Eliminating the Source: What Causes Autism
Many parents hope that in finding a source of autism, this disorder can be cured or
prevented. Unfortunately, scientists have yet to find one single reason why children
develop autism. It is possible that someday autism will be linked to a specific gene
abnormality, but the more likely source is not one thing, but a number of factors in a
child’s world. Autism cannot be prevented or cured, so the best we can do to help autistic
children and adults is be understanding and willing to compromise to make the world
comfortable for them and ourselves.
First off, there are certain things that do not cause autism, and these myths should be laid
to rest immediately. Most importantly, bad parenting does not cause autism. In the past,
mothers were blamed for traumatizing their children with cold parenting techniques,
which was thought to lead to autism. This is simple not true. Autism is also not caused by
malnutrition, although food allergies occur in my autistic children and some autistic
children do benefit from taking daily vitamins.
There are many links between autism and the brain. Most people with autism have larger
brains and they are “wired” differently than a typical brain. Differences occur in many
parts of the brain, so it cannot be targeted to one specific brain malfunction overall, but
rather a brain malfunction in general. Autistic children also show signs of an immune
deficiency. Evidence in this study is not yet strong, but research is still being done. Many
autistic individuals have other health problems related to immune deficiencies. Overall,
these things all seem to point to genetics. Although autism is not the parents’ fault, it is
most likely that autism was found elsewhere on your family tree, and it is not uncommon
for parents to raise more than one autistic child. Autism may also be linked to
vaccinations, although this is still being highly studied. The benefits of vaccinations
greatly outweigh the risks of them causing auti