Comments on: A Unified Theory of Autism

By: Tammy Schoenfeldt

Tammy Schoenfeldt — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:38:25 +0000

I am a parent of an autistic girl, her name is Tiffany. I had mumps when I was 12 or 13, her dad had measles as a child. I wonder if this didn’t somehow predispose her to autism. She started showing mental regression right after her MMR shots. Maybe we carried a gene from our previous sicknesses mixed with these shots that lead to the tipping of the scale. Please let me know what you think.

By: Legal Standards, Science, and the Cause of Autism

Legal Standards, Science, and the Cause of Autism — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:41:15 +0000

[...] refuting a link between thimerosal and rising autism rates, and more and more studies pointing to a complex web of genetic factors in autism. And yet, again and again, the public’s attention has been drawn [...]

By: A Question About Theories of What Causes Autism

A Question About Theories of What Causes Autism — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:35:23 +0000

[...] scientist responded with a very clear explanation of the theory of spontaneous vs. heritable autism. He added, “I don’t know what you mean by ‘the [...]

By: Myth, Science, and Autism: A Message from the AAP

Myth, Science, and Autism: A Message from the AAP — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:35:52 +0000

[...] they had no part, in causing a child to become autistic, even as more and more studies explore the genetics of autism. For all that we think our culture and society are based in science and reason, there is still a [...]

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:20:00 +0000

Regan wrote: “(Personally I think that it would extremely helpful to all involved if students with ED were able to get IEPs or some kind of school-based behavior plan to support them and the family while in treatment).”

Yes, especially thinking about how much of middle school and high school life rotates around food, cafeterias, “social eating,” school schedules.

I heard Wigler speak in June of 2007 — I’ve especially been appreciating his explanations about gene/environment interactions.

By: Laura Collins

Laura Collins — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:03:13 +0000

Oh, Regan: YES!! To a unified theory of each!

By: Regan

Regan — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:56:58 +0000

Laura,
My younger child had been diagnosed with ASD for 6 years before my older developed AN, and I also noted how similar some of the manifestations are, and the parallel on treatment that I drew was that eating disorders seemed to be either in, or just at the point of leaving the Bettelheim era. (Personally I think that it would extremely helpful to all involved if students with ED were able to get IEPs or some kind of school-based behavior plan to support them and the family while in treatment).
One point of this segue is that I believe that beyond a grand unified theory of autism a goal of this kind of research is an eventual grand unified theory of DSM-disorders and physical illnesses that are associated vs. those that are not. Off and on I hear about gene mapping or see presentations that seem to indicate so.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:43:13 +0000

If there are parallels between the autism and eating disorders discussions, that wouldn’t surprise me. Perfectionism? Compulsion? Addictive behavior? Control needs? Obsession? I should always include eating disorders in my list of traits that I associate as under the influence of the “symphony” of genes/environment/epigenetic regulation.

By: Laura Collins

Laura Collins — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:06:11 +0000

I continue to marvel at how parallel the autism discussion and the eating disorder discussion are – or should be.

We have much to learn from parents of autistic children — about activism, about scientific inquiry, and about the interplay of nature and nurture.

By: Regan

Regan — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 03:25:31 +0000

I’m not going to comment on the details, because I don’t have the biology chops to critique without further study, and I haven’t finished reading the article, but I might suggest reading the Feb. Sci Am article to get a further handle on where Dr. Wigler is coming from. His explanation on some of those questions about identical twin discrepancies/commonalities, distribution between boys/girls, silent/mild vs. obvious phenotype, etc. seem to be addressed in there.
Kristina–thanks for pointing this out; I’m not sure that I would have sought out the article otherwise.