Autism - The Facts

This paper was last updated on Wednesday September 30, 2009

I am receiving an increasing amount of e-mail from men and women about mothers who abuse their children and then make false allegations of spousal battery or abuse. Everyone should know that abuse can affect a child’s development. A child with a disability is always at greater risk than children who are not disabled. So this short paper is about autistic spectrum disorder commonly known as autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder that occurs in very early childhood, about age 18 to 36 months. These children have difficulty in forming normal social relationships and impairment in their ability to communicate with others to varying degrees. There are several forms of this disorder and that is why many experts use the term ‘autistic spectrum disorder’. However, children with Asperger’s syndrome have many of the same symptoms.

If an autistic child’s condition is worsening, it could be a result of this disorder or Asperger’s syndrome. However, a contentious environment or home life is harmful to every child and children with autistic spectrum disorder or with Asperger’s syndrome are among those at greatest risk.

There is so much that we do not know about autistic spectrum disorder and Asperger’s syndrome. However, there is suspicion and now proven that females have the genetic trait. Identical twins are far more likely than fraternal twins have this disorder. This is the paradox, a puzzle.

There is a paper from the National Institute of Mental Health that may help.  The URL is http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/autismmenu.cfm.

There is no agreement on the cause of autism and so autism is not clearly understood. Some authorities believe that females carry a recessive gene for autism. Autism is nearly five times more prevalent in boys than in girls. If a woman has a boy with autism, the probability that next child will be born with autism is around three in one hundred (3%). If a woman has a girl with autism, the probability that next child will be born with autism is around twelve in one hundred (12%).

I found a book, Helping Children with Autism Learn, by Bryna Siegel (ISBN 0-19-513811-2).  I have a hard cover edition from our public library. A soft cover copy could be available. I mention this book because autistic children can learn and become productive adults. This book explains treatment methods and why they are used. Though her book seems to be for a professional readership, many chapters and sections are entirely understandable to the layperson.  Children learn from their parents and sometimes mimic their parent's behavior, children with autism are especially vulnerable. This is why parents who lie or are abusive or violent are not good role models for their children. 

Edward Steven Nunes