Autism-World

Q: Does anyone have solid research to back up that autism is caused by any extrinsic factors?

This information needs to be credible, not just something you found on the internet. So if you are not a medical professional who has studied autism like I have them please don’t waste your time.

Answer:

I can summarize much of what I discovered from a lecture by Geraldine Dawson, PhD.

Genetics play a huge factor in a child’s likelihood to have autism, but it’s not totally genetics. If one fraternal twin is autistic, the 2nd twin is no more likely to be autistic than siblings born at different times (about 6%). But if one identical twin is autistisc, the 2nd child is at least 10 times more likely to be autistic than siblings born at different times (about 60-80%.) If genes were the sole cause of autism, the identical twin of an autistic child would ALWAYS be autistic. So it appears there are both intrinsic AND extrinsic factors, combined.

But, inspite of anecdotal stories, at least some of the children with autism, developed autism BEFORE 18 months, when the vaccinations take place. There was a study using home old videos taken at first birthday parties & they were able to identify 90% of the kids with autism. If at 12 months, they were already displaying autistic behaviors, the vaccinations couldn’t have caused them. That does not rule out the possibility that as much as 10% of the autistic children “get it” from the vaccinations.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Ask and answer.