Further Thoughts on the MSG-free Diet as a "Cure" for Autism

I knew that I was forgetting something when I published my post criticizing the news article touting a MSG-free diet as a "cure" for autism. In that post, I wrote about the issues  in diagnosing autism. The diagnosis is made based on observable -- and therefore subjective -- behavioral criteria, rather than on any kind of physical (genetic or neurological) criteria. 

Not only are the diagnostic criteria fuzzy, but so also is the definition of autism itself. Really, they are the same thing. The DSM is the tool used by the American Psychiatric Association for both defining and diagnosing autism. I discussed the DSM at some length in my post "How Autistic is Singularity".

What I forgot to mention is that I believe that, once science has a better handle on what autism actually is, the autism of the girl who was "cured" would no longer meet these future diagnostic criteria for autism, or that she was misdiagnosed with autism. And since the diagnosis of autism is such an art, it is misdiagnosed with some regularity. I don't necessarily disagree that the girl in the news article was cured of something, but I do not believe that what she was cured of was autism.