For as long as I can remember, each breath felt like preparing for a swim underwater, a hard suck of air that never quite filled my lungs. Often I’d walk around with a faint whistle in my nose, praying that no one could hear it. The worst problem was a minor disability that most people … Read more
It is possible that at least some of these risk factors, while probably minor players individually, could be more substantial when added together. But overall, experts agree that most environmental factors need to be researched further before reaching conclusions. What has been conclusively ruled out is any link between vaccines – including certain ingredients some contain – and ASD. This is … Read more
But genetics aren’t the whole story. “The general belief is… that there is a huge variety of different genes and very complex genetic architecture, and probably with the environmental influences as well, to trigger [autism]”, Sandin says. To try to pinpoint the missing pieces, researchers have explored an array of behavioural and environmental risk factors. … Read more
As a recognised separate condition, autism is relatively new. It wasn’t included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) – a book with details on the symptoms and recommended treatment of hundreds of mental conditions – until 1980. This means that before then, children with ASD often got misdiagnosed with a condition like schizophrenia, … Read more
When it came to her son’s autism diagnosis, in some ways Shannon Des Roches Rosa feels she was lucky. What autism spectrum disorder (ASD) looks like can vary greatly between individuals, as well as between groups of people – girls’ symptoms often differ from boys’, for example. But as a young, white boy, her son, Leo, … Read more
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