Causes of Autistic Spectrum Disorders?

[AnnieH]

I'm certainly no expert, but I went into prem labour at 34 weeks and was given a drug to stop it, and steroid injections in case she was born to mature her lungs. She managed to hold on until 38 wks in the end, but I think that somehow "damaged" her, as she has very bad eyesight and has always had behavioural problems. I've also heard that a lot of prem babies have bad eyes, and behavioural problems. I don't know if she has AS, but I think she does, I am just starting on the road trying to get a dx for her at the moment.

[tsmom]

My son(NT)was given these steriods to mature his lungs when i went into labour at 20 weeks.He was born at 37weeks weighing 7lbs.He had no problems at all.Then at 3yrs old he started to blink,we took him to have an eye test and he was refered to the hospital,his eyes are very bad,you've got me wondering if its due to the injections????????.

He also has a slight learning difficulty,he struggles with letter formation ,number sequencing and poor motor skills.

[fairynormal]

Interesting topic.

 

My son was born at 35 weeks weighing a whoping 7lb 14oz. Normal and very quick labour (second stage 7 mins!) with no pain relief. Normal pregnancy apart from slight bleeding at 2 months. Very jaundiced at birth and lacked ability to suck so was tube fed for a couple of days.

 

Developed normally except slow to walk (16 months)

 

Had his MMR and became very ill with a high temp, red eyes and itchy rash. Was told by health visitor and pharmacist it was measles but doc said it was a totally unrelated virus

 

He has AS, TS, OCD, SID and ADHD.

 

My brother has severe OCD and my sons father has OCD and depression.

 

Genetic or caused by other circumstances? I guess we'll never know.

[Faithnomore]

I think genetics play a part but it's possible that circumstances play a part too. DS! was 12 days OD, he was OP and that led to a 36 hr very painful labour. He was a ventouse delivery. Pregnancy was text book, but he did have one of the markers for downs syndrome(nuchal measurment). We were offered an amnio but declined. It was obvious(with hindsight)he was different from birth. He reached all his milestones pretty early, but so did his dad so this is just a genetic trait. He was dx with ADHD aged 7, but has just been dx with mild autism(now aged 11) and they don't think he has ADHD at all.

 

I have 2 cousins with AS and 2 aunties that are probably AS.

[wilson]

Hello,

 

I am sure that there is a hereditary factor in my son's AS. His cousin has AS, my husband has AS and it is more than likely that my brother is somewhere on the spectrum.

[florrie]

I can't tick the box because it doesn't give me the option of more than one. I think it can sometimes be a combination of things including genetic

 

Although there is a genetic factor in my family, my son who is the most disabled also had birth probs cord round neck and dent in head where they tried to stop him being bor I didn't question it at the time due to not realising why this would be a problem.

 

He then went into a coma after his MMR booster and develped additoinal probs he didn't lose speech as some did, as he didn't have any, but he has had physical health probs and bowel probs since, and additional difficulties to the AS that me and nephews have. I also think my sister has signs too but undx

 

MY sister has health problems and her children also had birth problems lack of oxygen in the womb too long kind of thing. My father also had traits but it was his agression and mental illness that was the problem and after he died i found out he had been raped as a young child and now i wonder if that was a cause for his psycholoigcal problems. But he still had the AS traits in addition but they aren't what i see as the problem it is all such a jumble.

 

The other thing we all have in common is the auditory processing problem found inpeople with autism although Donna williams says in her book THe Ju,bled Jigsaw severe trauma can also cause the brain to oganise information differently or to rewire differently which I thought was really interesting

Edited July 15, 2007 by florrie

[marmalade]

All I can say with any clarity is that the MMR didn't trigger The Small's ASD.

I refused to let her have the MMR.

 

I know that the MMR argument is out of date now, but at the time I was expected to get her vaccinated it was headline news, all the time.

 

Is it possible, should the link be genetic, for it to skip a generation?

 

Both my daughter and my cousin's little boy are ASD (we share the same grandmother) but none of us parents have ever been diagnosed. This may just be good fortune on our part, but I cannot recall any of my cousins showing any characteristics...

[becci]

aaron was born the day he was due after a 46 hour labour,with no pain relief of any kind,or intervention via c-section,he did have clips placed on his head while in the womb and then the cord round his neck twice.he was a blue baby and very ill for a few days.i noticed within a few months all was not well.

by the time he was three i was at my wits end.he was diagnosed with adhd for about half an hour then they changed their minds.and thus continues my story,its been like that ever since.

"aaron has add",

no he doesnt

"aaron has bi-polar"

no he doesnt.

aaron has asd and odd

then they say no he doesnt.

do you get the idea?

i am now at the stage where i think for christs sake if you are going to label him ###### well hurry up and pick one so i can learn how to deal with it.

incompetent morons.

 

ooh forgot to mention he also had german measles at three weeks old.even though i had had my rubella jabs.

Edited July 16, 2007 by becci

[boffin#1]

aaron was born the day he was due after a 46 hour labour,with no pain relief of any kind,or intervention via c-section,he did have clips placed on his head while in the womb and then the cord round his neck twice.he was a blue baby and very ill for a few days.i noticed within a few months all was not well.

by the time he was three i was at my wits end.he was diagnosed with adhd for about half an hour then they changed their minds.and thus continues my story,its been like that ever since.

"aaron has add",

no he doesnt

"aaron has bi-polar"

no he doesnt.

aaron has asd and odd

then they say no he doesnt.

do you get the idea?

i am now at the stage where i think for christs sake if you are going to label him ###### well hurry up and pick one so i can learn how to deal with it.

incompetent morons.

 

ooh forgot to mention he also had german measles at three weeks old.even though i had had my rubella jabs.

[boffin#1]

oh becci,

 

I really resonate with how you must feel I went through a lot of that too, everyone saying there was nothing wrong, unbelievable, and even though eventually he was dx with AS there is no support for that anyway. He is not typical AS anyway more mild cerbral palsy with autism.

 

They are unbelievably incompetent. and everyone has a differnt opinion which confuses things. I still do not know for certain what has caused his problems, but I do believe that to say that children who got severley ill after mmr that this should not be researched very strange. There are other people apart from Andrew Wakfield who have found links some of the research has beenposted on this site by other members. But everyone to there own

[Mumble]

Is it possible, should the link be genetic, for it to skip a generation?

You might be interested to look at SBC's work on this. He has looked quite extensively at the grandparents of ASD individuals. The work seems to suggest a potentially significant link across a skipped generation.

[florrie]

Just want to say that the above post as boffin is mine, florrie my computer isn't working and boffin who is onholiday has let me go on his but ofcourse his name was the one logged in when I placed the response to avoid any confusion.

 

Just because someone has a genetic predisposition to AS does not make them immune tohaving a bad reaction to MMR and just because many AS people did not have a bad reaction to MMR does not mean that it is completely safe for everyone else.

 

It seems that anyone who did not have a bad reaction decides categorically there is no link and thereforeit is safe ignoring all those that have had bad reactions.

 

 

I don't care about wakefield or the research this is actually personal experience.

Edited July 17, 2007 by florrie

[Stella63]

Hi

 

I agree with you Florrie. I had a gut feeling with my youngest that his immune system would not cope with the MMR, he had started having febrile convulsions and constant colds as a baby. Luckily this was before the MMR connection hit the headlines and I was able to have single injections for measles and rubella. When he had the measles injection he was quite ill with a temp of 104 and more convulsions so I knew I had done the right thing.

 

When he was diagnosed Aspergers I did wonder whether if he had had the full MMR he would have developed a more acute form of autism. I don't have any answers but stand by my decision to follow my instinct!

 

Stella

[LizC]

Hi well for me I do think it has alot to do with genes. my grandfather was an aspie. Matthew is also an aspie. I had no real problems during pregnancy, yes he was always hyper but that is all. had planned c/s. I always felt there was something different about him, then he was diagnosed at 5. I have 2 other children. all had the mmr and the other 2 are fine. my first was a 3 1/2 day labour complications, emergency c/s with baby in distress and she went to scbu, she is not AS. I just think it is an individual thing and there are many causes of autism.

[florrie]

Yeah I agree there are many causes Liz , Aspie stuff is genetic in my famil but one of my chldren had severe reaction to MMR the year it came out.

 

Thanks Stella, I think you did the right thing

Edited July 18, 2007 by florrie

[di30]

Hi

 

Well really I find it all confusing and have mixed feelings.

 

My son was diagnosed with ASD -AS, high anxiety levels and some learning difficulties.

 

My brother now 41 is severely autistic, due to lack of oxygen at birth (this is what the verdict came out as), same as my hubby's cousin who is also severely autistic both with no speech whatsoever.

 

Yet I had a difficult pregnancy and birth, Dan was lacking oxygen too, so going by the reasons of my brother and my hubbys cousin I would say it was down to the births - that is my personal opinion on Dan, I may be wrong, but I do think this is the reason.

 

My first son 18 now, the pregnancy and birth was all straight forward with him and yet no births are the same to my knowledge, he was born at just over 7 Ib's and Dan was born just over 8 Ib's. (Both born 2 days after given dates).

 

Both of mine were constant grizzlers, but Dan a whole lot worse than Jamie, we were lucky if Dan slept in the day never mind the night.

 

Cheers Di xx

[pearl]

Think its been pure genetics with us. I've found AS, or aspie traits, in the maternal and paternal lines in both mr pearls and my families.

[Stella63]

Hi

 

I agree with Pearl. We have realised that ASD is in my husbands family and in mine. Having learned so much in the last couple of years I can now see why my father is so strange. He is seriously aspergers and tourettes as well. I used to be so embarrased by him when I was younger and my mum had told me years ago that when she got engaged to him, his mum told her that 'B has some very strange habits but I think you will be able to manage him'.!!!!

 

he can't see any of this although is interested in a very impartial way to what has been happening with his grandchildren.

 

My DH is definitely aspergers and believes this himself. He did try and get a diagnosis but somehow got referred to the wrong department and was not able to explain why he was there!!! Love him!!!

 

I can certainly see traits in myself, but have not had the time to explore it properly. It makes me wonder why I chose my DH, was it recognising something I was already familiar with, like in my dad, or in my family.

 

Anyone else got thoughts about that?

 

Stella

[Clare63]

I used to blame vaccination as my lad had very bad reaction and ended up having all his jabs done individually at hopsital where they could monitor him. However I realsie now it is genetic my DH and FIL are undx'd but have simular traits, my husband also believe he too has AS but says he manages in his own way, don't think my FIL would entertain the thought of anything being different about him, he just says he' s ###### minded !

We did the online tests for adults I could not be further away from AS where as my DH scored very highly and my son high.

Its all very interesting and at the end end of the day it does not really matter where it comes from I love both my boys just the way they are

 

Clare x x

[jo4themo]

Hi

Niamh was born on time after a perfect pregancy. She went into distress whilst still in me and they took me down for an emergancy C, but by the time they got me down there she was on her way. They used Ventouse to get her out but she scored well on her Agpar and was fine. She was slightly late getting mobile - bottom shuffling at 11 months. She didn't stand unaided until 2 and walked unaided at 3. She smiled, laughed and talked at the "right" ages though.

Her social and emotional probs didnt become obvious till she was 4, but looking back she showed signs of aspergers as a baby - certain facial expression, sounds etc and she has been obsessed with books since she was 6 months old. I have her on video after she had pulled a magazine off the table - most babies aged 6 months would either chew it or rip it but not Niamh - she was sat in her bouncy chair looking at the pages! LOL

I think in Niamhs case it was probably just one of those things - or possibly during birth - but I think there are several causes of ASD and autism. I know one family where both sons are affected - one with severe austism , the other with Aspergers, and another family where there are 4 boys but only 1 has ASD.

Emma

[Pets74]

i haven't ticked a choice in the poll cos i don't know what to tick.

 

my son was born nearly 2 weeks late (even though i insisted i knew when he had been conceived) andthe placenta had fallen apart so who knows if he got enough oxygen for the last few days. he was huge 9 pound 4. and ok up to 17 months old.

i thought it may have had something to do with my kids being born so close together (pregnant 4 weeks after i had my daughter).

then i think his immune system is ###### so maybe an innoculation (mmr) triggered something. he had multiple ear infections after and we were told he was probably deaf (which he isn't)

he has allergies and it takes him ages to get over even a little cold, so his immune system is still ######.

i have arthritis too which we have been told could be a factor. also i am not a people person and don't like crowds, my brother is aspergers, so who knows what that means.

i don't blame the mmr btw think it would have happened anyway. at the end of it all though i am just a mum not a professional so what do i know really.

bit rambly again, i tend to get this way after 36 hours on no sleep. just tell me to shut up!

[Juney]

In my family's case I am sure it is genetics. My husband is definately an undiagnosed aspie. Talking to my Mum in Law it sounds like her father had a lot of aspie traits. My NT(?) son has some aspie traits as well although not to a degree that they cause problems. My sister in law is just in the process of having her son diagnosed with aspergers.

 

My pregnancy was normal, birth normal, was 2 weeks late. Development seemed normal until about 4/5 years old.

[A and A]

I would say genetics play a part in autism, but only as far as it's something that appears more in male genes rather than female. As there is no one from either side of our family's that have anything that could be related to ASD.

 

I firmly believe it is triggered by something, our son was developing fine until sometime between a year and a 18 months, when he went silent and only ever made verbal sounds when he was in distress. I'm not sure what that thing could be, most likely there are multiple causes and thats why i think it's so difficult for anyone to come up with real reasons why it happens. Possibly linked to allergies. People having dangerous allergic reactions have dramatically increased in numbers over the last 20 years and so have the number of ASD diagnosis. So for now i will have to vote other.

[sleepflower]

very interesting topic

 

my son was born at 35 weeks (induced) after i had a 8 week hospital stay on bedrest, he had a rapid ventouse delivery and spent time in special care as he was early and had had poor apgars (2 and 5). he had laryngomalacia diagnosed after failing his 6 week check which he grew out of at 18 months, though he had stridor breathing and sounded like he was having a permanent asthma attack. he failed his checks as the additional efforts to breath meant he couldnt lie on his front and lift his head, he went to physio for two years and attended the child development centre, initially they said he was hypotonic then they just discharged him. he then failed his hearing check and went to the ear nose and throat hospital about a million times, he had flutuating glue ear. a lot of his problems were put down to this and i think they didnt investigate much as they just thought it was due to this. he didnt have the MMR, he had both the measles and rubella jabs and caught mumps when he was 2. he did have all other vaccinations including his tb jab at three weeks.

 

i did not do anything out of the ordinary in my pregnancy, which was the result of ovulation induction therapy. my 8 weeks bed rest was due to early onset pre eclampsia. also he had a two vessel cord when he was born, as opposed to three.

 

milestones, crawling was around 9 months, walking at 13 months, speaking was delayed cause of his breathing issues, and for a long time he missed off the beginning or end letter of words. he was potty trained a little late at 3 and a half.

 

i dont think any relatives have AS/ASD, his paternal grandfather is a little unusual but he had a car accident and has a metal plate in his head. as a person i am a more then averagely anxious and worry type person and had anorexia nervosa for 10 years. (now in remission). we split up when he was 2 and i spoke to a child psych at the time who said this was a good time to do so, and i have to say he only has memories of us being apart. he has a good relationship with his father and his wife, and with me and my partner. he primarily lives with me and my OH, but sees his dad every week.

 

I dont know at all what has caused his AS.

[KezT]

I reckon there are multiple causes. Not that multiple things in one person cause ASDs, but that there are many reasons why people have ASD traits.

 

Probably a bit like diabetes - some are born that way, some develop it after interacting with something in the environment, and some have it as a complication of other conditions.

 

I am positive my DS was born AS - the signs were there from birth, and he has no other health issues at all, there is a strong trend of ASD traits in the male side of my family.

 

There seems little doubt that some people have started showing ASD traits after another medical issue arose, and were to all intents and purposes NT before that moment.

 

It also seems true that ASDs seem to be combined with several "common" other medical issues. Which one causes which one is an interesting question.......

[Jordasmum12]

It was interesting reading this thread as I have come to believe without any doubt at all that my son's AS was triggered by the MMR vaccination. I also believe that there is a genetic element. I think that my son had the 'seed' (for want of a better word) of AS from birth, having concluded that from behaviours and traits I saw in his father (though less evidently in his father) but I think this was triggered by the MMR. Like one of the writers above, my son was doing everything he should have by the time he had his MMR, he was for want of again of a better word, perfectly 'normal'. He had the MMR and had such a violent temperature that he was taken into hospital with it. Following his recovery from that it was obvious to absolutely everyone that he had changed. He was no longer responsive to me, members of the family, favourite tv programmes, songs he used to love to dance to etc. He is 12 now and I have also been told he is dyspraxic. He has real social interaction and social communication difficulties and cannot seem to empathize or understand other peoples feelings. I have no doubt at all that the MMR triggered my sons AS, I will believe that til the day I die as I actually witnessed it for myself. The government can tell me til the cows come home that its not the case that MMR causes AS but I can only go by what I see with my own eyes. As parents we should have the right to chose what we feel is best for our children, the MMR should be offered singly. If that had been an option at the time I would have taken it. My grandmother expressed her concern when I told her he was having the MMR, Im only sorry I didnt listen to her concerns.

[coolblue]

This where KezT's point "I reckon there are multiple causes. Not that multiple things in one person cause ASDs, but that there are many reasons why people have ASD traits" is so important. IMO the big obstacle to autism research has been that autistic traits in different people are still widely treated as being indicative of them having the same condition. The possibility that they might have different conditions with similar symptoms doesn't seem to get a look in, but is the most likely explanation, given the vagueness of definitions of autism and the huge variation in symptoms between individuals.

 

To me, the problem with the MMR research is that the researchers who think it does cause autism appear to assume that all children with autism have the same cause for their symptoms (MMR) and the researchers who think it doesn't cause autism also assume that all children with autism have the same cause for their symptoms - but whatever it is it can't be MMR because there are autistic children who didn't have MMR.

 

Surely it can't be that difficult to look at the children whose parents think they did become autistic after MMR to identify any common factors, or to look at children with specific sensory problems to identify common factors, or those with specific speech problems etc. But researchers don't seem to be able to get their heads round the idea that autism might not be just one disorder.

Edited March 5, 2010 by coolblue

[jb1964]

IMO the big obstacle to autism research has been that autistic traits in different people are still widely treated as being indicative of them having the same condition. The possibility that they might have different conditions with similar symptoms doesn't seem to get a look in, but is the most likely explanation, given the vagueness of definitions of autism and the huge variation in symptoms between individuals.

 

But researchers don't seem to be able to get their heads round the idea that autism might not be just one disorder.

 

I think what you've said hits the nail on the head. My daughter was diagnosed ASD at 12yrs - we've recently found out she has a genetic alteration which they believe is the reason behind her ASD and other problems. If she had been diagnosed with the gene mutation earlier I think all her symptoms would have been just put under the gene umbrella - but because there are so many gene alterations that they're only really just learning about the ASD symptoms are noted first before looking into any other possible reason.

 

Take care,

Jb x

[Lifevoyager]

I have just read that half of people diagnosed with Aspergers were starved of oxygen at birth, not sure how true that is- but my mum has told me that when I was born I wasn't breathing and was blue!

[KezT]

I have just read that half of people diagnosed with Aspergers were starved of oxygen at birth, not sure how true that is- but my mum has told me that when I was born I wasn't breathing and was blue!

 

My DS must be the other half then......

[baddad]

I have just read that half of people diagnosed with Aspergers were starved of oxygen at birth, not sure how true that is- but my mum has told me that when I was born I wasn't breathing and was blue!

 

I don't know if there are any official statistics, but it is certainly something that's been highlighted in studies... we've had a few threads on the forum before, and I, among others, have commented that it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation: did the birth difficulties 'trigger' autism or did problems in utero complicate the birth (i.e. there was some difference in the way the baby responded to the contractions/birth process or laying un-naturally/corded affected development).

My son was a corded/blue birth, there were also problems with low-level pre-eclampsia (meaning he had to be induced a bit early), he was aneamic and had (or picked up immediately) a blood infection demanding antibiotic treatment. Having said all of that, while he was a slightly 'difficult' baby the real indicators of autism came after a viral infection my GP thought was measles (which he burnt off in one hellish night of ice-packs/cold baths) and were relayively 'instant'. That's so much like the reports of what happens to some kids after MMR it's always going to effect my thinking about virus (and by implication vaccine) damage as a trigger for genetic predisposition.

 

L&P

 

BD

[chris54]

I don't know if there are any official statistics, but it is certainly something that's been highlighted in studies... we've had a few threads on the forum before, and I, among others, have commented that it's a bit of a chicken and egg situation: did the birth difficulties 'trigger' autism or did problems in utero complicate the birth (i.e. there was some difference in the way the baby responded to the contractions/birth process or laying un-naturally/corded affected development).

My son was a corded/blue birth, there were also problems with low-level pre-eclampsia (meaning he had to be induced a bit early), he was aneamic and had (or picked up immediately) a blood infection demanding antibiotic treatment. Having said all of that, while he was a slightly 'difficult' baby the real indicators of autism came after a viral infection my GP thought was measles (which he burnt off in one hellish night of ice-packs/cold baths) and were relayively 'instant'. That's so much like the reports of what happens to some kids after MMR it's always going to effect my thinking about virus (and by implication vaccine) damage as a trigger for genetic predisposition.

 

L&P

 

BD

Not sure if I have posted this befor, but our son was born by emergency cesarean. According to my wife, and I would back her up on this, he (our son) was fighting against being born.

During the pregnancy he never stopped moving, wriggling day and night, cared on after he was born, if he was awake he would be on the move. From the first few days he would travel around his cot.You would put him at one end of his cot, a few minuets later he would be at the other end.

You never wanted him in bed with you, just wriggle, wriggle. Just the same now, never stops still unless he is asleep.

He has never really had any serious illness.

[zenemu]

I would say there is almost certainly a genetic predisposition to autism, which is activated by the environmental factors these children are exposed to, whether that is diet or disease is hard to say.

 

Zen

[A and A]

Hello everyone,

My son was born perfectly normal(40 weeks term no, painrelief during labour,striaghtforward delivery)weighing a healthy 9lbs 7oz.

He also scored 9 and a 9 on apgar scores.

He was a text book baby, unlike his elder sister(first born nervous parents, made rods for backs e.t.c) .

My son developed normally reaching his milestones either before or at the same time as his peers.

He crawled at 7 months.walked at 11 months and also began to speak single words at this age so by 13 months he had at least 10 clear words.

My son slept well ,played well and ate like a horse.

Then he had his MMR vaccine at 13 months and 7 days, within 24 hours he had a raging temperature which lasted for 4 days (not too unusual).

My son never ever spoke again he still doesnt he is now 3 and a half he uses pecs and makaton to communicate.

He is obsessive,compulsive,irratic, violent, non-verbal has insomnia food intolerances and has no social skills.

All this aside my son is my world, areal handsome little boy(ok im bias) and most definatley vaccine damaged !!!!!.

Thankyou for reading,

Lisa .

Hi there Lisa, how are you what you say sounds so like what we went through with our son Liam he was a healthy happy baby when born by elective c section and continued to follow all the milestones and was well on the way to speaking and then I took Liam to the doctors for his MMR and thats when we lost the Liam that we knew and loved he went totally silent not even making any laughing sounds and all eye contact went as did being cuddled and comforted and showed no interest in toys and other people including family members and his 5 year old brother who desperately wants to play and talk with Liam so we as Liam's mum and dad feel that the MMR was to blame so have refused for Liam to have the second one as we are scared that he will regress even more. Would love to hear form you Take Care Anna from A AND A