A common question after an autism diagnosis is what is the cause of autism. We know that there's no one cause of autism. Research suggests that autism develops from a combination of genetic and nongenetic, or environmental, influences. These influences appear to increase the risk that a child will develop autism.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability caused by differences in the brain. Some people with ASD have a known difference, such as a genetic condition. Other causes are not yet known.
Advances in diagnostic capabilities and greater understanding and awareness of autism spectrum disorder seem to be largely driving the increase, the Rutgers researchers said. But there's probably more to the story: Genetic factors, and perhaps some environmental ones, too, might also be contributing to the trend.
The term autism first was used by psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1908. He used it to describe a schizophrenic patient who had withdrawn into his own world. The Greek word ''autós'' meant self and the word “autism” was used by Bleuler to mean morbid self-admiration and withdrawal within self.
The origins of autism
This was when our ancient ape ancestors separated from other apes that are alive today. Other autism genes are more recent in evolutionary terms—though they are still more than 100,000 years old. Research has also shown that autism for the most part is highly hereditary.
Donald Triplett, who was the first person to ever be diagnosed with autism, has died at the age of 89. Triplett was identified as “case 1” in a 1943 paper, which was the first to explore the idea of autism.
Donald Triplett, the 1st person diagnosed with autism, dies at 89 The Mississippi man known as "Case 1" was the first person to be diagnosed with autism. Triplett was the subject of a book and documentary titled In a Different Key and many medical journal articles.
1 in 100 children are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as of 2021. Autism prevalence has increased 178% since 2000. The country with the highest rate of diagnosed autism in the world is Qatar, and the country with the lowest rate is France.
Autism was originally described as a form of childhood schizophrenia and the result of cold parenting, then as a set of related developmental disorders, and finally as a spectrum condition with wide-ranging degrees of impairment. Along with these shifting views, its diagnostic criteria have changed as well.
In a pair of new reports — one focused on 8-year-olds and one on 4-year-olds — the CDC found that 1 out of every 36 children has autism. This is a significant increase from the 2021 estimate of 1 in 44, which was a big jump from 1 in 110 in 2006. This increase may sound scary.
Does The Father Or Mother Carry The Autism Gene? Autism was always thought to have a maternal inheritance component, however, research suggests that the rarer variants associated with the disorder are usually inherited from the father.
There's no way to prevent autism spectrum disorder, but there are treatment options. Early diagnosis and intervention is most helpful and can improve behavior, skills and language development. However, intervention is helpful at any age.
High levels of stress during pregnancy may also be connected to autism in children. This connection appears to have the most impact when the parent experiences stress between weeks 25 and 28 of pregnancy.
ADHD is not on the autism spectrum, but they have some of the same symptoms. And having one of these conditions increases the chances of having the other. Experts have changed the way they think about how autism and ADHD are related.
In 1980, "infantile autism" was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and separated from childhood schizophrenia. By the late 1980s, the term in the DSM was changed to autism disorder and included a checklist of symptoms for diagnosing autism.
At the time, treatment for autism was very limited. Most of these children were placed in institutions, far from the public eye, to live out their lives. Professionals commonly held the view that “refrigerator mothers” were responsible for the symptoms observed in these children.
Autism was widely thought to be a behavioral disorder until the late 1970's, and so treatments up until that point attempted to correct behavior. Behavior therapies included aversive punishment, in which a child is punished for bad behavior.
Globally, the World Health Organization estimates that the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one per 160 children. The prevalence in the Middle East is still unknown, largely due to a lack of diagnoses or a lack of acceptance from parents.
The first study, the CDC's 2020 autism prevalence report, found that California set new records, diagnosing 45% more boys with autism than any other state in the network. Nearly 7% of all 8-year-old boys in the San Diego region are estimated to have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to the report.
Inheritance. ASD has a tendency to run in families, but the inheritance pattern is usually unknown. People with gene changes associated with ASD generally inherit an increased risk of developing the condition, rather than the condition itself.
In the 1990s, behavioural interventions for autism were dominated by applied behaviour analysis (ABA), an approach to therapy that helps children learn new skills.
Death. Triplett died of cancer at home on June 15, 2023. He was the longest-living person known to have autism.