Fathering Autism
A Scientist Wrestles with the Realities of His Daughter's Illness
This is a very emotional and controversial issue. As a special education teacher, I often deal with the parents of students toward the more interactive end of the autism spectrum (less interactive students are placed in less-inclusive settings in my school district) - and many of them are desperately seeking a reason for why their child (sometimes children) are dealing with autism. Many blame vaccinations - but the above article seems to be giving a different viewpoint. Other articles suggest that high EMF levels are linked to autism spectrum disorders; still others suggest that people on the high end of the autism spectrum are migrating to the same areas, for jobs that appeal to people with their skills sets (such as Silicon Valley) - although the same article(an interview) notes other possible explanations as well:
What do other people think?
A Scientist Wrestles with the Realities of His Daughter's Illness
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The notion that a vaccine expert would deliberately cover up the cause of a growing public health problem cuts Peter Hotez to the quick. That narrative suggests that someone like him -- with firsthand knowledge of the devastation autism can cause a family -- would stand by idly as medical science knowingly allowed thousands of Rachels to be put through the suffering that she and her family have endured.
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It was also true that science does not have an objective way to pinpoint autism in young children. There is no laboratory test for the disorder and, although it clearly has a strong genetic component (having one child with autism confers a 90 percent risk of being autistic on an identical twin), diagnosis involves a subjective evaluation of a constellation of symptoms that do not always stand out until children are older. There is also a great deal of variation among autistic children. The broad signs of the disorder are a lack of social connectedness, communication problems and repetitive, obsessive behaviors, but those umbrellas encompass a wide range of problems. Rachel, for example, is much more verbal than other autistic children but is severely impaired in other domains.
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Peter Hotez responded to his wife's fears in the only way he knew how. He consulted studies, research, data. He told her about Minamata disease in Japan, where kids had been exposed to high levels of mercury. There is strong evidence that mercury exposure in the womb can cause limb deformities and gait abnormalities. In older children, it can cause brain abnormalities. To a layperson, that might all sound like a clear-cut connection with autism, but to Peter Hotez, the difference between autism and an abnormality caused by a toxin such as mercury was like the difference between a computer virus that shuts down all telecommunications in a city and a hurricane. A city deprived of its telecommunications can be just as paralyzed as a city that has suffered a natural disaster, but the two kinds of destruction leave different trails.
"This is not something that can be caused by a toxin after birth. This is a deeply patterned mis-wiring in the brain, and this is not how a toxin works," Peter Hotez told his wife. "It can only be a genetic condition that affects the whole neurobiology of development."
Ann pointed out that this was not what she was reading on the Internet. "She said, 'Why does no one say that?' and I said, 'I don't know why they don't say that,' " Peter Hotez recalled. "As a society, we are quick to want to point fingers and find blame."
This is a very emotional and controversial issue. As a special education teacher, I often deal with the parents of students toward the more interactive end of the autism spectrum (less interactive students are placed in less-inclusive settings in my school district) - and many of them are desperately seeking a reason for why their child (sometimes children) are dealing with autism. Many blame vaccinations - but the above article seems to be giving a different viewpoint. Other articles suggest that high EMF levels are linked to autism spectrum disorders; still others suggest that people on the high end of the autism spectrum are migrating to the same areas, for jobs that appeal to people with their skills sets (such as Silicon Valley) - although the same article(an interview) notes other possible explanations as well:
Personally, I lean toward the explanation at the end of the quoted piece of the interview - that there is a genetic susceptibility that can be triggered by environmental factors - but that doesn't fully account, to me at least, for the recent increase in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, even with wider definitions. I also think that, given the high numbers, better diagnostic methods are need (the first article also pointed to the difficulty in getting children diagnosed, both because there is such a wide range of possible symptoms and because of the negative connotations of a diagnosis of autism) as well as better and earlier interventions - early intervention having been proven to be the most effective.[SIZE=-1]Lamb: [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Why do some geographical areas, such as Silicon Valley in California, have such high rates of autism in children? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Waltz: [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]A number of factors have been suggested. There could be environmental factors at work--something affecting people in discrete areas, such as high background levels of mercury, or exposure to pesticides. [/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]In Silicon Valley, it's been suggested that quite a few people with Asperger's syndrome or autistic traits were drawn to the area by the lure of high-tech jobs, met partners with the same sort of traits, and passed on a "double dose" of the genes--the result being more autistic children, with more severe forms of the condition. It's an interesting theory, and bears looking at. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]However, Silicon Valley's rates are similar to those of Brick Township, New Jersey, which is a working-class industrial area rather than a high-tech mecca. The island of Jersey in the UK is also reporting extremely high rates, and it has very little in-migration and almost no industry. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Lamb: [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Has a genetic predisposition to autism been proved? [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Waltz: [/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Yes, as much as such a thing can be "proved." Twin studies have shown that if one twin is autistic, the other is also likely to be autistic, or to have autistic traits. Non-twin siblings and other close relatives of people with autism are also more likely to be autistic. [/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]However, it's not as straightforward as early researchers had hoped--there's no "autism gene," although the genes responsible for causing several conditions that include autistic traits have been identified (Rett syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, and Angelman syndrome, to name just three.) The genetics of autism appear to be very complex. Several genes have been identified, but it looks like it takes a combination of genes, and that more than one combination can have similar effects. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]It also appears that it's not purely genetic. Your genes may give you a high susceptibility to autism, but they may not be expressed until certain environmental factors kick in. [/SIZE]
What do other people think?