Sorry I have taken so long to respond—-briefly (and many will disagree with this), I think that better diagnosis and understanding have a lot to do with rising rates, along with changes in how autism is defined and diagnosed.

This is not the view, as you know, of many on the internet!

What is causing the sudden increase in autism rates?
Sudden changes in environment or sudden changes in genes or both?

“I realized that what has helped me understand autism the greatest are the stories of other people.”

Yes—-this is exactly what has helped me the most, the stories.

I used to write daily about my son on a weblog called Autismland. For almost 2 years, starting in June 2005, I just tried to write a simple account of what Charlie did (and with a photo). Gradually I moved into writing more about “issues” and started to interweave writing about Charlie. I had started to feel that it was time that I stepped aside from telling so much of his story.

I’ve been in touch with some other parents (mostly mothers, some autistic themselves) for almost three years and it’s the stories that sustain. I have my quibbles with the likes of David Kirby because the story that he is telling doesn’t seem to touch that concrete dailiness, the shiny stickiness on the floor across from me from something Charlie ate. I’m fascinated by the discussions and research and science about autism but they lack the technicolor 3-d ness of a good story; a real story.

btw, Laura: my family have been regular readers of my blogs from the beginning. They all live in California and one aunt noted to me that it really helped her to, finally, understand what our daily lives are like. It means a great deal to me to know they (and you) are reading.

No genes that cause autism have ever been identified, none.

In a gene – environment model there is a genetic component and and an environmental component.

This has been clearly demonstrated in genetic variants found in individuals who are susceptabile to infection after exposure to an environmental pathogen. Leprosy and HIV are the most proven:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1101160v1

There are many genetic variants found to occur in higher rates in autistic people than the general population.

There are many pre peri and neonatal insults that have been found to occur in the medical history of autistic people at higher rates than has been reported in the general population.

The challenge is to match specific genes to specific insults, which will take decades to begin to unravel since there is a lack of specificity found in both the genetic and environmental components in autism.

Leprosy and HIV are relatively simple to unravel because, unlike autism, there is a single environmental insult.

Have these genes always been around and the environment has changed?

Or Are the genes suddenly showing up?

Or both?

Schizotypal personality disorder:

http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-pe02.html

There is not much if any difference between the diagnostic criteria for SPD than there is for Asperger Disorder. In fact, the prevelance of SPD in the UK has dramatically declined with the publication of DSM-IV and the introduction of Asperger Syndrome to the DSM vernacular.

There is nothing inherently wrong with overdiagnosing or actually misdiagnosing ‘autism’ in terms increased passkeys to access to special services which is exactly how Eric Schopler described it.

The problem is that scientific research into prevention and treatment becomes unmeasurable when a host of unrelated neuropychiatric conditions are all lumped under one tenuous umbrella.

One of the more headscratchimg diagnostic schemes (DSM-IV 1994) that differentiates PDD/NOS from autistic disorder is that under PDD-NOS the child is not ‘autistic’ although they may have enough isolated nonspecific symptoms shared by many developmental disorders to qualify for an ASD diagnosis.

The entire autism epidemic can be explained in the startling jump in prevelance rates for PDD/NOS and Asperger Syndrome while the prevelance of Autisitc Disorder has remained relativel steady.