What are 'environmental factors' in autism

[anon177888]

I am pregnant with my second child and a big concern I have is autism. My 2 year old shows no symptoms at all of autism and I don't think myself and my partner are ND but I could be proved wrong. Autism seems to common at the moment and seeing some of the struggles my family and friends go through with their children I am worried about this happening to us and turning our (mainly DS') life upside down, it was a big reason I hesitated on a second child for so long. I always read it is caused by genetics and environmental factors, but the environmental factors are never explained and I have no idea what the factors actually are, does anyone actually know what they actually are? And generally the main risk for autism? Is there anything that can be done in pregnancy to help avoid this?

Autism is generally thought to be a genetic difference. I believe ‘environmental factors’ - such as outdated ideas about ‘refrigerator mothers’ and the totally overturned vaccine injury claim by Wakefield have been completely abandoned by any reputable thinker.

so either you have some genetic traits predisposing you to a whole range of different neurological ways of being, or you don’t.

The only know environmental factor is sodium valproate which is an epilepsy drug that should not be taken in pregnancy.

Otherwise, the answer is 'no one knows'.

As above, but also there is a slight grey area because there isn't a way to test for autism with a yes/no physical difference (blood test, x-ray etc) and diagnosis is done on symptoms - so you may get individuals who end up with basically the same symptoms (given how variable autism can be!) due to other factors such as trauma, birth injury etc.

My autistic son has FRAA. I too have this but it was explained to that the reason I had two children without asd and one with was that the amount of folate I had during my pregnancies varied. Having said that autism is surely multi factorial and this is not the only reason my child has autism, although folate therapy has improved things (the nhs provide this, it is not a snake oil therapy), especially with his language. There is so much research to be done.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/what-causes-autism#increase-in-diagnoses

There are potentially things that may increase the risk in pregnancy but studies are inconclusive according to the above. The MMR myth has been debunked.

According to the NIEHS risk factors include,

1. A sibling with autism
2. Older parents
3. Certain genetic conditions, such as Down, fragile X, and Rett syndromes
4. Very low birth weight

They say:
Progress has been made toward understanding different environmental risk factors, and the clearest evidence involves events before and during birth, such as:

1. Advanced parental age at time of conception
2. Prenatal exposure to air pollution or certain pesticides
3. Maternal obesity, diabetes, or immune system disorders
4. Extreme prematurity or very low birth weight
5. Any birth difficulty leading to periods of oxygen deprivation to the baby’s brain

But these factors alone are unlikely to cause autism. Rather, they appear to increase a child’s risk for developing autism when combined with genetic factors.

Do you have family members that are ND (ASD.ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia etc?) That is going to be the biggest factor.

I thought I had read before about microplastics being linked (but I cant verify this) as well as paternal age.

What do you mean by environmental factors?

By saying this it sounds like you think
people such as my mum could have done something to avoid me getting it?

environmental factors is the terminology used by the scientists in their research

OP isn’t saying that, @CatMumSlave.

Environmental factors are anything other than your DNA that can affect a living organism. It could be something that affects/influences your genes or something that directly causes an effect.

No one is saying that your mother could or should have done something different that would have avoided you having ASD. Most environmental factors are out of our control anyway. Autism is largely down to genetics. The known environmental factors that seem to increase the risk of autism are things that are not in anyone’s control eg parental age, conditions such as diabetes, prematurity, deprivation of oxygen during birth. As a PP said, the only known environmental factor with a strong link to an increased risk of autism is the drug sodium valproate.

OP, you seem very anxious. Perhaps you could discuss your concerns with your midwife or GP so they can put your mind at rest and support you with your anxiety.

Both mine hadmve adhd and asd. Although the older one isn't too bad. Youngest is quite obvious. The pediatrician who diagnosed said stress during pregnancy is now thought to play one factor. I was super stressed in both ad I moved house on both occasions. Who knows really but genetics plays a large part. My husband had always been quirky which now I know more I suspect he is autistic too

Can you identify why are you so worried about Autism? A really small number of people are Autistic. The WHO say about 1% of the worlds population.

Lots of Autistic people live healthy, happy lives. It seems kind of strange to fixate on it although I fully recognise that pregnancy can be a worrying time.