 said...
My dad taught me to recite poetry at age 4, and my kid is 11 and he can’t say two sentences. It’s heartbreaking.

Face facts, your child is not smart. No magical catch-all "disease" to explain away what they were or weren't born with.

12/18/13, 6:39 PM

Anonymous said...
Why are there Somalis in Minnesota? Wasn't Minnesota getting along just fine without them? How are Somalis making life better for the people there?
12/18/13, 6:42 PM

Anonymous said...
To Anonymous at 2:51 PM:

Anyone who has told you that Somalis are a "successful" people or desirable immigrant group is LYING to you. I can't think of a more useless and dysfunctional group of people. In a sane world they would be the very last group of people allowed into the west.
12/18/13, 6:45 PM

Auntie Analogue said...

"'[A] nation of poets.'"

Somalia? A nation of poets? Who knew! No wonder the country can't feed itself - there's no one there but starving artists!

Now let me recite that world-famous Somali sonnet. Wait. Wait. It's on the tip of my tongue, right next to that world-famous Somali haiku.

Poets. Huh. I must have had Somalia mixed up with a land of savage warlords, brutal child soldiers, human traffickers, brigands, sex slavers, and pirates.

The incidence of autism among Minnesota's Somalis exceeds that of White Minnesotans - maybe the Somali young aren't hearing enough words spoken in their home environment. Amazing how fast our Diversity-enriching refugee scammers cotton to the liberal victim script, isn't it? Better sign them up for Obamacare, tout de suite.
12/18/13, 7:18 PM

Anonymous said...
Oh, they are discovering Somali children are cognitively challenged and have to blame it on autism.

Egads. What will the Progressives do? Pretend whites society is infecting those poor third world refugees.

Isn't now a good time to talk of African IQ? Evolution?

Progressives love to talk about the environment. They love to pretend they are scientifically literate. Perhaps now is the time to teach them about selection and the environment.
12/18/13, 7:21 PM

Alice said...
Interestingly, living here in MN,I have heard often about the astronomically high Somali autism rate,but never that the Caucasian rate was high. What is usually reported is that the severity of the symptoms for the Somali is off the charts, unlike the Caucasian cases.

Here are some possible reasons for the high rates in MN:

Much more comprehensive surveillance of children than other states. For decades, MN has had Early Childhood Family Education, a branch of the public school system that offers free ongoing courses to parents and children from birth to 5. These courses involve parents and babies meeting weekly in small groups with teachers to discuss child development, parenting issues, health. etc. for years. The children come with the parent as infants, and then are provided childcare doing these class times as they grow older.

All of the school districts require a pre-kindergarten health screening, which looks for any issue that would cause a child to need Special Education. This screening checks your health and vaccination records automatically, too.

There is a major concern here that the Somali population has this high incidence because of some developmental growth mechanism dependent on Vitamin D. the Somali have incredibly dark skin, and wear headdresses and abayas, and they do not have any cold weather outdoor recreation.

Difficult to say how the adult Somali population is doing-compared to what? The Somali and African- American communities are at odds. We have race riots in Mpls high schools between the groups.. The Somalis don't want their children having anything to do with the urban Black population. that is how they end up in Islamist mosques, to keep them from being thugs..
12/18/13, 7:22 PM

ironrailsironweights said...
Btw, how are the adult Somalis doing? I live in Stockholm and we're being told that unlike here the Somalis in the US are successful. Anecdotal evidence points to them being the least successful immigrant everywhere but I'd like to know more.

Many Somalis in Minnesota and elsewhere in the United States work as taxi drivers. Not the sort of thing where you'll get rich, and not always the most pleasant of jobs, but at least it's decent work with relatively low barriers to entry.

Peter
12/18/13, 7:42 PM

Hail said...
Steve Sailer wrote:
"According to Wikipedia's account of Census data, the Somali population of Minnesota numbers about 25,000"

This figure is a bit meaningless if divorced from any context. Digging in census data, I find Somalis of school-age may be as much as 2-3% of the entire Minnesota school-age population, an enormous number when just 25 years ago it was very near zero.

Here is how I determined that:
Within census.gov, the dataset called "FIRST ANCESTRY REPORTED / 2008-2012 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates" says Minnesotans with Somali "first ancestry" number 30,000-35,000 with a few hundred more reporting it as "second ancestry", which itself is far above the 25,000 Wikipeople came up with.

The problem with even this is that the figure for "Sub-Saharan African ancestry" is reported at only 100,000 for Minnesota (equals <2% of state) , but Blacks actually number 300,000 in Minnesota (5.5% of the state, (according to this). Black-Americans are much less likely to answer the ancestry question. Maybe a similar dynamic is at work for Somalis. There may easily be 50,000+ Somalis in Minnesota. If they under-report at the same rate as Blacks in general in the state, there are 100,000 Minnesota residents of Somali ancestry (to say nothing of uncounted Somali illegal immigrants, if any).

Now, it's also true that Blacks in 2010-2012 in Minnesota had an average age of 26.8, including 23.8% ages 5-17. "White" (I cannot find figures for only non-Hispanics ) average age is 40.2 in the same period, including 16.0% age 5-17.

Say the high 100,000 estimate is correct for Minnesota-Somalis. This would mean 23,800 Somalis are of school-age in MN, but probably higher, as I presume Somalis have an even higher share than Blacks overall of school-age. In other words, 100,000 may be a bit high for total Minnesota-Somalis, but 23.8% of school age may be too low, and these may cancel each other out. The total 5-17 year-old population in MN is 925,000 (census, 2010-2012). Thus, Somalis may be 2-3% of the entire youth population of Minnesota, and that may reach or exceed 5% in Minneapolis itself. Just Somalis.
12/18/13, 7:44 PM

Anonymous said...
"Men Take Computer Science; Women Take Cooking Classes

Recent demographic data from online education company Coursera shows a gender divide in course enrollments."

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

"A lot of the data plays into gender and age stereotypes: Older students are interested in the humanities; younger students want to learn about computer programming. Women want to learn about childrearing; men want to learn about computer science. Ninety-five percent of the students who signed up for Principles in Scala were men. Meanwhile, in Child Nutrition and Cooking 2.0, women made up 80 percent of the class. The gender divide continues in other classes: The top ten classes with the highest percentage of men are all related to computers and programming."

"Coursera offers a wide breadth of classes, the barrier to entry is minimal, and no one has to know what courses you are signing up for. These are characteristics that were supposed to level playing fields and break glass ceilings. Yet despite this anonymity and ease, stubborn patterns remain."
12/18/13, 8:20 PM

agnostic said...
Are Scandinavians more susceptible to autism? Minnesota whites apparently have a very high rate, and Utah leads the nation.

Utah is a Puritan, Saxon-Scandinavian enclave within the former Wild West. It also boasts the same do-gooder liberal internationalism that Minnesotans do, only framed in a religious missionary worldview. Salt Lake City has a large Somali population itself.

Because Utah and Minnesota don't share regional culture, history, latitude, elevation, rainfall, density of mosquitoes, etc., that suggests something shared farther back, at the genetic level (or Puritanism).

I'll buy the idea that New Jersey's rate is so high because they want to recruit newer and wealthier citizens who have autistic kids. So I wouldn't make too much of the small number of Scandis there.
12/18/13, 8:28 PM

Anonymous said...
I thought autism is supposed to make one MORE creative, not less. Or am I thinking of Aspergers?

12/18/13, 9:02 PM

Dai Alanye said...
Let's get a bit racial. "Whites" are Caucasian, and Somalis, like Ethiopians, are largely Caucasian as well, despite dark complexions. Racially they are nearer to Swedes than to Central Africans, and far nearer to Jews and Arabs. So what's the autism level among Semites?

This has got to be a cultural not racial issue, assuming that mis-diagnosis isn't the major problem, with autism being used as a catch-all category to make the work of psychologists easier.
12/18/13, 9:39 PM
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[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]

A Christchurch refugee community is living in fear after a Somali man was arrested following a knife-wielding rampage.

Two people were stabbed during the 90-minute incident in Christchurch on March 15, but the 200 Somali refugees in the city say they have also fallen victim to the crime.

Children have been frightened to go to school, women have been afraid to wear traditional clothing in public and many refugees have been too scared to go out at night, they say.

The community's spokesman, Hassan Ibrahim, said the violent attack, and its media coverage, had affected the refugees' "sense of belonging in New Zealand".

"Refugees, who see themselves as Kiwis, have started to question themselves - 'Who am I? Am I a New Zealander or am I a Somali'," he said.

Ibrahim, 52, fled war-torn Somalia in 1997 and immigrated into New Zealand in 1998.

He is studying for a doctorate at Canterbury University on the resettlement of Somali refugees and is considered one of the "elders" of Christchurch's tight-knit Somali community.

The day after the stabbings, Somalis gathered and Ibrahim heard their concerns.

"Some children were scared to go to school in case they were bullied, some women were scared to wear their traditional dress in public or even go out in the evenings," he said.

"This individual was labelled as a Somali instead of a man with mental health problems," Ibrahim said.

"The blame should not fall on our community. It is the blame of one individual."

Ibrahim is also the spokesman for the accused man's family and said they were still in shock.

"The family don't know what to do.

"Their first thought was to visit the victims and apologise, but they were told not to," he said.

The alleged offender was born in Somalia and grew up in a refugee camp, Ibrahim said.

He arrived in New Zealand in the early 2000s and comes from a successful family. Three of his siblings are Otago University graduates.

Patrick O'Connor, co- director of Christchurch's Peeto, the Multicultural Learning Centre, said he was ashamed to be part of a society that had made refugees feel "labelled and cursed" after one mentally ill man's alleged actions.

"They are embarrassed, shy and scared. Children are even scared to go to school, and it makes me ashamed to be part of this host society."

O'Connor has worked with refugee communities in Christchurch for more than two decades and believed New Zealanders needed to "understand we are a multicultural society now".

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Refugees were faced with resettlement issues such as language barriers and a lack of employment opportunities, and when violent incidents were linked to their community it made it much harder for them to cope, he said.

"The fact that the offender was Somali was completely irrelevant. It was the act of a human being, and if a Pakeha man did it he would have been called a 27-year-old Christchurch man."

When the media reported the ethnic origins of criminals, "stereotypes surrounding those communities kick in", O'Connor said.

"People . . . start to create negative connotations about the culture and think Somali people either live off the benefit or go on knife-wielding rampages," he said. "It is just wrong to assume they are rural, nomadic people who come here and don't understand Western society."

The recent rampage is not the first violent knife attack Somali refugees have been associated with in New Zealand.

On February 8, 2008, Asha Ali Abdille, 36, took three knives on a flight from Blenheim to Christchurch and attempted to hijack the plane. Abdille is still serving her nine-year prison sentence.

O'Connor said it was important to recognise that Abdille and the recent accused man were Somali refugees who suffered from "psychological issues". They did not act as they did because they were Somali.

New Zealand accepts 750 refugees through the official quota annually. O'Connor said there were sufficient mental health support systems in place for immigrants fleeing war-torn countries, but more could always be done. Christchurch Resettlement Services general manager Shirley Wright said the service offered social work, counselling, information and advice, bilingual translators and specialist mental health support through the Canterbury District Health Board.

"There is good provision in Christchurch," she said. "It's about acknowledging people who come with trauma and loss experiences and . . . finding them the right support. But people need to be willing to accept that help."

[link widoczny dla zalogowanych]