Not our words, but those of Helen Tager-Flusberg a psychologist and expert on neurological conditions at Boston University inn the United States. Wise words indeed. Read this from Nature Briefing what we know about autism:
A claim by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr that “an environmental toxin” is responsible for autism has worried many researchers and autism groups, who say it seems to ignore what’s already known about the condition. Decades of research suggests that genetics plays a huge part, although parental age, infections during pregnancy and a string of other environmental factors have also been linked to autism. “There will never be a sound-bite answer to what causes autism,” says psychologist Helen Tager-Flusberg. Meanwhile, the increasing prevalence of autism is predominantly caused by an increase in diagnoses rather than a true rise in underlying traits.Nature | 12 min read [1]
What we know. Humble words in a way. Especially in world where the deeply unhumble fill the internet and newspaper columns with shrieking headlines about what they think they know. Even set out on demonstrations carrying placards, as if emotion and wishful thinking could somehow override the basic facts of science and the laws of logical deduction. We live in an age where emotion now seems to be trumping clear thinking on every subject at every turn. But for the benefit of the few of you left who still believe in intelligence and logic we offer these questions, as they mark the limits of our own knowledge, and everyone else’s.
1 Is there a single condition called “autism”? Or does the word mask several different underlying conditions?
2 If there is a genetic cause, what is its heritability?
3 Are epigenetic factors also involved? If so how can they be measured?
4 Is there a single underlying causal factor?
5 What are the statistical probabilities that factors such as the age of the parents, prevalence of environmental toxins and types of diet play a role in producing diagnoses?
6 Did the change in diagnostic criteria in the 1990s change the prevalence in reported cases of the condition?
7 Why are their two different diagnostic systems anyway? (DSM and ICD) Ok, this is a personal peeve, but it could be affecting the data.
Autism is a neuralgic issue because it touches so many emotions: guilt, fear, anxiety, unknowing, shame and the overwhelming need for a cause to hate and blame. The attempts to grapple with it lie right on the edge of the limits of human skill and technique. Which means there can be no easy answers and no cure any time soon. COVID-19 it isn’t. But LSS prides itself on being a truth telling blog and the truth right now is that we just don’t know. Distrust anyone who dooes.
#autism spectrum disorder #neurology #genetics #epigenetics #environment #diagnoses
Learning, Science and Society 