What Causes Autism?

How many millions of times has this question been asked, "What causes autism?"

To date there is no definitive answer to this question - which leaves parents, educators, researchers, and all of those people working with autism more frustration. Although autism was first acknowledged in the early 1900's, followed by some research in the1940's, and hit-and-miss studies through the years, it has only been recently that grants, funding sources, scientists, educators, and researchers have given their all to determine the cause(s) that will hopefully result in some future type of understanding so that those struck with autism can live a better, happier life.

For years there have been a number of proposals as to the cause, but, the answers are not known and the reasons remain incomplete. Many researchers agree that heritability is a major contributor yet the specific genes leading to the disorder are not known. Many people working in the field of autism, particularly parents, believe there is a strong connection between autism and vaccinations. Others believe that environmental toxins play a major role.
Studies are also being done on the brain - new studies indicate that autistic individuals seem to have larger brains. Proof is not yet available although research continues suggesting that autism is linked to problems in the immune system. A number of parents put their autistic child on special diets, free of gluten and casein believing these foods contribute to their child's autistic symptoms. A lesser suggested cause suggests that malnutrition may be another culprit leading to megavitamin therapies.

Other studies suggest that autism has been narrowed down to 100 genes, other researchers say autism developed long before birth, while one study finds the sort of mutations tend to occur in eggs or sperm before conception - or, in the earliest stages of development of the embryo. Some studies indicate that autism occurs more often in families where there is autism in the family history; some say older fathers tend to more frequently have an autistic child. It has also been found that parents with one autistic child may be more likely to give birth to another autistic child.
This list of possible causes is not exhausted. Many researchers continue to study in a number of other areas. The one thing most everyone does agree on is the fact that there is not one cause but a collection of causes for autism.

My addition to the above, not suggesting that I am a researcher, is why haven't more studies been done in the area of statistics. When I mention statistics I refer specifically to why four out of five autistic children are boys. To me this seems to offer some valuable insight and information that needs to be considered and researched. Why is a boy more apt to have this disorder in comparison to a girl? This has puzzled me for many years. I think there is a very important link to these occurrences.

Researchers are kept busy trying to make the discovery of what causes autism. Are we closer to a determination? Although we now have some commonalities, more studies, more research, the bottom line, to me, anyway, is that we still have miles to travel. We may know more than we did five or ten years ago, but we do not have a definitive answer.
After being a teacher, for a number of years, of children with autism, I know first-hand the frustration, the heartache, the confusion of what "not knowing" means to a parent. Most parents are so dedicated to their child with this disorder that they are willing to try anything to help- change their child's diet, offer different types of vitamins, search for a cure that might be offered via alternative medicine. Although they may find some changes for the positive, some relief, the bottom line is their child is still autistic - and, as of today, there is no known cure let alone a full understanding of what causes autism.

What causes autism remains crucial in the study of this disorder. This article has introduced possible causes but some of the causes need further discussion. The next article will review more information on the study of vaccinations.

• Article Word Count: 694
• |
• Total Views: 625
• |
• permalink