Environmental Causes of Autism and the Existence of an Autism Epidemic

If you can believe some professors of cultural anthropology and classical literature there are no environmental causes of autism and there is no autism epidemic. ALL of the dramatic increases in the numbers of autistic children and adults are due ENTIRELY to the definition changes in the DSM and to diagnostic substitution. Bringing their powers of personal opinion, societal observation and literary analysis to bare on the subject they have concluded that there is no autism epidemic.

We can all rest easy now that the rumor of an autism epidemic has been thoroughly discredited by these uh .... giants of science. No need at all for parents to worry about mercury, lead, pesticides and other harmless substances to which we as DNA bearing parents or our children themselves might be exposed. We can all rest assured that autism is purely genetic. Any and all increases in cases of autism must be due entirely to definition change, diagnostic substitution, increased awareness etc. According to the true believers autism has only genetic causes and there is nothing we can do to treat or cure our autistic children. Que Será Será.

Of course there are heretics out there, unbelievers who have not yet seen the light, people who actually give credence to theories about global warming. People who are concerned generally about the increasingly toxic bath into which each new generation is born. I must confess to being one of those heretics. While the genetic bases of autism are becoming known with increasing specificity the role of possible environmental cause or triggers of autism has not been eliminated. Far from it.

Studies of twins have established that it is not 100 per cent genetic, since even among identical twins, when one has autism, the likelihood of both twins having autism is only about 60 per cent. This means there must also be an environmental component, but what it is remains unknown.

Simon Baron-Cohen, Freedom of Expression, TimesOnLine, December 14, 2007

A recent article in Pediatrics, Official Journal of the American Academy of
Pediatrics, by authors Bruce M. Altevogt, PhD, Sarah L. Hanson, BA and Alan I. Leshner, PhD also addresses the mix of genetic, biological and environmental stressors. All three authors are members of the Forum on Neuroscience & Nervous System Disorders, Institute of Medicine, Washington, DC. Dr. Leshner is also associated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC. In the abstract for Autism and the Environment: Challenges and Opportunities for Research, PEDIATRICS Vol. 121 No. 6 June 2008, pp. 1225-1229 (doi:10.1542/peds.2007-3000) , it was stated that:

Autism spectrum disorder is a complex developmental disorder that dramatically affects the lives of patients and their families and the broader community. The causes of autism are unknown; however, evidence increasingly suggests that a complex interplay among environmental stressors, genetic mutations, and other biological factors likely plays a significant role in the development and/or progression of autism spectrum disorder. [bold highlighting added - HLD]

In Environmental Factors and Limbic Vulnerability in Childhood Autism American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology 4 (2): 183-197, 2008 Dr.Richard Lathe of Pieta Research, Edinbugh, expressly argues against diagnostic substitution as a complete explanation for the current prevalance of autism spectrum disorders and stresses the likelihood of substantial environmental contributions:

The rise in prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is suggestive of a
new etiology. Diagnostic substitution alone is unlikely to account for the increase, while genetic association with detoxification gene alleles points to an environmental contribution. Subtle structural anomalies in the ASD brain are widespread but limbic damage seems important for the development of behaviors diagnostic of ASD. The limbic brain is especially susceptible to environmental challenge: internal sensing, physiological feedback and neuroinflammatory processes may underlie this sensitivity to insult. Primary damage leading to ASD in later life is likely to take place in utero and/or in the immediate postnatal period. Despite evidence of heavy metal involvement, a causal connection may not yet be concluded because subjects exposed to metals tend to be exposed to other environmental agents. Because maternal minerals and lipids are supplied to the unborn child, historic toxic exposure of the mother may be pivotal. A two-hit combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental challenge is argued to underlie the rise in ASD.

Personally, I believe that we are in the midst of an Autism Knowledge Revolution in which science, not the ancient Greeks, or superficial and irrelevant cultural comparisons, will determine with increasing certainty the causes of autism, be they genetic, environmental or some combination of factors. As that knowledge increases debates about whether we are living in an autism epidemic should also be decided with greater certainty.

autism

Is The Neurodiversity Movement Ashamed of Lower Functioning Autistic Persons?

It seems at times that the Neurodiversity Movement is ashamed of the lower functioning members of the autism world. Autism is defined by the ND movement as simply another natural variation of human wiring. "Autistic intelligence" is defined as a different, perhaps even a superior form of intelligence. Doubt is cast on whether lower functioning autistic persons even exist by the more strident ND'ers. Even autistic persons who have demonstrated no communication skills, engage in seriously and repetitively self injurious and dangerous behavior should not be treated or cured in the view of the ND movement.

Parents who seek to help their OWN children, not the ND'ers themselves, but their own children, through attempts at cures or treatment are vilified by the ND movement. Every major parent driven autism advocacy organization from Cure Autism Now to Autism Speaks, Autism Society Canada, Autism Society America, National Autism Society UK, FEAT organizations, all are roasted for their efforts. They are derided as self centered whiners by the proud members of the ND movement. Pejorative labels such as "Autism Squeaks" and "curebies" are used to dismiss those seeking to cure or treat autism.

Recently CNN's Dr. Gupta featured the story of Amanda Baggs, diagnosed as being a low functioning autistic person, but clearly very intelligent and, with the aid of technology, an excellent communicator. The implied message - even low functioning autistic persons are really quite intelligent and do not need a cure or treatment. Unfortunately Dr. Gupta played into this denial of the existence of truly low functioning autistic persons by continuing a long history of media focus on autistic savants and other high functioning autistic persons while ignoring the sometimes brutal realities which confront low functioning, seriously disabled, autistic persons.

My autistic son, Conor, is a low functioning autistic person who brings me great joy. I delight in talking about how happy he makes me every single day. But, unlike members of the Neurodiversity I am not ashamed to admit the severe challenges he faces in life and I am not afraid to talk about them publicly. Unless such public discussion takes place there will be no improvements for Conor and other autistic persons like him. Of course that is exactly why the Neurodiversity movement attempts to censor such discussion. Content with themselves they wish to deny the opportunity for lower functioning autistic persons to be treated and cured. Is the Neurodiveristy movement ashamed of its lower functioning autistic cousins? It certainly looks that way to this "NT" (Neurotypical).



TIMES ONLINE

Is autism simply in the wiring?


Ailments come and go. I don’t mean in a personal sense — although my lumbar vertebrae are creaking again after a blissful period of quiescence — but in a social and historical sense. Homosexuality is no longer an illness. Lefthandedness no longer merits a cure. Could autism be next?

Some people argue that the developmental disorder — which compromises communication, social interaction and imaginative play — is merely an example of human “neurodiversity”. Just as disabled individuals sometimes prefer to call themselves differently abled, some people with autism would like to be regarded as differently wired. To try to alleviate or cure autism, they say, is tantamount to oppression. And genetic tests, which are in development to identify autism in the unborn, are a mere step away from eugenics.

This movement, which boasts groups such as Aspies for Freedom (a reference to Asperger’s Syndrome, a high-functioning form) and the Autism Liberation Front, does not accept the image of autistics as odd loners. Instead, nonautistics are portrayed as sad conformists unable to operate outside the social horde. It opposes any attempts to “cure” or even treat autism.

The movement is driven, unsurprisingly, by those at the high-functioning end of autism. It is ironic that they have been accused of not empathising with others at the low-functioning end, who are less able to cope with everyday life.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, a leading autism researcher at the University of Cambridge, says: “I agree that high-functioning autism is better characterised in terms of neurodiversity. Low-functioning autism may also be, but is probably best characterised as involving additional disabilities, such as learning disability, language delay, epilepsy and so on. I don’t think we are looking to ‘cure’ autism any more than we are looking to cure lefthandedness or being gay. But if there were treatments or interventions that help without affecting the areas of strength [such as the excellent attention to detail] I imagine these would be welcomed.”

http://tinyurl.com/2t6yp9