“Everyone is a little bit autistic”. A view you hear quite often. And for us, rather comprehensively dealt with by Dr Aimee Grant of The Conversation [1] The phrase means that all of us show some behaviours(a liking for routine, for example) which are present to a much higher degree in neurodivergent people. Ergo, we don’t have to put in the hard yards of research and thinking which this fascinating condition really invites. Wrong says Dr Grant. Autism is a defined neurological condition with clinical boundaries. Herself autistic, we think she knows what she’s talking about.
The idea of not pontificating on something you know nothing about (autism; and other things) is precious to us here. A few years ago there was a rather hysterical fuss among certain journalists that Autism was caused by the MMR vaccine. Cool heads and reasoned minds showed this idea to be incorrect. What we didn’t know then was that some of the cases that the advocates of the MMR theory cited in support of their cause may not have been autism at all. One of the cases may have been something called Rett syndrome as the acute mind of Professor Nessa Carey pointed out [2] No, we hadn’t heard of it either. So to help you, gentle readers to wade through this minefield of definitions, syndromes and human suffering, we thought we’d offer this brief guide to some of the other things that are out there, and manifest some symptoms which overlap strongly with autism. If only to show the utter, mind boggling complexity of what clinicians and others have to deal with.
Rett Syndrome Cause: Mutations on MECP2 gene Normal early development followed by regression. Mostly affects girls
Fragile X syndrome Mutation on FMR 1 Gene Not all fragile X persons are autistic. Not all autistic persons are fragile X
Phelan McDermaid Syndrome Deletion on chromosome 22, often in SHANK 3 gene
Social Communication Disorder Communication problems Does not involve repetitive behaviours typical of autism
Intellectual Disability(ID) with behavioural challenges cognitive delay is global; but many autistic people have above average intellectual ability
Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) extreme sensitivity to stimuli e.g. light, touch, etc this is the closest to autism and it’s true many experts don’t differentiate it from autism
This is a tip of the iceberg, superficial treatment, as the bounds of our blog dictate. But it’s enough to make you pause and think “There are more things in heaven and earth than you have thought of in your philosophy, Horatio” as Hamlet once remarked. The real point is not what we know, but how much there still is to discover. And how those discoveries may yet be organised. But that’s a job for another day.
thanks to P Seymour
[2] Nessa Carey La Revolution Epigenetica Biblioteca Buridan 2011 amazon completion point 19%
#autism #nessa carey #diagnosis #mmr vaccine #neurology #brain #genetics #behaviour #medicine #health
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