Not enough nurturing does not cause autism

It seems that some young mothers are getting the message that they need to stay at home with their babies to best foster their learning and, indeed, their brain development. Notes an article in the November 30th Wall Street Journal:

The first national demographic analysis of the trend toward new mothers dropping out of the work force sheds new light on women’s motives for staying at home. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the seven-year trend has been broader than previously believed, with women at all income levels taking job breaks, not just the highly educated, prosperous moms examined in many recent studies. And they are staying out of the work force for shorter periods than in the past. This suggests parents are particularly intent on shepherding babies’ crucial first year of growth — a trend no doubt accelerated by research on infant development. [my emphasis]

Rachel Gunderson, mother of 2 1/2 year old twins and a 15 month old, cites “knowledge about how babies’ brains grow” as a major factor in her decision to stay home. The Wall Street Journal article does not specify what research is being referred to, but the concerns cited about infants’ developing brains calls to mind an October 24th article about infant mental health therapy that appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

As for what a young mother might be seeking to avoid developing more specifically by staying at home, whatever the cost to her family’s finances and her own career, one answer seems to be autism.

An article in the November 30th Independent (UK) notes the October 2006 Lancet study about how environmental toxins are causing a “silent pandemic” of “developmental disorders such as autism and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), from damage done by untested chemicals to unborn babies.” In the same paragraph, the Independent article then states that “a growing body of research is indicating that busy parents and sub-standard childcare could be changing how children grow up.” More specifically,

Cuddles, singing, eye contact, talking and movement are all known to pattern a pre-schooler’s brain and to help with reading and writing, and social and emotional well-being later on. But today’s children are getting less of them. “As a society, we don’t value nurture,” says [Sue] Palmer, [literacy specialist, and author of Toxic Childhood]. “The main people seeing what this means are the early years people, and they are going barmy with worry!”

Without clearly stating a connection, the Independent article (whose main subject is that computers might be changing children’s brains) all but suggests that a lack of nurture—and especially when children are in childcare—could well have something to do with a child developing a developmental disability—autism, for instance. One wonders if a thought such as this might be in the minds of the stay-at-home moms and their families mentioned in the Wall Street Journal article.

Could we really be thinking that autism or any other developmental disorders is caused by a lack of parental nurture?

(One early childhood expert at least suggests that parents might “contribute” to a child being “at risk for ASD.”)