Conor Doherty Challenges Silly Autism Theory: Parental Stress Causes Autism? Really Dr. Maté? Really?

Conor Doherty, October 15, 2011, Out for a stroll with Dad 

and showing no obvious signs of stress in his life

In my last blog post I commented on Dr. Gabor Maté's theory that parental stress causes autism disorders including Autistic Disorder.  Dr. Maté is reported to have admitted that he had no proof of his theory but asked what else could be behind rising rates of autism disorder diagnoses.  The first picture  of my son Conor above was taken today. Conor was diagnosed at age 2 with Autistic Disorder. Below are some pictures of Conor as an infant, followed by a number taken at different points in Conor's life.   Stress induced autism? I don't think so and I don't think Conor would agree with Dr. Maté's wild speculation either. 

Autism Blame From Refrigerator Moms to Stressed Out Moms and Dads

That deep well of autism knowledge, the New York Post, shouts the retro headline in tabloid size letters:  The parental stress behind autism.   Where once cold and distant mothers were blamed for causing their child's autism disorder now the blame is laid at the feet of both parents, stressed out moms and dads.  What would Bernard Rimland say? 

"Parents stressed out from hectic lives and neglected or volatile marriages are putting their kids' health at risk, too. Parental stress may be a major factor in many childhood problems, including even autism and asthma.

That's the conclusion of more than 20 separate studies, including several articles by the National Scientific Council for the Developing Child, a Harvard-based group of researchers from top universities: "The realization that stresses experienced by parents and other caregivers can affect a child's developing brain architecture and chemistry in a way that makes some children more susceptible to stress-related disorders later in life is startling news to most people."

Thank heavens they did the research and now all further autism causation research can be shut down and money saved.  It WAS those darn, evil parents of autistic children all along.  That 'll teach them for asking questions about autism and vaccine safety. 

Serves them right.

Autism Cure Research Underway? Or Have We Given Up?

Parents of autistic children have searched for effective treatment, and preferably a cure, for their autistic children for many years. To date only Applied Behavior Analysis, ABA, enjoys strong evidential support as an intervention that can help autistic children learn skills, improve their ability to communicate and reduce problem behaviors. But, as a strong supporter of ABA intervention for autistic children I do not suggest that it is a cure.

Possible cures and treatments, such as HBOT, stem cell and chelation do not enjoy any substantial evidential support as treatments for autism disorders and can involve risk to the autistic person undergoing treatment. But what studies, if any, are currently underway exploring possible treatments or cures for autism? A planned chelation study was abandoned on the basis of risk to child participants in the study.

Do we really need to spend charitable and tax dollars to finance the latest Mottron-Dawson group study promoting the ability of a small group of High Functioning Autistic persons to out perform a small group of non-autistic persons on one specific test? As a parent I am constantly amazed at some of the things my autistic son can learn and do on his own but his overall understanding of language and the world and his ability to function in it are limited. Do we really need to fund studies to tell us that parents of autistic children suffer additional stress levels from the extra child raising challenges presented by raising autistic children? Do we need yet another genetic study to tell us that there is a strong genetic basis to autism while ignoring possible environmental factors?

As the parent of a 13 year old boy with Autistic Disorder, assessed with profound developmental delays, a boy who stims but does not produce choreographed Internet videos about stimming and "autistic" language, I would like to see research done that might have some actual value to my son. It would be nice to see research that actually helps the intellectual functioning, the understanding of the world, ability to function in the world, of those autistic persons who do not appear before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Canadian Senate or CBC and CNN cameras.

It is long past time that research money was spent on ways to help autistic persons overcome their deficits. If we study genetics we will find genetic bases for autism. If we study problem solving abilities of High Functioning Autistic persons we will learn more about the the abilities of HFA persons.

If we fail to study causes of, and look for cures for, autism then no cure will be found. And those who claim that "the notion of curing autism is nonsensical" will win by default and our autistic children will lose.

autism