NateSean

What is your theory of what causes autism if it is not genetic or inherited? I'm quite interested. We know the vaccine theory has now been discredited but that doesn't mean that other factors can't be ruled out. Did you know that researchers have created/bred a strain of autistic mice? I don't know a whole lot about them as they don't use them where I work but I am familiar with the concept of "knockout" genes.

A while back I wrote a blog about the possible influence of TV on autism, that excessive TV watching may be a trigger in those who are predisposed to autism. That's something researchers are looking into. There are two reasons why I think this could be a factor. First of all, we are exposed to far more electromagnetic radiation than our ancestors ever were, and that may be affecting brain development. Secondly, we (at least in the developed world) have far more opportunities to escape from reality and live in worlds of our own making than our ancestors ever did. They had to be aware of their surroundings 24/7 because if they didn't they didn't survive. With all of our forms of entertainment nowadays one does not have to participate in reality if one really does not want to. Of course, then one pays the price. What I am seeing in society is a trend for people to wall themselves off and make their own worlds and I just wonder if autism is part of that, that we may be in fact evolving toward an autistic society.

Well, first off I consider Asperger's and Autism to be two seperate things. Yes, Asperger's is considered a higher functioning form of autism and Hans Asperger did discover the similarities while working with children in a home for autistic boys, I just prefer to think of it as a seperate thing entirely.

As to what causes Asperger's, I think it can be a number of factors. Sure, parts of it could be genetic but I think environmental factors occur as well. Do I believe vaccinations cause it? No. Because the main argument there is that it's the iron levels that contribute to autism and since iron is found in vaccines it must be a contributing factor. But there's far more iron in a can of tuna and therefore I think the vaccination angle is something thought up by a grad student in a university med school trying to land a research grant. It's the same as all of these sudden "postmortem" diagnosises that were popular in the late 90's to make kids feel better about having to take meds.