# Cartoon on Main Page **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 4, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-on-main-page/773794 "2016-12-04T02:32:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skinnybones_lampshade/32/2872_2.png) [@Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skinnybones_Lampshade)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-on-main-page/773794/1 "2016-12-04T02:32:44Z")
On the home page of The Straight Dope, there is presently a cartoon whose caption reads,“Are there more autistic kids around now?”, referring to a Cecil Adams post and its update. I’m baffled by the cartoon. It seems to show a child playing the piano (which I guess could mean that the child is a musical savant?) and a multidigited ape taking notes, which read “A.S.D.” Could someone enlighten me about the cartoon? I’m sure I’m missing something obvious, but I must say that I find that the cartoon gives an unsettling impression. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-on-main-page/773794/2 "2016-12-04T02:37:58Z")
I wondered this myself. But I think this thread’ll go better in Comments on Cecils Columns. I’ll move it there for you. And the link is: [Are there more autistic kids around now? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3317/are-there-more-autistic-kids-around-now) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-on-main-page/773794/3 "2016-12-04T03:03:01Z")
Wild guess [Chimpanzee research provides insight into autism spectrum disorders](http://news.emory.edu/stories/2014/02/chimpanzees_autism_spectrum_disorder/campus.html) > [@](#): > > he study results, which are published in Scientific Reports, give researchers insight into the biology of disorders in which receptive joint attention is compromised, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and may ultimately lead to new diagnosis and treatment strategies. > > “We used chimpanzees in this behavioral study because their receptive joint attention abilities are well documented and their closeness to humans makes the study results the most likely to be generalizable to humans,” says Hopkins. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-on-main-page/773794/4 "2016-12-04T03:33:39Z")
> [@Skinnybones\_Lampshade](#): > > On the home page of The Straight Dope, there is presently a cartoon whose caption reads,“Are there more autistic kids around now?”, referring to a Cecil Adams post and its update. > > I’m baffled by the cartoon. It seems to show a child playing the piano (which I guess could mean that the child is a musical savant?) and a multidigited ape taking notes, which read “A.S.D.” > > Could someone enlighten me about the cartoon? I’m sure I’m missing something obvious, but I must say that I find that the cartoon gives an unsettling impression. > > Thanks! I rather fancy “A.S.D.” stands for “Autism Spectrum Disorder”. ---
**Author:** ![Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skinnybones_lampshade/32/2872_2.png) [@Skinnybones\_Lampshade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skinnybones_Lampshade)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-on-main-page/773794/5 "2016-12-04T03:35:21Z")
Thanks for the illumination,\*\* running coach\*\*! I’m still wondering about the polydactyly, though. Why so many fingers? The image still seems, well, wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-on-main-page/773794/6 "2016-12-04T03:40:13Z")
A WAG about the piano: The Peanuts character [Schroeder](http://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=39750)? It’s widely claimed that Charles Shulz was autistic and that Schroeder (who was bad at social interaction but a musical genius) was supposed to be autistic. Whether true or not, that common theory might have been the basis. And the fact that the monkey has 8 toes supports running coach’s idea that it has something to do with autism experiments on monkeys, but maybe the more controversial type where they genetically modify monkey embryos with human genes that are related to autism. But it could also be that Slug just got ahold of a bad batch of bath salts.