thoughts on latest ' cause of autism'

[borderslass]

here
Some 'interesting comments'

Star I agree with the oxytocin thing.

I have three dc's.. Ds1 and 2 are from my first marriage .. Dd from my second..( I'll discount dd for this as she is very ( nt) and dh was a bit fabby at looking after me when I was pregnant, through the birth and beyond!.. And dh has no ASD family history)

take both my boys.. One NT one ASD .. 4 years apart in age... Same dad ... I am certain there is undx ASD,( ex and 2 close relatives)..my side.. Undx ASD ( my dad.. Also pretty sure)
Now I know that one dc may have asd and the other not.. But here's my thinking lol

ds1 I didn't live with ex when I was pregnant, he did have a traumatic birth but we avoided cs.. Also I didn't live with ex for the first month or so after he was born and hardly had contact with his family... Things were very relaxed for me..and for him.

Ds2... Natrual birth, no medical issues at all.. However..
Ex was awful through out my pregnancy, birth and after..( I mean awful!) .. His folks came to help out straight after the birth... Days ds2 was taken off me by expils so they could 'hold the baby'.. It interrupted me feeding him .. He was stressed out I was stressed out..
The months until ex left were as stressful as you could get.
I lived on perminant alert as to what exs mood might be, worked right up until thebirth and also had ds1 who had speech problems ( which disappeared as soon as ex left the home).

You know.. I honestly believe that it contributed to ds having asd.. I think he had a predispostition to it anyway ( genetically)... But stress was the clincher!

Ds2 ( asd) btw

(thinks back)

I wasn't particularly stressed, well he wasn't planned, but after that, lol - and I'm not really a stressy person

he was born on his due date, 7lb 10, so not massive, but not underweight either, I didn't have a section

I can't actually remember if I fed him or not, he was very awake and I had skin to skin (he had DP's expression on, it was most disconcerting, lol) I had to have a couple of stitches, so I can't have held him for longer than about 20 minutes or so, but then my DP was holding him, because he was sat next to me pointing out that his toes curled when you touched them and stuff like that, rofl

shit shit shit! have managed really well up till now not to feel like it was down to me, but had rotten end to pregnancy, ill with high BP. had elective CS, due to breech, had PND, took tabs so couldnt breastfeed.

Well, if it's your fault, what happened to me?
4 years between mine, quick easy labour with DS who was my second, BF for a year...
If I wonder where he gets his Asperger's from, I look at his dad. And many of our other male relatives.
Rubarb.

I have four kids - first was induced and then I had an epidural - she doesn't have ASD. Second child was born in hospital but 100% free of interventions/drugs - he doesn't have ASD. Third child (different partner) was born in hospital with induction and an antibiotic drip = he's a weird little bundle of joy but he doesn't have ASD. Fourth child born at home, everything going in his favour (including an almost three year gap between him and DS3), he has ASD. They were all breastfed (DS4 for the longest at 18 months) they all had vaccinations etc etc. I say it's largely genetic.

signandsmile - look at how many people are saying the exact opposite though and they still have children with an ASD

besides even if in your case if it was brought on by a dad end to pregnancy, that still wouldn't make it down to you - if you'd had the choice you'd not have had high BP etc., lol

All mine were sections - not small or under nourished though. ds had by for the happiest & least stressful pregnancy, birth & babyhood ... breastfed from about 3 mins after birth until he was four etc, he was a completely contented baby & toddler & I was a totally overjoyed mum (oh & there's nearly 6 years between him & dd1!)

dd2 was the worst - awful pregnancy, difficult delivery, she lost masses of weight because she just screamed all the time, prolonged jaundice, reflux, I had horrendous PND & didn't bond at all for the first 6 months - I'd say she's the first truly NT child I've had (dd1 has masses of sensory issues).

Hmm.. do we really care?
For those of us with autism in the family -that's just the way it is!
Many world changing people are ASD.
For the record DD is,and always was I believe. She brings joy and humanity and understanding and love into so many peoples lives. Lets celebrate who we are.

Scientific research is not always helpful, particularly not when reported in the Daily Mail.

Although, of course, you could take things to extremes and avoid having children at all if you are prone to anxiety, if your life is very stressful, if you are under 21 or over 35, if you are unfit, if you have a chronic condition of any sort, if you do not have a totally healthy diet (albeit that during pregnancy, of course, you will have to avoid lots of healthy foods in case they give you toxoplasmosis, mercury poisoning, listeriosis or salmonella), if any genetic abnormalities, learning disabilities or developmental disorders run in your family (even the outer reaches of said family - eg third cousins six times removed), if any of the above apply to your partner, if complicated births seem to be a theme in your family, if you have a tendency to enjoy over-hot baths, or if you think you might get a bacterial infection or virus, or need an x-ray over the next nine months. When I come to think about it, it is amazing the human race still exists - we are clearly far too fragile to be going about reproducing ourselves safely. Sneeze at the wrong time and the whole course of your pregnancy will be changed for the worse - or maybe the better, as holding it in can't be good for you, even if it is possible...

With Ds1 had lovely pregnancy, no sickness as if on happy pills throughout, ended up with c-setion as would not engage 8Ib7, oh and ate carefully, no drink etc. His asc.
Ds2, 2y9m later ok pregnancy, generally alot more stressed, did not look after myself so well and c-section, 6Ib9 and his NT (pretty certain, still young though).

Ds1 failed to thrive and could not breastfeed well, reflux and eczema and ds2 no problem, then found out I could not produced enough milk!

In our family I think it's pot luck. My brother had 4 children in under 6 years and they are all fine. My sis one ds asc.

I care.

I find it interesting to read these kinds of studies. sometimes what they throw up fits (ish), sometimes it doesn't.

but I think it helps highlight there is more than one route to autism, and in turn, more than one autism.

I had horrible pregnancies. really truly awful.

hyperemesis with both. I was hospitalised twice with dd1 due to dehydration. I was abroad, with no faith in the healthcare, and away form everyone and evetything I knew. internet connection was crap, so couldn't even keep in contact easily.

form the earliest days of the pregnancy i was stressed, as my grandfather died - had ot flly back for th eufneral. I was working out there, in a reaosnably stressful environment (at the High Commission. I would regularly answer the ohone to people who had been carjacked, and wer ein the process of being driven to god knows where. I answered these calls because no-one else bothered to, it appeared (it was nothing to do with my job, which was within the Defense section), and then had to run around the buliding like a headless chicken trying to get osmeone else ot deal with it (I had no authority to do so). the usual answer I got was to say "but how do you know it's genuine?" well, er, I don't but its not my job to ascertain that (or indeed answer the calls in the first place!)

I had a long labour (38 hours) ending up with a CS. dd1 was apparently not distressed at any point (but then I had no faith in the healthcare...). I had ARM, without consent. no info on what was going on, after having had no ante natal care.

whe dd1 was 4 months old we moved back to the Uk. that too was stressful, and there was a study that showed neo-natal stress facotrs could play a part in ASD.

I would say they did for dd1. she found that couple of months very stressful. you can see the progression in pictures form the time. the first week we were here (we had nowhere to live, so were going around friends and family for a few weeks) she is a chuckling smiley baby. by the third week, she is asleep permanently and suspicious of a lot of stuff. she had gone form being alone with me & dh, with the occasional visitor, to being handled by a lot of people she had never seen before, in a lot of places she had never seen before.

again, I don't htink this cause her ASD, but it certainly didn't help.

dd1 is my pfb, but she is my second pregnancy - first was ectopic, so again, formt he first moments of pregnancy there was a high stress level while we tried to determine she was in the right place.

we were told at 5 weeks that she was a non-viable pregnancy, as there was no heartbeat (hospital wouldn't take my dates into account, and had me down as 6 weeks pregnant. I knew I was no more than 5 at the most), and so had to contend with docs saying best ot "get it all over with now" rather than continue on hoping. thank god we didn't listen, but it was still a sad and stressful time.

Questioning the causes of autism, doesn't mean not celebrating who we are.

Autism has touched many of lives in a negative and stressful way. Many of those stresses are not caused by Autism itself but by the culture that we live in it is true, but however much we might love our children, autism is not something most of us have a preference for, and it is natural to become interested in how it happened and how it might be treated/prevented/adapted etc.

dd is not autistic, but does have problems with working memory (immediate recall). She can read instructions and by the time she has finished, has forgotten them. If something is already in her working memory, there's no room for anything else.

There are 15 months between ds (who has an IQ of 157 and some ASD traits) and dd who can struggle to recall what was said to her 10 seconds ago.

I have wondered if it is down to something that happened in pregnancy.

Interesting article - i come from a large family - 8 siblings - each only about 14 months apart. No medical related problems whatsoever. All natural birth.

Blimey, I care!

If we could identify something environmental that affected genetically susceptible fetuses/babies/children to produce autism then there would be some way of protecting those at greatest risk. I adore my son, I'm incredibly proud of him, but his life would undoubtedly be easier without autism. It is disingenuous to suggest otherwise. There are ASDs all over my family - I would love my grandchildren & great-grandchildren not to face the challenges that my son, uncle, brother, niece & nephew* do. I suspect though that if there were a straight forward single factor correlation we'd have figured out what it is by now.

(* three years younger than me, un-medicated home birth, breastfed for ages - delightful happy baby, completely out of control at 3)

(** straight forward un-medicated hospital births - language delay, social issues, anxiety, stims, sensory issues, food phobias, both gifted)

Am i right in thinking that California, where this study took place, has a high incidence of ASD in its population due to a high proportion of Asperger adults living there, drawn by the employment opportunities in the IT industry?? Silicon valley and all that. I read an article about computer obsessed asperger types working in California in the IT, marrying (often an ASD partner)and having ASD children.

I'm quite happy to be corrected on this, but I wouldn't think this is a geographical location that is well suited to studies for ASD that can be applied to the general population?

For the record DD has AS. I had a very stressful pregnancy and she was born at 36 weeks by ELCS as the consultant felt she was too big and the birth would be too difficult. She then spent time in special care.

In my family I believe ASD is genetic as other family members seem to have it but are undiagnosed.

www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html

That's the article if anyone is interested.

Thanks guys, sorry about earlier post, think it just caught me at a vunerable 5 mins...
I can see real spectrum traits in dh, (and there may be more in family, as dh is adopted and has no family info), also my sister has OCD and anxiety,so I am leaning towards to a genetic basis... but can see other issues could impact/exacerbate.

My suspicion is that the government of the day will never really allow any report to be published that suggests that the manner of the birth has contributed in any way to ASD. Can you imagine the claims that it would lead to for compensation?
Must say - i think i beat hands down anyone who has put an age gap so far - 16 years between 1 and 2!
My DS with dyspraxia and ?Aspergers has established labour as 71 hours and 57 minutes. Even when 'they' decided that he was stuck - it took another 7/8 hours to decide on an emergency C. His NT brothers were both ECS.
Leonie you struck a chord - i remember feeling bullied into being treated 'as if' i had GD just so as i wouldn't have another big baby. If i didn't, they couldn't guarantee that a paediatrician would be available if they were any problems. My last DS they thought would end up at over 13lb - was only 8.13.

the whole guess the weight of the baby is so unreliable, though.

dd1 was supposed to be on the large side. not huge, but on th ebig side, and a bit of a worry as I'm not exactly huge myself... she was 6lb 6oz

dd2, on the other hand, was small for dates - they re-dated me twice, couldn't feasibly re-date me again (kept moving my DD, and I owuld have ended up with a 10 month pregnancy ), and were very worried, as I was measuring very small for dates, etc. slow growth when I had a scan (only had minimal scans, as don't like too much intervention!), and kept on nagging me to eat well, etc (as it happens, I do tend to, and was eating far better than when pregnant with dd1, whe I could only eat plain pasta and cheese. with dd2 at least I could keep fresh fruit/veg down as well, and was managing a reasonable diet despite the hyperemesis..)

dd2 was 7lb 14oz

so, should I ever have another, I htink I'll cheerfully ignore whatever they tell me re: weight of baby

Rabbitstew that made me laugh! thanks for that..
For the record I was a complete hippy when pregnant with DD, had no scans, no intervention and went for natural labour. She was completely breastfed until 18 mo, fed on organic vegetables and had no immunisations. I didnt work drink smoke and lived in beautiful countryside. And shes ASD, LD and epilepsy.
Had a very stressful 2nd pregnancy with my DS partly due to DD behaviour, morning sickness, depression the lot, couldn't breastfeed him and he's acomplete glutton for junk food and always was. He cried non stop for 1st year, BUT has been an absolute dream ever since and is NT.
I can see it was a bit flippant to imply I dont care, I just get very defensive when tacky articles imply fault at the feet of parents (like we haven't got enough guilt to deal with anyway), surely we've evolved since the 'refridgerator mom' days? Also that people with disabilities should NOT be wished away. Its absolutely clear to me that they have as much of a place as everyone else in the fabric of society.