What Cause Autism?

Autism, formally known as Autism Spectrum Disorder, has become more prevalent in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in sixty-eight children have autism as of 2014—this is a thirty percent increase since 2012, where one in eighty-eight children had autism ("Vaccine Safety"). Autism is a developmental disability that typically develops within the early years after birth; it is essentially an aftereffect of a neurological disorder (Nordqvist). Autism affects the ability to manage things such as physical contact, loud noises, and bright lights in an appropriate manner. That being said, there are many misconceptions that fuel stigma surrounding autistic individuals, one in particular being the idea that
There are two logical sources that professionals have determined are potential factors causing autism, and one controversial hypothesis that is ill-supported. Potential sources that induce autism are environmental factors and genetic mutations or genetic risks. Environmental factors are incidents that occur before and during birth, not concerning genetics, but rather the parental influences or actions prior to giving birth. Environmental factors include, but are not limited to, the age of parents when the offspring is conceived, maternal illnesses present during pregnancy, and brief instances in which the baby’s brain is deprived of oxygen during the birthing process (“Diagnosis, Causes & Symptoms”). Genetic factors affecting autism is yet another supported hypothesis. There are over one-hundred genes that are associated with a higher risk of developing autism. According to Autism Speaks, an autism advocacy organization, in approximately fifteen percent of cases, a genetic cause was assessed, but it has been concluded that many autism cases include combinations of genetic risk factors and environmental factors, making it hard to determine a single gene or source of autism. According to an article published on the Autism Speaks website, titled “Study: Half of all autism cases trace to rare gene-disabling mutations,” there are
In "The Legitimacy of Vaccine Critics: What Is Left After the Autism Hypothesis?," Kirkland discusses the lack of scientific evidence in support of the vaccine-autism hypothesis. She touches on the primary argument on behalf of vaccine-autism advocates being that of mercury in thimerosal being discredited in the late 1990’s early 2000’s. Due to the controversy concerning thimerosal, it was eliminated as a substance that could be used as an ingredient in vaccines. According to Kirkland, the scientific papers published after thimerosal being ejected “concluded that evidence did not support a connection between thimerosal-containing vaccines and autism”