What Causes Autism?

In spite of research being conducted in different parts of the world, no one specific cause of Autistic Spectrum Disorder is known. Medical researchers are exploring different explanations for the various forms of ASD.

Nevertheless, several factors have been implicated and include:

• Genetics/hereditary
• Link with Vaccines
• Dysfunction of the immune system.
  

Genetics/Hereditary
Some researchers suggest that autism runs in families. They present evidence that siblings of children with autism have a 3-8% chance of being autistic. It is also believed that family members of autistic children do show characteristics of autism though not necessarily the full blown symptoms of the disorder. However, no researcher has been able to locate a single gene associated with autism. If the disorder was completely genetic, then in twin studies, monozygotic twins would both be autistic 100% of the time. In reality however, there is only a 60% concordance rate of the second twin having some feature of the disorder. Genetic predisposition may be a casual factor in autism but there must also be an environmental component leading to the onset of ASD. Research in this area is not conclusive yet. Current evidence seems to indicate there is not a single gene that increases the risk of ASD. It may be that a combination of genes produces a situation which makes the individual susceptible to environmental triggers of autism.