As Autism Rates Skyrocket, Are Environmental Factors to Blame?
by Kenny Luna, North Babylon, NY on 07.25.08
With the root cause of autism still only speculated upon, and everything from prescription drugs in the water supply to pesticides used to grow food and the manner in which vaccines are constructed potentially to blame, a new study shows socially aloof couples with a small circle of friends are more likely to parent autistic children. Suggesting genetics and the resulting social environment in which kids are raised may be more to blame than anything.
Parents of Autistic Children Show Similar TraitsThe study, conducted by the California Institute of Technology looked at how parents of autistic children evaluated facial expressions and found that they gauged faces in exactly the same way as people with the disorder, despite the fact that they were not classified as autistic themselves.
Parents deemed “socially aloof” had very few close friendships, where sharing and mutual support were routinely evident. And intriguingly the parents of autistic kids were largely dependent on reading the emotions on others faces via their mouths and not their eyes, as is the case with most people who are not afflicted with the condition.
So is it drugs in the water, pesticides in our food, and concerns over vaccines or simply a case of genetics? Who knows, it’s even possible that the stark rise in reported cases of autism is simply due to those of us who’ve become sensitive to its symptoms reporting them more often.
via: The Times of India
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I believe Autism exists, unlike some nutjob radio hosts. I do not believe, however, that it as prevalent as some would like to believe. You either have it, or you don't. I think there are a lot of parents out there who would like to believe their kid is autistic because they learn at a slightly slower pace, but I think "mild" autism is just bunk.
You've either got the problem of not being able to sit through a 1 and a half hour movie, or not. Your kids hands move uncontrollably and they can't look at you for more than 2 seconds, or not. These are severe "symptoms" but should be classified as some of the ONLY symptoms. Your children just not being as bright as the other kids...well...sometimes kids learn at a slower rate than others, and that is a natural fact, not something you can blame on a genetic disease. Just because your kid isn't "normal" doesn't make them disabled, please stop the overdiagnosis and help those who really have unquestionable problems!
Agreed, diagnosis of the decade like ADD in the 90s.
Autism is not the diagnosis of the decade at all. It wasn't diagnosed as often in the past because it was too easy to use the gigantic and wholly encompassing mental retardation or developmentally challenged/delayed label, and not pursue a specific diagnosis. Not only do we have research that affirms that the traits are genetic, but there is a very wide spectrum of symptoms associated, and the diagnosis can be more specific.
Autism and Asperger's spectrum disorder is so much bigger than what you describe here, Cybercat, that your comment is actually insulting to parents of Autistic and Asperger's children, and to the individuals who suffer it themselves. Before you try to distill something to complex into such a simplistic comment, you should actually do some reading on the topic.
The article does nothing to support it's claim that the rates have "skyrocketed". How about some factual data supporting that? And what is your measurement period? Does the "skyrocketing" effect account for the fact that the condition may have been severely underdiagnosed 20 years ago?
So what're you saying? The problem is actually in our diagnosis of the disease rather than some environmental or genetic cause? Certainly parents and society has increased its sheltering and overprotectivness of children over the recent decades. I'm not convinced that that would account for such staggering #s though.
Interesting -- did you look at any studies beyond the one by CIT? I'm surprised that a writer for TreeHugger wouldn't take a more serious look at the possible environmental factors influencing the increase in autism diagnoses.
Pf for all you non-believers, get with it. Maybe you won't call it "full" autism, but it's there. OK call the kid Learning Disabled or Retarded. But it can be real. I know my best friend and his wife, their oldest kid is CLEARLY retarded/autistic and definitely LD. Both him and his wife are very healthy people (not vegans or anything, but well enough). Their kid is very deficient compared to his younger sister who is bright and engaging for her age. Now the son is relatively social, but I can see him needing full care almost his entire life. He won't ever drive or shop for groceries for himself. He just doesn't have the mental ability to comprehend things, looking into his eyes (which you can rarely do) unfortunately reveals there is not much coherent thought. Sad but true. And it certainly is on the rise, call it retardedness or autism, still the same.
Well, it's always interesting to hear differing perspectives I suppose.
Cybercat: its interesting that your position is very similar to what Michael Savage stated (though you chastize him for it?). You also oversimplify -- Autism is a spectrum disorder, which is what complicates the process of diagnosis. The controversy comes into play where the threshold for clinical diagnosis is being established. Some would like to draw that line more liberally (not in the political sense) than others -- thats the real battle.
Its also not so simple to dismiss parents' need to seek out the truth in their child's behavior. This isn't a question of their cognitive development, its about their emotive capacity, ability to relate fellow people and prospects for leading an emotionally fulfilling life. Examine how you would feel if your child could or would not be able to show you their love?
Does that make you reconsider your position?
One factor that is involved in the rise of non-familial autism is older paternal age. As a man ages his sperm stem cells accumulate more and more mutations and for some offspring de novo autism is the result. Schizophrenia is another repercussion for some offspring. http://video.aol.com/video-detail/beware-the-male-menopause/3259776530
http://autism-prevention.blogspot.com/ http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23849196-5000117,00.html
http://www.schizophreniaforum.org/for/curr/Malaspina/default.asp
I read about this study in an article published on July 17 at ScienceDaily:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715165523.htm
It doesn't really mention environmental factors. The study was about how the parents of autistic children interpret facial expressions. There's one quote toward the end saying that researchers could look into environmental factors as a cause of autism.
So, old news. Misleading headline.
The post is a stretch for TreeHugger.
Why is there a picture of a child being vaccinated with this article? I know this one keeps getting dragged up by the media, but the scientific evidence is that there is NO link between the MMR vaccine and autism (eg, see http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/328/7440/602-c). I expect better than this from Treehugger!
I've seen people fight tooth and nail to get the diagnosis autism instead of some other vague umbrella term like delayed development.
That's because they then get education support etc
For those who are skeptical - you obviously don't know anyone with an autistic child. My son has Non-verbal Learning Disorder, which is along the autism spectrum (on the high functioning end). He was first diagnosed with ADD and we tried every medication under the sun to treat him. I finally took him to an osteopath, who diagnosed the NLD (with Sensory Integration Dysfunction) in under an hour. These conditions are REAL. My son had a number of physical problems - fine and gross motor skills limitations, hypersensitivity to sound and light, etc. Kids with autism don't have "filters" - they see and hear and feel everything at full volume. A gentle caress can feel as strong as a pinch to them. And reading body language and facial expressions... Forget it! My son could never tell if you were upset with him until you started yelling.
Getting the right diagnosis is vital. Once diagnosed, we started him on a regimen of physical and occupational therapy that has changed his life. We learned to tell him "I'm upset with you, and here's why" to help him learn to understand other's emotions. It's been a rough road (and he's still homeschooled) but he is a happy, intelligent 14 year old. He will always be wired differently that other people, but he has a great future ahead of him!