What Is Autism Disorder? Facts and Fiction

t is hoped by many parents of autistic children that once the causes of autism are discovered, this condition will be curable and perhaps even prevented. Unfortunately medical research has been unable to isolate the primary cause of autism amongst children. Perhaps in the future autism disorder will be associated with a specific gene abnormality or a group of interrelated factors within a child's genetic makeup.As things stand today, autism disorder cannot be prevented nor is there a cure. Given this reality, the very best thing we can do as a society is to be supportive of children and adults with autism and be willing to do what we can to make them feel comfortable and accepted. An important starting point is to identify what is factual information and what are myths about the causes of autism disorder.
Myth 1: Poor parenting causes autism in children. This is totally false. There is no valid research to support this claim about poor parenting skills leading to children developing autism disorder.
Myth 2: Autism is caused by poor eating habits. Once again there is no medical evidence to show that autism disorder is brought about by what you eat. Some autistic children do have food allergies or benefit from vitamin supplements however these are conditions that may be accented by having this disorder and certainly not the cause according to current research and theory.
Myth 3: Vaccinations cause autism. Currently there is on-going research into these claims, however without any concrete evidence to show a clear link between vaccinations and autism, it is still much safer to protect your child against disease and illness with a vaccination than it is to put them at risk by not having vaccinations due to fears it may lead to autism.
The exposing of the above myths surround autism begs the question as to "what is the cause of autism in children and adults"? Here are some facts about autism disorder:

• Current research and theory around autism focuses on strong links between autism disorder and the way the brain operates. For example, there is evidence to support the fact that autistic people have larger brains and their brains appear to be "hard wired" differently than a normal brain. Without getting into specific details, for the purpose of this article, it is sufficient to say that these brain differences exist in many areas of the brain and therefore can be viewed in simplistic terms as an overall brain malfunction is somehow bringing about the autism disorder in the individual.
• Another characteristic of many autistic children and adults are health problems brought on by an immune deficiency. As with vaccinations, this is another area of ongoing research. Cases of autism are often found to exist within the family tree of the parents plus there have been instances of parents having more than one autistic child. Immune deficiency problems combined with the occurrence of autism within family trees have some people thinking that finding a cure of autism may be through genetic research.

Without a doubt, autism disorder is a very complex problem that will require much more research which will hopefully provide us with better treatment alternatives in the future and perhaps one day, even a cure. In the meantime, parents and society in general, need to become better educated about autism disorder. The more we know about autism, the better we can help and support those individuals who are afflicted with this condition.

Take action now to find out more about what is autism disorder and learn to help your child and yourself as a concerned parent or an adult dealing with autism. Visit our website now to learn more about the types of autism and much more. Articles on autism, videos and links to other resources including books on autism.

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By Barisa Wyse