Multiple Causes of Autism Spectrum Disorders

Along the range of functioning ability in chidlren and adults that experience the Autism Spectrum Disorders, there appear several possible causes. "Autism" ranges from low functioning near - catatonia to high functioning levels like Aspberger's Syndrome.

In the 1980s, new treatments for some lower-functioning sufferers consisted of therapists cradling and embracing the children at a treatment facility until these children were able to tolerate the feeling of close touch. Another new treatment included filtering out "staticky" noises from the hearing spectrum - When these noises were eliminated through sound therapy, the child no longer had autism.

Since 1990, much research has uncovered multiple causes for "autism," including the presence of mental disorders in parents, certain cholesterol measures, and certain levels of testosterone present in the womb of the child prior to birth. Advanced age of the father has also shown a potential correlation with increased risk for "autism." Addiitonal research is necessary.

This Hub Page will present short summaries of some of the latest important research findings related to Autism Spectrum Disorders.

RECRUITING PARTICIPANTS NOW IN A CLINICAL TRIAL

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Clinical Trial Number NCT00090428

Study: Autism and a Gluten- and casein-free diet

• Eligibility: 30 - 54 months old, diagnosed with Autism or PPD
• Participation in applied behavioral analysis classes for at least 4 months
• A score higher than 30 on the Mullen Early Learning scale
• Ability to maintain a gluten- and casein-free diet during the study
• Limited to a select population within the Rochester NY area

Contact Carol Stamm: carol_stamm@urmc.rochester.edu

Pervasive Developmental Disorders or PPDs include 5 related disorders that include decreased social interaction, difficulty in communication, and repetitive interests/behaviors.

Autism is the most frequently occurring of the 5 disorders. At least 1 to 6 per 1000 individuals have it, according to the National Insititue of Mental Health. Dianoses have increased in prooportion since 1990 because of

1. more advanced diagnostic tools, and
2. more people are being born with it.

NEW RESEARCH

Autistic Children Recognize Stereotypes Based on Race and Sex.

-- Lawrence Hirschfield of the New School for Social Research, Elizabeth Bartme of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and Sarah White and Uta Frith of UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience

Interestingly, children with autism that cannot understand the mental states of others, can still recofnize stereotypes based on race and sex. The researchers say that stereotypes do not rely on higher order attention or even attention to social stimuli; stereotypes can be learned even in the face of damage to the 'social brain' and under constrained status. (That should make the rest of us feel pretty prmative.)

Parental psychiatric disorders associated with autism spectrum disorders in the offspring.

-- Julie Daniels, Ph.D., PEDIATRICS and Hospital & Nursing Home Week. May 2008.

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Parents of children that suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorders were twice as likely to have been hospitalized for a Severe Mental Disorder than were parents of other children. It had already been determined that autism was higher in families that had cases of other psychiatric disorders.

• Mother and fathers with schizophrenia were twice as likely to have an autistic child.
• Mothers with depression or personality disorders were more at risk for an autistic child, but not as much as if they had schizophrenia.

The sample size was adequate for this research - 1,237 children born between 1977 and 2003 diagnoses with autism at age 10, and over 30,000 control subjects.

Cambridge University: Simon Baron-Cohen - Leading UK specialist in autism. 09/2007

A study of prevously observed children, now age eight, showed that in addition to one-on-one eamionations, the mothers revealed vital information on a questionnaire about their children to result in a "autism spectrum quotient".

The children had previously shown a marker for autism: refusal to look adults in the face at ages 1 year, 1.5 years, and 4 years old. There was also a variety of testosterone levels around these 253 children in the womb.

The result was a statistically significant associatoon between fetal testosterone exposure and autistic traits. Additional research is required to reproduce these results.

September 2003

Institute of Child Health, London. David Skuse.

Autism in a genetically-linked disorder -- 10 males to every 1 female. In addition, a defective gene on the X chromosome impairs brain functions in the area that controls social interactions (the amygdala).This is a major factor in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Girls that have Turners Syndrome (missing 1 X chromosome out of the 2 usual) are at high risk for autism.

2006

Scientific Ameircan - Broken Mirrors: A Theory of Autism

by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Lindsay M. Oberman

During the 1940s two the American psychiatrist Leo Kanner and the Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger independently discovered a developmental disorder called "Autism." Mirror neuirons in the brain, when dysfuctional, may be a cause of autism.

Less Well-Known Symptoms: Many with autism cannot understand metaphors or take them literally (ESL students may seem "autistic" in that sense). They cannot mimic actions, such as in learning to dance or perform martial arts visually. They hate certain sounds that don't bother others.

Autistic children abnormalities in the cerebellum, a part of the brain involving complex voluntary muscle movements. These abnormalities may be due to a defective gene.

April 2008

European Psychiatry: Catatonia in autism: Etiology, incidence and treatment.

by L E Wachtel

Catatonia has been found in 11-17% of THE autistic. Recommended treatments range form lorazepam to ECT (electroshock therapy.) A genetic link is felt to be the cause.

May, 2004

US Institute of Medicine of the National Academies

Autism is caused by neither the childhood measles- mumps-rubella vaccine nor the mercury-based vaccine preservative thimerosal. This was based on tests of vaccines and recipients from 2001 - 2004 in the US, UK, Denmark, and Sweden.

However, in rare cases, a vaccine may combine with a pre-existing condition to result in autism symptoms:

March 29,2008. Dr. Julie Gerberding stated on CNN, "If a child was immunized, got a fever, had other complications from the vaccines, and is pre-disposed with the mitochondrial disorder, it can certainly set off some damage.... Some of these symptoms can be symptoms that have characteristics of autism."

This seems to say that vaccines are guilty in some cases.

Harvard University Press: The Science and Fiction of Autism

by Laura Schreibman, 2005;

Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Director of the Autism Research Program at the University of California, San Diego

Dr. Schreibman disproves the vacine theory and other misinformation and gives hiop in a combination nature-nurture etiology and management protocols.

CONTENTS

Introduction 1

1 Critical Evaluation of Issues in Autism 6

2 Characteristics of Autism 26

3 Diagnosis and Assessment 49

4 What Causes Autism? 75

5 Are There Core Deficits in Autism? 109

6 Developing Treatments That Work 132

7 Are Other Treatments Effective? 169

8 Miracle Cures or Bogus Treatments? 202

9 Early Intervention, "Recovery," and

"Best" Treatment 228

10 Educate Autistic Children! 253

Epilogue 267

Notes 269

Index 289

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