Interesting reading re ASD

[keepingupwiththejoneses]

I found this via a link given on facebook. This isn't the one give out but found it on the same site. Quite interesting, would like to read the full report though.

alert.psychiatricnews.org/2012/04/six-paths-found-for-autistic-kids.html

Tantalizing. Dolfrog, if you're around please point us to the research....

There were two new developments in the study of autism done in the US.
Firstly that ASD was linked to pregnant women who were either obese and /or had type two diabetes.
Secondly that mutations occur were four times more likely to occur in sperm from fathers over 40. here

I was lovely and slim when I had ds Sally! I've seen the thing about older dads before.

I think the paper keepingup has linked to is about outcomes. Something I'm desperate to know more about.

Oodles I haven't been lovely and slim for years!!!!! Sigh......

Was slim, no type 2 diabetes and DS was 30.

erm DH was 30

Yet more guilt to put onto parents with kids who are on the Autistic Spectrum. It's all a load of old crap! I will stick with being an ostrich and doing the very best I can to make a difference to my lovely kids lives.

Pah! I was a size 10 (still am), no sign of diabetes anywhere in the family tree & Dad was under 40 when both his kids were conceived.

Autism sadly seems to cut across all nationalities cultures/ethnicities with equal cruelty from my own anecdotal observations. Are they trying to say that minority parents find it harder to access the services that influence outcomes?

The diabetic link may tie in with some nutritional theories, but I think that alone it's very oversimplified.

I'm convinced the "autistic spectrum" is actually about 20 different conditions neuro science hasn't fully differentiated yet and the causes are just as vast ranging from environmental damage right through to plain old genetics. The spectrum and individual differences (especially in the sensory arena) just seem too vast for any other explanation.

There seems to be a general swing back to blaming parenting now that budgetry pressures are becoming more pressing on services due to the state of major Western economies.