People have been searching for the cause of autism for decades. For most of this time, autism was looked at as an affliction—something that is acquired, as a disease would be. But autism isn’t something that you catch, like influenza. Rather, it is something that you are, like tall or left-handed or female. Autistic people were born that way. They will die that way, after living an autistic life. It is a characteristic of who they are. Having said that, there is no single expression of autism. More than a spectrum, autism is a varied landscape.
Stop looking for poisons in the environment, or something that is eaten or injected, as the cause for autism. Autism isn’t something that can be washed away or flushed out of a person. People have caused a lot of harm by trying that—often using other poisons, ironically. Some parents and caregivers clutch to these dangerous therapies—attempts to “cure”—because they don’t understand the true cause of autism. If this is you, or someone you know, this message is essential.
Cherish autistic people for the unique individuals they are, with a different type of brain. You can’t cure it away. You shouldn’t want to. Autism is forever. Autistic children come from the love of two people, not from poison.
[The infographic links to a PDF version that you may distribute unaltered without restriction.]
Unfortunately, I had accidentally disabled comments for this page during the first day it was posted. That has been corrected. My apologies if you wanted to comment but were unable to. Of course, given the typical usage of a page such as this on this site, if you fall into that category, you probably will never see this.
Love, yes. Love and then love autism and love autistics. <3
Seems like there’s a lot of love in the air, John!
Nice article. I am always trying to learn and understand biases and improve myself. Thank you Jim. BTW I am ADHD
No you don’t. You’re known to troll other people’s facebook groups.
You are sooooo full of crap! My recovered daughter says otherwise!
You are so full of shit because autism is not a disease ergo there is no cure. Go away you dumb troll
He never said it was a disease.
yea for real these people dont read
What a lie
Troll? s*? is that how you speak? dude, kids read this stuff. I’m a kid. Seriously. I agree with Lisa. a kid is austistic, but that’s how people see it. Lisa’s daughter is Beautiful, funny, unique, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and yes, a bit awkward at times. Being Austistic doesn’t define you. You define yourself.
I was wondering when the “praise jeebuz” crew would get here. lol
Just because you train Your child to act like they don’t have autism, doesn’t mean they no longer have an autistic mind.
So true.
Looks like I enabled comments just in time!
It’s interesting how strong the debate is on a cause and cure for ASD. I remember kids in my elementary school (in the 70s), and kids that my Dad has described from his elementary class in the 50s, who would have definitely met the ASD criteria today. So yes, it has been around a long time. As far as an epidemic…I have to wonder. While awareness, new testing methods and peoper diagnosis have certainly boosted the number of cases being reported, I wonder whether there are actually more people with this condition. To rule out statistics, I’d have to ask: if I tested 100 kids from the 70s compared to a group of 100 elementary kids today, would there be on average the same number of kids diagnosed with ASD? Hard to tell, since the 70s kids are now middle aged adults, so it will never be apples to apples.
I do have to wonder if vaccinations havent played some part in any of this, considering the correlation between the introduction of thimersoral (?sp) and the gross increase in the number of vaccines we give children as infants. My 30 year old child received his first vaccine at 3 months old. My 13 yo daughter received her first at 1 week old, with several grouped together. I think we give too many vaccinnes too soon, and that some children are predisposed to an adverse reaction. It doesnt seem like too much of a stretch for the medical community to cut back on the number and timing of vaccines, along with a study to see if theres any correlation. Parents in the meantime should know to monitor and limit when their children are vaccinated (as opposed to no vaccines at all, which also has consequences of its own).
As far as a cure: some “treatments” being offered (ie special diets to treat leaky gut syndrome, yeast, behavioral therapies, etc) will have positive effects for some individuals regardless of their condition. A healthy diet and a reduction in yeast is a good thing for anybody, with positive results expected. On the other hand, there’s too much variance in the so-called ‘treatments’ being offered. Take the example of two children with the same type of cancer.who will react differently to the same treatment. Adherence to the treatment, consistency, and environmental factors will all affect outcome. Without strict scientific measures to study how ‘treatments’ are administered, there’s no sure way to measure efficacy. And certainly without dispute is the fact that there is no “cure” when it doesn’t work for everyone all the time.
Besides, how do you “cure” a spectrum disorder? It’s not like this is a disease, with a fix that makes it all go away. So to the Anonymous Guest with the ‘recovered’ daughter – show a little kindness, be grateful for any improvements your daughter has shown (which you so conveniently failed to share), and know that the rest of us are still searching for understanding in all of this.
My daughter was recently diagnosed ‘high functioning Aspergers’. I do not see her as flawed, or ill or diseased. I see her for who she is. Beautiful, funny, unique, one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and yes, a bit awkward at times. Her diagnosis is not a testament of who she is. It’s simply a tool to help us along her journey. It will not define or limit her, or the way I see her. If anything, it just adds one more layer to an already interesting and unique individual. I would never want to ‘cure’ that.
Perhaps the only thing we have to ‘recover’ from is the narrow shortsightedness of others….
Lisa, you made a strong finish to your comment. You also have a healthy dose of skepticism and, it appears, a desire for the truth. As far as your other points, we both can agree that more, genuine, information can only be a good thing. Information spreads faster than money. No charitable organization raising money for a supposed cure can hope to compete. Information is the cure for the cure.
Well said Lisa!
Well said Lisa – we cannot sit back & simply accept all things Autism – too many being diagnosed today – something is bringing it on – we should leave no stone unturned in trying to find a cure & what causes this- shout loud & long & research for our babies sake – my grandson is so much better today after 6 years being treated bio medically – yes it really can help if you get onto it early
Well said, Lisa.
Well put
You are born with Autism but it takes something to trigger it. Why do you think that most babies regress or shut down right after having their shots between 12 and 14 months… I’m pretty damn sure our poisoned foods are a cause for it while in the womb. The statistics keep going up, while our foods are becoming more and more genetically modified and our wheat fields are poisoned with round up. And yes, there are cures but the Feds get to these Dr.’s and kill them off to keep it hidden from the public. This nation is doomed. And this article is crap.
My son was autistic from day one.
most likely chemicals from GMO foods and the metals in your body from your vaccines. never the less its chemicals that cause it. In my sons case it was the shots I seen the transformation twice. yes I was stupid enough to give him his 4 years shots and that completely destroyed him. violent destructive and the screams OMG the screams.
Statistics keep going up because cognitive pychology came along and sought to open the “black box” so now more children are being diagnosed. There is an untold number of adults (hundreds of thousands, I suspect) who are on the spectrum that were never diagnosed, some of them living functional lives and some not. Whether those people would have been more well-adjusted adults had they known early on that they were on the spectrum is debateable, but I tend to think that knowledge is power, and I’m thankful that my son will grow up with that advantage. The narrative that there’s an external cause for autism reinforces the idea that there’s something wrong with being different. More importantly, there’s no scientific evidence that has survived the rigorous scientific process to back it up those claims outside of psuedoscience.
Another (anonymous) dissatisfied customer! To be fair, there is a lot of disinformation readily available. It is easy to be swayed by notable names or temporal associations.
As of now, I leave the comments open to anonymous and unmoderated content. I am loathe to censor, leaving it in the hands of the reader to distinguish between pointless and pointful, between those who weigh in and those who inveigh. I hope it is not too much of a burden to those interested in reasonable discussion to sift. If it gets too distracting, I will assert editorial prerogative.
I like how my comment was deleted….hmmm
Stop trying to brainwash the public
What a bunch of bullshit this is . HOLY FUCK
I love your message and all, but try People-First language in the future, please.
I’m glad you like the message, Tiffany. There is a diversity of opinions about PFL. Many autistic people prefer identity-first. For instance, see Tune That Name.
I couldn’t have put it better myself! I wouldn’t change a thing about my unique and brilliant son, he is amazing!
The world would be so boring without autistic people.
Thank you, Deb, for bringing the conversation back on track!
Wtf is that suppose to mean, all you people here are fucked up good concept, wrong reason
With this being said does that mean because my wife and I love each other our second child will have autism too???
I can’t always tell if someone is asking a serious question or being clever, so I will err on the side of friendly and answer the question straight. I have two answers:
1. No.
2. I’m not a scientist.
Really??? Are you trying to be funny or sarcastic or stupid? I can’t tell the difference. I hate it when adults intentionally abuse a play on words to make a point.
No that’s not what is being said it means it’s not caused by any poison and that any body can have it
My unvaccinated son has Autism. I really can no longer give credence to that debate. I am fairly sure it’s largely genetic. Sorry if that offends you. Just my observations.
Autism runs in my family. It’s a pervasive developmental disorder. There isn’t a cure for that but certain therapies can make the disorder much easier to deal with.
Agreed, I believe the therapies mentioned above are ones that claim to offer a “cure.” Just because you train a child to act as though he/she doesn’t have autism, doesn’t mean that they no longer have an autistic mind. The jury is out on whether these types therapies will actually cause a crisis of identity later in life, but I suspect that it’s likely. That’s not to say that you should reject speech therapy for speech delays, occupational therapy to improve certain social skills, etc. But therapies offering a cure are a whole different ball of wax, and are contrary to the cause of acceptance and understanding.
Katy, you are right that there are a range of therapies. Some are helpful, some are misguided and some are downright criminal abuse. We should work for the best in this area, reject those unsupported by solid research and actively work to stop the inhumane.
As previously stated, I am not a scientist. I should also add that I am no lawyer. I’m just informed and reasonable.
The cure for the cure is information. The same goes for therapy.
Nicely put. While the search for truth is admirable, too many people carry an anger with the diagnosis that requires a “blame” of sorts to land somwhere. Now knowing ASD, I’m sure we can all pick out people that we’ve had contact with in life that were undiagnosed or just labeled as eccentric or what would be referred to in my grandparents’ day as “slow”. I really don’t believe in any sort of “epidemic”. As time goes on, I think we’re just getting more particular about identifying the condition. It’s simple as that. Acknowledge and move on, folks. Live life to the fullest.
Bob, the epidemic is an epidemic of words and fundraising fueled by those words, most of which is spent on (besides salaries, catering, etc.) vain searches for causes and cures, rather directed toward supporting autistic people and the families who need it. See The Autism Epidemic.
But it is also an epidemic of discovery of realization and diagnosis, for which I am grateful. Don’t discount the need to discover those that have been drifting, lost for decades—such as me. That realization, and the changes that comes from it, can improve lives immeasurably.
While I agree with you that children are born this way and should be loved and celebrated I disagree that environmental factors are not a part of this disability. If that were the case we would have seen and continue to see a such a rise in Autism. There is no doubt in my mind that my son was born with Autism and I love him! But can we say with absolute certainty that my growing up and eating all this processed and chemically engineered food didn’t effect that? At this point we can’t & something is causing our genes to mix differently resulting in a rise in Autism. At least this is my thoughts but thank you for starting this conversation and for your opinion.
Thank you for making a reasonable contribution to this conversation. The changes in awareness, in diagnosis, in diagnostic criteria and other confounding factors make it difficult to rigorously claim any true rise in the prevalence of autism (or, to be fair, to prove that it is a steady percentage of the population). Many people will invest time and money in this pursuit, which is likely to be incompletely resolved for some time to come.
Also, autism is not one single thing (nor even a spectrum of different degrees of a thing). It is much more complex than that. It is a landscape of neurological variation that has numerous variables, the expression of which can be grouped into categories which are necessarily imprecise. Even with all the factors stated above (diagnostic criteria, etc.) held steady, this complexity makes it extraordinarily difficult to measure populations.
Rather than getting lost in those weeds, I encourage you to think of autism in terms of longstanding variation in the way brains are made, influenced by genetic and other prenatal factors in the same way that left-handedness, sexual orientation, musical ability and other more well known neurological variations are. It is what people are born with, even if the expression can be shaped or distorted later in life. We still know so little about what causes some of these differences, but we know they have been present for as long as recorded history paid attention to them. I’m not saying that all these variations are the same. I’m using them to shine a light on just a tiny slice of the many ways that brains are different from each other.
There is no need to attribute any of this to some negative external influence either on the parent or the child. The notion of searching for something to blame autism on denies its nature. It is a worthy goal to understand the complex cause of any variation in the most complex thing we know about in the universe—the human mind and the brain from which it manifests. Just don’t expect the answer to be simple, or understood anytime soon.
I don’t deny that autism is a disability, especially when considered in the context of a society with structures and norms that are sometimes—and to varying degrees—at odds with autistic people, burdening them and their families. We should make every effort to support those in need, to better their lives, and to give them the opportunities afforded to others.
I wouldn’t know if it does or it doesn’t… but at this early juncture, I would consider anything that shuts down new theories (and its studies) point blank as something that cannot be trusted simply because it sounds like either a) their denial stems from a potential conflict of interest or b) the person’s heavily brainwashed beyond rehabilitation… especially if it’s in the form of an infographic that has no verifiable data and is purely based on opinion and nice images.
I can only say this. There is no way vaccines can be the cause of autism when my tribe has evidence of members having autistic traits back into the sixteen hundreds, at least a hundred before being exposed to the New societies. Same with environmental toxins and All the other “usual suspects “
“Welcome it”! You’ve obviously not lived with a severley autistic child. It’s exhausting. Would you welcome the effort it takes to look after a 17 year old who has the care needs of a toddler and cannot speak?
That’s a fair criticism, Anonymous. And I only claim, as cover, the broad brush I am restricted to when writing at the level of detail of a poster. This is why I consider autism to be more a landscape rather than a spectrum. There is no typical autistic person. We’re all over the map. Perhaps “accept it” would have been better than “welcome it.” I wanted to express the fact that autism is here to stay and a search for curing it is folly — not to mention insulting to some autistic people capable of expressing the position.
I officially apologize to those whose lives are burdened to a level I can only imagine by any human condition, autism included. When I think of them, including you Anonymous, I grieve. There is too much misery in this world. Bereft of viable solutions at this moment, I can only wish for improvement.
Thankyou for your attitude. It might be OK to ‘welcome’ the autism if one is high-functioning or Aspergers, but I would not like to see anyone else have to go through what I have in the last 17 years. I don’t know if we even want to ‘Accept’ severe autism, because that indicates that you are happy with it as it is. My son is 17 yrs old and like I said the care needs of a toddler, and is only just getting some speech. I am about to turn 50 – and without change to his care needs by helping him improve, I’ll be doing this until I die! And then someone else will have to continue to do it. So it is not something to accept, but try to improve. So, although we love him and accept him as he is, we are continuing to try to improve the situation – to hopefully get him closer to the high functioning autistic persons. We have done heaps of diet, therapies, supplements, etc and everything has helped a bit – we are now getting some speech, so it is all worth it. I wouldn’t say we are trying to “cure” autism, but if we can get him so good that he doesn’t seem autistic that would be fantastic. Thanks again for your kind attitude. All the best.
♥️
Do you delete some comments? I put a comment on here yesterday and it is not here now?
Ignore this comment – on my phone I could not find my previous comment – but on my computer it is there and you have kindly replied. all the best
I’m glad you figured it out. For the record, I have never deleted a comment on this site, even in the face of “You are sooooo full of crap!” type comments. In general, the signal to noise ratio here has been amazing. I don’t have any problem with people not agreeing with what I say. I appreciate the back and forth.
Having said that, I still reserve the right to improve the experience for the many by judicious excision or moderating the conversation. But I would always clearly state that I had done so and the reason I did it.
The only editing I (rarely) do is to edit my own words, to improve the readability or to (even more rarely) indulge a literary vanity to constantly tinker. This is the same capability available to anyone who has registered here (as opposed to commenting anonymously), by the way. I wouldn’t change anything that people have already commented on, though. That wouldn’t be fair, not to mention the risk of creating a rift in the space-time continuum by altering history thereby banishing myself to the “Absolute Elsewhere.”
Wow… I read several comments at the top of this. Then I started feeling sick… To the author, thank you!! I stopped reading it because I started feeling frustrated & upset. It’s amazing… & not in a good way, that so many people seem to be an expert on ASD. My son is 16. It has been a journey… Painful & hard. A lot of heartache, searching, trying, expense. He hurts, we hurt. He’s my greatest love & my greatest challenge. My greatest & my greatest joy. The world, LIFE is very hard, painful & confusing for him. He takes all of his frustration out on me. He always has. I love him so much, and I feel heartbroken a lot. So to all of the “experts”, your ideas & suggestions are helpful. But saying you know the “cause” of Autism, is not! AK
I sincerely mean that… Thank you for the main article. That is why I came to this site, to read the article.
I hope you got what you wanted from the piece. I don’t claim any special knowledge other than of myself. I’m just a decent observer and a reasonable reasoner. One characteristic of humans (and in this case I count myself among them) is the false sense of being in a privileged position relative to truth. I try to listen to them all, even if I discount those just hurling ugly words.
Unfortunately you are dead wrong.
before 6 month shot he was perfect an hour after 6 month shot gone. started coming around a little bit. at 4 years old still in diapers and non verbal but he was manageable. an hour after the shots he became very violent hurting his sister his mother himself and he was destroying the house. and the screams OMG the screams. so yea it was the vaccines. So you are wrong sorry eyewitness proof.
Hi Anonymous/Superdad. I hope you are not disappointed that I’m not going to engage you on the facts. I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to influence your opinion, nor do I believe the large majority of readers here would be interested in following such an exchange.Still, I value your contribution from the standpoint of making clear that there are still contrasting views and there is value in education and discovery on this topic.I wish the best possible for your son, for you and for the rest of your family.
never Stop looking for poisons in the environment, or something that is eaten or injected, as the cause for autism. because that’s exactly what’s cause autism, that super evil rich people don’t want you to know.
I completely agree with you, but lots of people (mostly trolls) disagree. Just found your blog today and I love your content.
Thank you, Britany. I am lucky that most of the people that visit this site (or at least those who comment) appear to agree. Yes, there is the occasional conspiracy theorist, but that can’t be avoided. Having said that, I don’t want to just preach to the choir. There is a slim unsure minority that is persuadable. If I can influence one out of tens of thousands, I consider myself lucky.
Also, thank you for your favorable response to my writing, I have a number of new pieces in the works. If I had the luxury of time, writing here (and elsewhere) about autism would be my primary mode.
There are actually multiple “causes” for the “symptoms” called autism. Environment interplays with our genes so to exclude all environmental factors, you show how much you don’t understand genetics. Metabolic processes involve genetics and toxins absolutely influence outcomes. It’s why some people can’t metabolize certain medications. So it’s both. Twin studies have shown the variations in symptoms as well.
i have autisom hi
This has to be the most, unscientific, ignorant poster on the subject i have seen the far WOW! No epidemic? Autistic rates up to 1/60 from way less 30 years ago(1/10,000). The problem is so clearly environmental, if it were purely genetic then why have rates skyrocketed since the 80’s? Simply better diagnosis doesn’t account for such massive increase, speak to old teachers and health care workers, the amount of kids who can’t speak now is crazy.
The above is the most stupid thing written in the English language
Hello,
During the past several years, we have been running into a lot of clients with autoimmune diseases. As a result, we had to expand some of our classes as well as our research.
When we looked at the sciences of disease pathology, immunology and virology, it’s clear that vaccines are not designed properly to optimize a balanced immune response. Many years ago when vaccines were originally designed, the scientists did not understand the architecture and functionality of the immune system. Unfortunately, for financial reasons, the pharmaceutical companies refuse to change vaccines.
As a result, vaccines (with aluminum or mercury adjuvants) provide a dominant Th2 response and a weakened Th1 response. This has led to a 350% increase in children with allergies, eczema, ear infections, etc. Also, there has been a dramatic increase in autism, seizures, ADHD, and other behavioral issues.
In addition to viruses, food chemicals and other toxins, some of the adjuvant particles in vaccines end up crossing the BBB, causing neuroinflammation, which leads to excess oxidation, mitochondrial dysfunction and neurodegeneration. Depending on the specific pathology, this neurodegeneration can trigger microglia (CNS immune cells) to fuel a cascade of inflammation and neuronal damage.
And, that combined with systemic inflammation (e. g. leaky gut syndrome) can lead to a neurodegenerative diseases or an autoimmune disease. Unfortunately, in young children, it can also lead to significant brain damage, which can manifest itself as a neurological disease such as multiple sclerosis; or, in some cases with young children, it can manifest as autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
So, autism is more than a social interaction and behavioral disorder — it’s pathology clearly indicates some form of brain damage or neurodevelopmental problem. I will be discussing this in more detail shortly.
The good news is that some people with autism can improve their brain function by addressing the root causes, e. g. neurotoxicity, inflammation, excess oxidation, etc.
Thank you for your time.
Who are you to say what causes autism and that it is something you “are”? You are doing a major disservice to the autism community by spreading this nonsense. There’s no autism gene! My son is not nonverbal and low functioning for no apparent reason!!! Vaccines, toxins, autoimmune issues amongst other factors do cause autism. I can’t stand to see this shit. It’s as natural as blue eyes and curly hair? Really? Leave your opinions to yourself.
I suppose it is pretty common to want to express one’s own opinions.
my parents hate each other and im autistic? wtf? 🙁
my parents hate each other and im autistic? 🙁
my mama says im special, but my dad said “son, youre not special. youre 22, you should accept the fact you are autistic at this point. Get a job while youre at it”
What would you say if I tell you that my daughter had autistic features and she has recovered now she is at school . She is so near to ordinary children . I’m her teacher she is good.
I would say, “I wish you both all the best possible in life.”
Autism
…http://thescareddad.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ugly-babies.jpg
Also that’s fucked up just like you
Just because you have autism, doesn’t mean you have an autistic mind, people with autism can live a perfectly normal life, I would know because I have autism and I’m currently fifteen years old, the only problem I have is with eating, I only eat crunching textures foods, I used to be worst, I was diagnosed with autism when I was two, I had went from walking talking and making eye contact , to not being able to speak and pointing and screaming when I wanted something, and that was fixed by the age of 4 or three, the speech thing got better and I fully learned to talked normally when I was in the third grade but it wasn’t near as bad, my point is if your parents raise you like your normal and don’t treat you any different, than you can have fully normal life, so please be careful what you so, I can’t stress this enough thank you,
Hey I support autism but this is horribly inaccurate. Things like trichothecenes for example can cause autism in a child who once wasnt. I’ve seen a ton of cases like that and also with that being said tricothecenes inhibit protein synthesis and cause dna alterations among many other crazy changes on a cellular level in this case one of the few cases that would cause a vaccine to literally cause metabolic issues or further dna damage or disease other than that vaccines are safe.. but in order for an mRNA vaccine to work protein synthesis needs to be able to be done otherwise the function of the vaccine cannot be carried out. If you dont belive me try reading. Read about protein synthesis how it relates to mrna vaccines and trichothecenes read thoroughly. As far as foods if you eat alot of convenient food it can come at a price this has been established in pregnancy literature for decades. We have alot of acceptable ingredients many other places ban. Alot of these ingredients have the same stuff house hold cleaners have etc [ex trisodium phosphate]Toxins like trichothecenes do alter brain chemistry and the microbiome just like food. Your gut health directly related to brain health. You can read also that impaired gut health goes hand in hand with a high majority of autistic people and yeast overgrowth. Not all autism just happens epigenetics is a real thing and more likely a cause as the environment has gotten worse over time due to greed in our country. Toxins change size in the cerebellum cerebrum amygdala hippocampus ventricles and caudate nucleus just an fyi. Birth can even cause issues with drugs used the method of delivery and how stressful things were and how long the process was.. different factor during birth can cause loss of oxygen to the fetus wheather it was noticed at the time or not.Again not here trying to be mean or anything just trying to inform others that this may feel soothing to read to feel lesa guilt but its highly inaccurate and that there should be no guilt felt regardless. Autistic people rock btw