Opinion: My Son Is Not A Tragedy — And Autism Is Not An Epidemic

Sorry Jenn, by any standard, the clear rise in the number of diagnosed autism cases is in fact a crisis. In fact, since the “hockey stick” is both real and only partly related to better diagnosis the term crisis is applicable. Clearly, the earlier diagnosing of the condition is related to “… our ability to recognize, understand, and support …” however, that only accounts for some of the dramatic rise in the number of diagnosed cases.

Many diagnosed people will become “… lost, broken, or burdens on society …”, not because of themselves, but because there is no on willing to “… understand, and support …” a child with the condition.

While we don’t understand the mechanism that causes the Autism Spectrum Disorders, we do know that these environmental causes of autism exist:
– Advanced parental age at time of conception
– Prenatal exposure to air pollution or certain pesticides
– Maternal obesity, diabetes, or immune system disorders
– Extreme prematurity or very low birth weight
– Any birth difficulty leading to periods of oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain
We know that these factors contribute:
– Children of mothers living near a freeway, and traffic-related pollution, during the third trimester of pregnancy were twice as likely to develop ASD.
– Children with a mutation in a gene called MET, combined with high levels of exposure to air pollution, may have increased risk
– Mothers whose immune system shows certain metabolic conditions, or inflammation during pregnancy are linked with higher rates of autism diagnosis for her children.
– Some mothers of autistic children have antibodies, or proteins in the body that fight infection, that may interfere with their children’s brain development, possibly leading to autism (we once didn’t understand the effects Rh factors had second pregnancies – we only figured it out after addressing the crisis)
– Maternal diabetes or obesity is linked to increased likelihood of having a child with autism and other developmental disability (this is becoming a far clearer link in recent studies)
– Fever during pregnancy is associated with increased autism in offspring

You may not like the language but you should be rallying to the cause – even if the guy waving the banner is a goofy old former democrat who sounds like he’s smoked 28 packs of cigarettes while on a three day bender.