http://autism.gbrettmiller.com/2008/04/genetic-engineering-and-autism/ a dad's perspective on autism Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:02:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 http://autism.gbrettmiller.com/2008/04/genetic-engineering-and-autism/comment-page-1/#comment-377 npr autism Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:28:07 +0000 http://autism.gbrettmiller.com/?p=251#comment-377 [...] [...] [...] [...]

]]> http://autism.gbrettmiller.com/2008/04/genetic-engineering-and-autism/comment-page-1/#comment-301 Maya M Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:21:54 +0000 http://autism.gbrettmiller.com/?p=251#comment-301 I definitely dislike the tying of the question whether true ASD prevalence is increasing to the question of genetic vs. environmental causation. I guess, the broadening of diagnostic criteria will soon stop and the diagnosis prevalence will reach a plateau. This will not necessarily mean 100% genetic causation. Now, we are in a period of broadening criteria and expanding diagnosis. If we attribute this to environment, we must look only for factors that are also increasing - and we are likely to omit other factors that are relevant. It is difficult right now to determine whether there is real increase, but if you want it due to environment - medicine is more and more successful in saving premature babies, and they are more likely to become autistic. If you want it due to genetics - Westerners tend to postpone their reproduction, meaning increased paternal age and more point mutations; also, autistics and "autistic cousins" now maybe have more opportunities to reproduce, e.g. the Web dating sites and sperm banks may help people who would otherwise have no children. To the point of your post - I agree. I have thought myself that the abstract thinking characteristic of humans requires some alienation from the world. So I suppose that genes predisposing to autism have been selected for during human evolution and that even typical humans will seem autistic if compared to other species. I definitely dislike the tying of the question whether true ASD prevalence is increasing to the question of genetic vs. environmental causation. I guess, the broadening of diagnostic criteria will soon stop and the diagnosis prevalence will reach a plateau. This will not necessarily mean 100% genetic causation. Now, we are in a period of broadening criteria and expanding diagnosis. If we attribute this to environment, we must look only for factors that are also increasing – and we are likely to omit other factors that are relevant.
It is difficult right now to determine whether there is real increase, but if you want it due to environment – medicine is more and more successful in saving premature babies, and they are more likely to become autistic.
If you want it due to genetics – Westerners tend to postpone their reproduction, meaning increased paternal age and more point mutations; also, autistics and “autistic cousins” now maybe have more opportunities to reproduce, e.g. the Web dating sites and sperm banks may help people who would otherwise have no children.
To the point of your post – I agree. I have thought myself that the abstract thinking characteristic of humans requires some alienation from the world. So I suppose that genes predisposing to autism have been selected for during human evolution and that even typical humans will seem autistic if compared to other species.

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