New theory about autism--opinions?

[MrsCobraBubbles]

Saw this on Yahoo, it's an article that explains a theory that plastics are behind the increase in autism. It basically states that plastics contain chemicals that disrupt hormones, and these may in turn cause changes in developing brains. This theory is shared by the doctor from The Happiest Baby books.

I found it interesting because I've long thought that plastics were evil and to be avoided at all costs. I also have a son on the spectrum.

So anyway, if you want to check it out:

http://www.popsugar.com/moms/What-Causes-Autism-38215233

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this, and also if there are any other crazy people out there who hate plastic as much as me and you'd care to share tips on things you do to avoid it.

 

[Shanti]

Saw this on Yahoo, it's an article that explains a theory that plastics are behind the increase in autism. It basically states that plastics contain chemicals that disrupt hormones, and these may in turn cause changes in developing brains. This theory is shared by the doctor from The Happiest Baby books.

I found it interesting because I've long thought that plastics were evil and to be avoided at all costs. I also have a son on the spectrum.

So anyway, if you want to check it out:

http://www.popsugar.com/moms/What-Causes-Autism-38215233

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this, and also if there are any other crazy people out there who hate plastic as much as me and you'd care to share tips on things you do to avoid it.

My son is on the spectrum. I don't believe there is any proof that plastics contribute to the autism epidemic, but it's one of many possibilities. I have no doubt that autism is the product of a combination of:

1. A genetic predisposition that is latent if not triggered, but expressed if triggered, and
2. An environmental trigger.

Whether that environmental trigger is plastics, pesticides, vaccines, pollution, etc., or a combination thereof, I doubt that we'll ever definitively know.

 

[Gorechick]

The latest I read was autism linked to increased Folic acid during pregnancy. I was on extra folic acid during pregnancy and my son was on the spectrum. Could be a possibility.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

My son is on the spectrum. I don't believe there is any proof that plastics contribute to the autism epidemic, but it's one of many possibilities. I have no doubt that autism is the product of a combination of:

1. A genetic predisposition that is latent if not triggered, but expressed if triggered, and
2. An environmental trigger.

Whether that environmental trigger is plastics, pesticides, vaccines, pollution, etc., or a combination thereof, I doubt that we'll ever definitively know.

I share your opinion. I know too many families with more than one kid on the spectrum for me to believe that genetics plays no part. I also know parents who are in denial about that. They want to blame external things because otherwise it's their fault. My own mother is one of these people, and she'll get mad at me when I suggest that genetics are to blame. Actually, she doesn't even like to admit that her grandson has autism, she just says that he's "different" or "sensitive". To her, admitting he has autism means that there's something wrong or broken in him. Of course, I don't see it the same way so in the interest of keeping the peace we have mutually decided to sweep it under the rug.

I also agree that the cause of autism may be so complex that it will never be figured out in my lifetime. I suspect all the environmental triggers that you listed though, and I do my best to shield my family from them.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

The latest I read was autism linked to increased Folic acid during pregnancy. I was on extra folic acid during pregnancy and my son was on the spectrum. Could be a possibility.

I read not too long ago that it could be from the use of epidural during labor. It's like wet noodle science--throwing out theories like spaghetti thrown at the wall to see what sticks.

 

[DLgal]

I read that autism has always existed, and it's a natural biologic neurovariant. Personally, that makes the most sense to me. Why would we ever assume that there is only one "normal" type of brain? That is ignorant.

It's time to stop focusing on the "why" of autism and start funneling more resources into education, job training, and public awareness/acceptance campaigns. Autism, in and of itself, is not a tragedy.

My only 2 children are autistic. If I'm being 100% honest, I'm not at all surprised. My family and DH's are full of "odd, quirky, intellectual but antisocial" types. I am probably borderline autistic myself...

 

[CdnCarrie]

I think its mainly genetics. My friend has 2 kids on the low functioning end of the spectrum (non verbal, not toilet trained - in their teens). i strongly disagree with the idea that environmental factors are a cause. My friend was not exposed to pesticides anymore than me or anyone else. She grew up in a small town in the wide open prairie away from any kind of pollution. She had the same vaccines as everyone else. How would her infants be exposed to any more plastics than other kids especially when they were breastfeed?

 

[Monykalyn]

I also agree that the cause of autism may be so complex that it will never be figured out in my lifetime.

very complex-the human brain is the most complex thing on the planet

Why would we ever assume that there is only one "normal" type of brain?

totally agree!! Also love the sentiment of "odd, quirky" individuals! How boring to have everyone the same. Some people truly are just different and brains wired differently. Nothing wrong with that; unfortunately our society is NOT well equipped to handle the different- unless they become famous of course (tongue in cheek here)

There is actually a great deal of research right now on the gut/brain connection. Basically without a healthy gut no healthy brain (think dementia, alzheimers) and vice versa. Not sure where the "start" is. For those with altered brains, gut flora is altered. but is the brain altered due to gut flora or is gut flora altered due to brain altered?

Also-a note to the complexity and genetic factor-For females- your brain and gut were influenced by your grandmothers environmental and nutrition factors. Your genetic code was developed in your mothers developing body gestating in your grandmother. As environmental conditions have deteriorated - poorer quality nutritious food with higher use of pesticides, pollution, crappy food(high sugar, high fat, low nutrition), drugs (exponentially increased prescription use) etc- is it really any surprise more diagnosis of learning disorders, dementia etc are being diagnosed?? As generations go on traits are exposed more and more.

 

[Shanti]

I think its mainly genetics... i strongly disagree with the idea that environmental factors are a cause. My friend was not exposed to pesticides anymore than me or anyone else...She had the same vaccines as everyone else. How would her infants be exposed to any more plastics than other kids especially when they were breastfeed?

That is where a genetic predisposition comes in. Some people are more vulnerable to environmental insults than others. It is not a matter of having received more exposure, but of being more vulnerable to that exposure. The genetic predisposition is there, but only manifests if triggered by an environmental cause (which could be a pollutant, vaccines, nutritional deficiencies, or a combination thereof. )

 

[Colleen27]

I think there's far too much emphasis on looking for a "cause", and I'm skeptical that one will ever be identified. There's so much we still don't know about the human body, especially the brain, and it is virtually impossible to isolate individual factors when looking at the interplay of genetics and environment. I think a better approach would be a more utilitarian one - education, job training, support services, etc. - because I don't see any identification of a cause leading to a widespread decline in autism rates. Whether it is the plastic that is ubiquitous in our world or chemicals in our water/air or a reaction to a particular pollutant or whatever, those things aren't going away. Building tools to more effectively deal with the world we have seems a better use of resources than trying to find out which unavoidable aspect of modern society to blame.

 

[Shanti]

I think there's far too much emphasis on looking for a "cause", and I'm skeptical that one will ever be identified. There's so much we still don't know about the human body, especially the brain, and it is virtually impossible to isolate individual factors when looking at the interplay of genetics and environment. I think a better approach would be a more utilitarian one - education, job training, support services, etc. - because I don't see any identification of a cause leading to a widespread decline in autism rates. Whether it is the plastic that is ubiquitous in our world or chemicals in our water/air or a reaction to a particular pollutant or whatever, those things aren't going away. Building tools to more effectively deal with the world we have seems a better use of resources than trying to find out which unavoidable aspect of modern society to blame.

With any medical condition, knowledge of the cause assists in finding effective treatments. Autism is no exception. That is the reason medical researchers want to find out why it occurs.

 

[DLgal]

With any medical condition, knowledge of the cause assists in finding effective treatments. Autism is no exception. That is the reason medical researchers want to find out why it occurs.

Autism is not a medical condition. My kids are super healthy. They never have to see doctors.

Maybe we need to stop pathologizing everything that makes us feel uncomfortable.

 

[Shanti]

Autism is not a medical condition. My kids are super healthy. They never have to see doctors.

Maybe we need to stop pathologizing everything that makes us feel uncomfortable.

It is a diagnosed condition. My son is autistic and was initially low-functioning (couldn't speak until four, limited understanding of language, obsessed with opening and closing doors, removed from one school due to recurring tantrums, etc.), but has become high functioning (speaks & behaves basically as a child his age should, A & B student in a regular private school, etc.) after years of therapy and biomedical interventions, under the guidance of one of the best pediatric neurologists in the state. It is treatable.

Temple Grandin, who I deeply admire and whose books on autism I read, recently wrote a book called The Autistic Brain, in which she discussed how the autistic brain can differ, what could be possible causes, and how the condition can be improved and made the most of. Being different is fine, even wonderful- that's not pathology. But being non-functional, unable to learn and eventually support oneself, is pathology, and requires treatment. Temple Grandin is one of the clearest voices articulating that.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Autism is not a medical condition. My kids are super healthy. They never have to see doctors.

Maybe we need to stop pathologizing everything that makes us feel uncomfortable.

But for some patients with autism, they are neurologically unhealthy. Their symptoms go beyond just making others uncomfortable.

I think so much effort is going towards finding the cause because we like to "cure" or "prevent" everything. I'm not saying that isn't important. It just isn't more important that helping those who need it and already have it.

 

[DLgal]

It is a diagnosed condition. My son is autistic and was initially low-functioning, but has become high functioning after years of therapy and biomedical interventions, under the guidance of one of the best pediatric neurologists in the state. It is treatable.

Temple Grandin, who I deeply admire and whose books on autism I read, recently wrote a book called The Autistic Brain, in which she discussed how the autistic brain can differ, what could be possible causes, and how the condition can be improved and made the most of. Being different is fine, even wonderful- that's not pathology. But being non-functional, unable to live and support oneself, is pathology, and requires treatment. Temple Grandin is one of the clearest voices articulating that.

We'll have to disagree on autism being treatable. Therapy improves functioning, definitely. Biomedical interventions can also help alleviate some symptoms, perhaps. But, your son will always have autism. It cannot be cured. He might look or act "less autistic" than he did when he was younger...which almost always happens after years of therapy and natural maturity and development. Autism is a developmental DELAY, which means you can almost always guarantee improvement with time. My kids both look and act a LOT different than they did 5 years ago. We have done NO biomedical interventions and really no therapy outside of school. Every day brings improvements in functioning.

High vs. low functioning is also not something that most people can agree on guidelines for. For example, my older son is high functioning academically, and in terms of self care, but he is low functioning in the area of communication. My younger son is the opposite. Those terms really don't mean anything useful.

 

[DLgal]

But for some patients with autism, they are neurologically unhealthy. Their symptoms go beyond just making others uncomfortable.

I think so much effort is going towards finding the cause because we like to "cure" or "prevent" everything. I'm not saying that isn't important. It just isn't more important that helping those who need it and already have it.

That is called comorbidity. Autism exists often alongside epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, and more. THOSE are treatable medical conditions. Autism, alone, does not equate to "neurologically unhealthy"

 

[Shanti]

We'll have to disagree on autism being treatable. Therapy improves functioning, definitely. Biomedical interventions can also help alleviate some symptoms, perhaps. But, your son will always have autism. It cannot be cured. He might look or act "less autistic" than he did when he was younger...which almost always happens after years of therapy and natural maturity and development. Autism is a developmental DELAY, which means you can almost always guarantee improvement with time. My kids both look and act a LOT different than they did 5 years ago. We have done NO biomedical interventions and really no therapy outside of school. Every day brings improvements in functioning.

High vs. low functioning is also not something that most people can agree on guidelines for. For example, my older son is high functioning academically, and in terms of self care, but he is low functioning in the area of communication. My younger son is the opposite. Those terms really don't mean anything useful.

Yes, we do disagree. A doctor treats a patient with cancer and it goes into remission. The cancer is technically still there. Does that mean the cancer wasn't treated, just because it still exists?

My criteria for high or low functioning autism is how well-prepared the individual is to participate independently in society. Can the child go to a regular school and function, socially and academically, without an aide constantly watching over or guiding him? Will he be able to support himself and live independently as an adult? That is my goal for my son, as I know his father and I won't live forever and I don't want him ending up in an institution when we're gone. A person's level of functioning, while hard to quantify, is extremely important.

I don't want to argue endlessly with a fellow parent, but given my son's tremendous improvement as a result of biomedical and therapeutic intervention, I feel duty-bound to share my experience and perspective publicly, as another family might be helped by it. I don't want this thread to delove into an argument, however, so this will be my final post. If anyone wants specific advice based on my experience with my son, they are welcome to PM me.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

We'll have to disagree on autism being treatable. Therapy improves functioning, definitely. Biomedical interventions can also help alleviate some symptoms, perhaps. But, your son will always have autism. It cannot be cured. He might look or act "less autistic" than he did when he was younger...which almost always happens after years of therapy and natural maturity and development. Autism is a developmental DELAY, which means you can almost always guarantee improvement with time. My kids both look and act a LOT different than they did 5 years ago. We have done NO biomedical interventions and really no therapy outside of school. Every day brings improvements in functioning.

High vs. low functioning is also not something that most people can agree on guidelines for. For example, my older son is high functioning academically, and in terms of self care, but he is low functioning in the area of communication. My younger son is the opposite. Those terms really don't mean anything useful.

My son is 13 and he does act "less autistic" now. In fact, when we switched psychiatric practices a year ago, he was diagnosed with "autistic characteristics--not enough to diagnose at this time" in his initial interview with the doctor. The psychologist talked with my son before talking to me or looking over his paperwork and basically said he had characteristics of Asperger's but that he made good eye contact and had good conversation skills. Well, he's been in intensive wraparound therapy for years now (at least twice a week) to improve both those things. Plus we've made drastic changes to his diet and activity level, he's maturing and growing, and he has been put on medications to help manage his symptoms. I know that giving meds for autism is controversial but I can attest to the fact that they work for some people.

Whatever the reason behind autism, and wherever kids happen to fall on the spectrum, I think it's important to focus on teaching kids to embrace their "different-ness" and love themselves. I stress to my son that his autism is the reason he's so smart. His attention to detail and his obsession with following the rules are two qualities that his teachers have always loved, and I think they will help him grow into a good citizen and a good person. I've also recently pointed out to him that his autism prevents him from being nervous to talk to the girls at school, which the other boys see as self-confidence and admire him for it.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Personally, I don't think the plastic theory holds anymore water than the vaccine theory does.

I also am in the camp that autism is, for the most part, just a normal personality variant. It can't be cured. What can be helped is the person's anxiety and ability to function in a world that is not particularly well set up for that type of personality.

I tend to think that the biggest reason for the explosion in cases (other than the obvious increase in actually diagnosing what was already there) is that around the same time that we started to see so many more cases, the world got MUCH more complicated and less predictable, which in turn made it harder for those with autistic personality traits to cope--meaning we see the results of that.

So, for example, when I was a kid in the 80s, I could predict that people would be talking about Family Ties and The Cosby Show at school in Friday--those aired on Thursday and this was before DVRs or streaming and most people still only had 3 network channels and maybe 1-2 local station plus PBS so everyone tended to watch the same things.
and my choices of what to watch at any given time were not overwhelming: I could choose from among perhaps 6 shows not 1000s.

I was exposed to fewer foods as a kid than most kids are now. Heck, I recall when kiwi was this brand new trendy import!

And once people were home for the evening, socializing was limited to one other person on a phone and most people were not allowed to call past say, 9:00, so all night, every night, was decompression time from the greater social world.

And, just with more classes, and camps and bigger schools that are less likely to be right in the neighborhood, and more travel opportunities, we meet more people and have more types of socializing each with its own set of rules to learn, etc

And it is much easier to nurse an obsession to the point of being unhealthy now that we can learn everything there is to know about any subject without ever leaving our homes thanks to the internet.

More people, more cars, more electronics everyhere also mean that we have more visual and aiudio stimulation going on almost constantly than ever before--which can be overwhelming.

Etc. etc. etc

All of these new choices and options and people and information are GREAT and have many pluses, but they can also be a whole lot for even toddlers (more foods, more people, more decisions to make about what to watch or where, etc) which can raise the anxiety of someone whose personality struggles with these kinds of things, and that in turn brings forth the "problems" we associate with autism and the person tried to cope.

That is my theory on the most major thing behind the rise (though I am sure there are multiple factors).

 

[indimom]

I really think the biggest part of the rise is the increase in diagnosis. Every person on this thread has described autism which I would consider very mild. I don't mean to downplay any struggle these kids/young adults have in life, but it's an entirely different experience than the autistic young man I know well. He requires a caregiver 24/7, throws out a random word or two once every few months but does not communicate in any way verbal or otherwise. He is very violent at times. He requires a male caregiver because he has grown to large for women to handle when he is angered. He is mostly toilet trained. He does love cartoons and plays the piano by ear, but wouldn't be able to obsess or study a subject because he can't use a computer or read.

I know there are similar traits to those discussed in this thread, but this was the face of autism 20 some years ago. People "back then" didn't worry about diagnosing kids who were capable of learning and who were just slower or quirky. (And don't get me wrong, these kids need the services they are getting. Especially with the state of education today, It's become too large of a beast for any child to navigate with developmental delays.) But, now that we have expanded the spectrum to include people with similar characteristics who require assistance to learn is what I think that has made the number of diagnosed cases explode. I don't think there are more diagnosis like the young man I know... but there are a lot more diagnosis of the more "mild" types of cases. (Again, I mean no disrespect to any family or child struggling with autism, I just couldn't think of any other language to use to describe the difference from one end to the other of the broad spectrum that is autism.)

Back to the OP's original thread (sorry for going off-thread for a moment), I never really worried about plastics. My husband does. He especially doesn't like plastics used for re-warming in the microwave, etc. My kids are pretty typical kids (whatever that means ) and they've eaten plenty of foods stored, prepared, re-warmed in plastics. Maybe they just didn't have a predisposition? Or maybe it's not plastic? I would say that plastic (at a glance) makes more sense to me than vaccines and some other theories, just because the "timing" of increased diagnosis combined with increased use of plastics for food storage and cooking, etc, fits a bit better. But, I would have to see some serious science to convince me plastics caused autism.

I think it will take time, but I do think there will be breakthroughs in autism and the reasons behind it. It just will take time because the brain and hormones and genes are endlessly complex.