I have been wondering about some of the askers of the autism questions and statements that I have been seeing.

Questions such as "is autism caused by parents who do drugs?"; "doesn't lots of tv and not breastfeeding constitute bad parenting and cause autism?"; and "parents treating their children like pets and not attaching to them causes autism"...I am wondering if it bothers the people who ask questions such as this that they are clueless and uninformed? Are they inbred? Are they able to read, or just able to spout off ignorant misinformation on the internet without stopping to actually learn something?

Geniuses: My 92 year old grandmother is brilliant and totally together...and she has autism. Asperger's, to be specific. She was the youngest of four children, all spaced very far apart in age. Do you people think that my great grandmother mixed up formula for her baby? Do you think that my 92 year old grandmother watched too much tv as an infant? And last- my favorite- do you think that my great-grandmother, who was born around 1877, did too many drugs when she was pregnant??!!

I have some things I would like to add:

High functioning autism and Asperger's run rampant throughout my family- all women! My grandmother (92) is the oldest and my daughter (6) is the youngest. My daughter was born with autism- I myself knowing what I know now could have diagnosed her at 6 months and someone sharper about kids and ASD (yes, it IS a spectrum) could probably have picked it up earlier. Personally, I believe that there is a strong genetic component and then something environmental which kicks that gene in the butt to make the autism appear. For my daughter it probably was her heinous delivery and birth, but for others it happens much later on. I used to snicker at the vaccine/preservative/mercury stuff, but it's difficult for me to do that after reading so much information about mercury poisoning, chelation, etc. Like everything else, autistic people are all different. I believe they all arrived on the spectrum by many different routes.

I agree that some of the questions posted about this topic are very silly. I also am glad that people are posting them. I dont know what the rate of autism was in 1877 but I do know that 10 years ago it was 1 in 10,000 and today it is 1 in 150 and around 1 in 86 if you are male. So while a lot of the questions are way off base I would rather they asked and found out the truth than to go on believing that things like tv are the cause. Additionally I am just really glad that people are interested in the rise of autism. While we do not know the answer "what causes autism" with more people interested in finding the truth - it may be the first step in answering it.

People are just very ignorant sometimes...

Yea, totally true. It annoys me when people post questions as thoughtless as that. I have never had anyone close to me affected by autism, and I'm not an expert on the matter, but some questions people post are just ridiculous!
By the way, well said, I must admit, even if it sounds horrible, I did laugh at:
And last-my favorite- do you think that my 92 year old Grandmother, who was born around 1877, did too many drugs when she was pregnant??!!
It just shows how stupid and ignorant some people are.

I simply think a lot of people on here are young. And b/c of that misinformed & undereducated on the subject. I am a 31 mother & although no one has autism in our family, just becoming a parent made me aware & had me reading up on it.

I recall an article I read about 4 yrs ago (before the birth of my 2nd child) about the correlation of preservatives & autism, mainly the preservatives in immunizations. The 3 in 1 shot of course has 3 x's the preservatives & the stand was it was harder for a tiny infant to process that much at once - triggering possible autism. So of course i was scared - I wanted my kids immunized but it went against living naturally & as organically as we do.

......and you g-mother probably had no preservatives in her life being the age she is.

I'm going to take a shot in the dark that many disorders & diseases today are magnified by the way we live today - but they have been POSSIBLE from the beginning of time simply b/c we are human made up of a particular cocktail of hormones & chemicals.

Don't take bad answers seriously, just stick to your guns & attempt to spread the RIGHT word.

My sister has Aspergers as well and I get your point but there is new evidence that there are other things that cause autism. I truely belive vaccinations can cause autism in certain kids when administered at the wrong time in development. (I believe it is more prevelant after the 18 month vaccinations) I also think that there are environmental causes as well. Again, I only believe this to be true with certain kids whose bodies for some reason cannot tolerate these things. My sister was born this way.... there is no question about that.... but sometimes I do not believe this to be the case. That could be why there are so many more diagnosis of autism now that ever before although it could be the way we diagnose these kids as well. I am not a doctor or medical professional... this is just my personal stance on the topic so you can take it or leave it. People are not educated and only hear half of the news story before turning the channel so they are misinformed.We do know that other disorders can be caused by the mothers actions while pregnant so they must assume everything else is the same way. It is a start that they are even thinking about the subject even if it comes off as being in an ignorant way.... maybe it will raise awarness.

I hundred % agree with you, people should not poke their nose in an affair they are not aware of.

I salute you for bringing it on like that. Most people are so damn uneducated when it comes to this topic. It never ceases to amaze me how smart autistic people are. I have volunteered at my local Head Start program and was able to work with a boy that has autism. He is very smart in his own way. God Bless you for defending your sweet grandmother and educating these ignorant people!!!!

You have a right to be angry, tell it like it is.

Ii have five kids, all grown - the oldest born in 1972 has Aspergers, which really didn't have a name until the 1980s when so many children were being diagnosed with the symptoms.
I've paid very close attention to the autism "outbreak," and have done a lot of research and read other people's research, and. I am absolutely convinced that autism is caused by environmental toxins. Especially heavy metals.
"Experts" are quick to say innoculations have nothing to do with this problem - and they are right. The medications in and of themselves do not, however, the mercury that has been used to preserve the meds in the shots, DOES have something to do with it. Enough so, that the FDA banned it's use several years ago as a preservative - even though the shots are still being used because the drug companies had so many doses already manufactured the the gov't OK'd their use until they run out. SOME have still not run out and are being given to our children even though the gov knows the mercury can cause the exact same symptoms as autism.

Of course not all metal toxicity comes from innoculations - we have mercury and lead everywhere - extreme levels of lead can be found in water by the time it gets to our faucet. All those bromines we use to chlorinate the water, leach the metals from the old pipes, esp. lead, and while the water might test OK at the testing station, by the time it gets to the kitchen sink, it's rampant with lead.

In the old days, when your grandmother was a child, she could ver well have been exposed to mercury or lead in a number of different ways. Both were used routinely for a long time before anyone realized it was toxic. It was sometimes even used as a "cure" for certain illnesses.

I believe you are right. Parenting is NOT the cause of autism. Doing drugs, (Unless you're smoking lead or mercury) does not cause autism. The US gov't will always deny that innoculations are the most prevelant cause - because they'd have to take responsibility for all these children the shots have damaged. And, the drug companies might have to take responsibility too.
One in every 150 girls and 1 in 85 boys is autistic. Think of that. It's outrageous. Symptoms of autism usually don't occur until 18 months - just about the amount of time it takes for levels of merc and other metals to build up from multiple innoculations.

I wish every parent would really look into this and come to their own conclusion instead of buying in to what the drug companies and the NIH say.

thanks for your question. I hope the parents whose children have autism and have been blaming themselves will read your question and realize they had nothing to do with it.

PS I did NOT give my other four kids their innoculations and none of them have autism.

Good for you, seeing past all the lies, like the giant vaccine lie. People here don't really care what evidence says sometime, they just want a scapegoat.

I am one of those "clueless people."

Fact: There are no neurological tests for autism.

Fact: No gene or gene complex has been isolated for autism.

Fact: Connections to vaccine and autism have been disproved.

Fact: Even those experts who solemly declare that autism is neurobiological invariably caution that there is "no known cause and no known cure for autism."

Fact: All medication prescribed for the treatment of autistic symptoms are identical to those used to treat neurosis.

Fact: All infants subjected to abuse and neglect end up with symptoms identical to people supposedly born autistic.

Fact: 31 percent of all blind children develop autism at age two.

Fact: 40 percent of all identical twins with autistic siblings are normal.

Fact: All infants who are subjected to severe stress develop abnormal brain physiology identical to that of autistics.

Fact: There is a definite statistical correlation between premature birth and autism.

Fact: There is a definite statistical correlation between ceasarean birth and autism.

Did you see the latest research is saying that autism in boys is very different than girls? The gene is not the same.

Thank God for people like you. I have just come home feeling so down and miserable after yet another meeting with my son's school teacher, counsellor, teacher's aide, special ed co ordinator, and feeling total despair at having to explain yet AGAIN what aspergers is to everyone.

He has been at school nearly 4 years now, and i have been to 4 of these annual meetings now, and i am getting just a little weary of forever having to educate the educated.

I know my job as his mother is to be his advocate, and i will never cease being his voice when he has none, but it does tire me and sadden me to have to get back to the basics of what it is, instead of focusing on how to manage it.

How much more ignorance and cynicisim can i take? As much as i have to i suppose, but somedays, like today, are just harder to deal with than others.

That's when i came across your question, and i felt just a little bit better for having read it; thank you, and good luck to all mothers and fathers out there who are also battling with schools to help them understand their special children.

My thoughts are with you all.

Cheers.

Fact: Connections to vaccine and autism have been disproved.

Fact: Even those experts who solemly declare that autism is neurobiological invariably caution that there is "no known cause and no known cure for autism."

Fact: All medication prescribed for the treatment of autistic symptoms are identical to those used to treat neurosis.

Fact: All infants subjected to abuse and neglect end up with symptoms identical to people supposedly born autistic

I doubt any of the Facts in larry l's post are accurate but these four above are utter Nonsense.

The first and second ''FACTS'' are dangerous and distructive lies spread by those who have caused untold damage to thousands of children and fear reprisals from those they have injured.

It's probable there are many factors involved in the epidemic and not just one smoking gun so to speak.

At this juncture the medical community has no answers to the autism spectrum disorders because they can't accept the concept and ultimatly the responsibility that they ARE THE CAUSE OF MOST OF IT!

The only "fact" people need to know is that many ASD children can be helped with Biomedical Intervention and Applied behavioral analysis. Many kids will heal and drop off the spectrum. Some will not fare so well, just like with any other illness. They will not be ''cured'' but they will succeed in spite of the rough start they had and the nerve damage they suffered.

Start as young as you can and do not listen to the naysayers,leave them with thier excuses and "FACTS" while you help your child.

The current autism is different from the early descriptions of autism. Genes do play a role in autism and what causes the trigger will be debated. I do suspect nutritional defiencies play a part in the vaccination process. Vitamin A defiency prior to vaccination caused some of the severe reactions. There are so many ignorant remarks and for me autism is not just "born with it" but can be caused by all the pollution and garbage that our bodies are exposed to. My son has regressive autism and is improving dramatically through biomedical and behavioral interventions.