The Autistic Me

On one of the many popular autism blogs, the old myth of "no autistic adults" once again made its appearance. The argument is autism is "new" and an "epidemic" — the proof is that there are so few adults with autism receiving services. Adults don't receive many services. The laws and supports are changing, though. For now, the best census of adults with ASDs was done in the U.K. by the National Health Service. The autistic adults do exist, they just were not counted in the past. Again, from 2009: On Sept. 22, England’s National Health Service (NHS) released the first study of autism in the general adult population. The findings confirm the intuitive assumption: that ASD is just as common in adults as it is in children. Researchers at the University of Leicester, working with the NHS Information Center found that roughly 1 in 100 adults are on the spectrum — the same rate found for children in England, Japan, Canada and, for that matter, New Jerse...

I thought this new study was interesting because it reveals that the instruments ("tests") used to evaluate individuals for autism differ in quality. Some work reasonable well, while others should either be revised or abandoned. The instruments tested were those administered by caregivers, not researchers or clinicians. That means these are not the battery of instruments used during a neuro-psychological screening. A "level 2" screening is one that parents, educators, or trained caregivers give to determine if more screening is necessary. A level 2 instrument is not definitive and can only, at best, identify individuals who should undergo further evaluation. Screening Accuracy of Level 2 Autism Spectrum Disorder Rating Scales: A Review of Selected Instruments Autism, Vol. 14, No. 4, 263-284 (2010) Megan Norris and Luc Lecavalier Nisonger Center and Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University The goal of this review was to examine the state of Level 2, caregi...

I am quite open that I support genetic-based theories of autism etiology, while also open to the notion of triggers. Genetic predisposition is only that: predisposition. Many genetic conditions respond to triggers, so the two are not exclusionary. Today, there is a bit more on the genetics of autism. But even the most common genetic changes in his study were found in only 1% or less of patients, Scherer says. That suggests that "most individuals with autism are probably genetically quite unique, each having their own genetic form of autism," says Scherer, of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, one of 120 scientists from 11 countries working on the study, called the Autism Genome Project. As co-author Stanley Nelson of the University of California-Los Angeles describes it, "If you had 100 kids with autism, you could have 100 different genetic causes." I have written before about the likelihood of the following: [D]octors may be able to use these findings to of...

Colorado mental-health counselor charged with murdering infant son - The Denver Post Police: Autism was motive in Colo. child's killing BOULDER, Colo. — Police say a woman accused of killing her infant son did it because she believed the boy was autistic and thought his condition would "ruin" her life. Stephanie Rochester, 34, was charged Monday with murder in the June 1 suffocation death of her 6-month-old son, Rylan. According to an affidavit seeking her arrest, Rochester wanted to commit suicide but didn't want to "burden her husband" with the potentially autistic boy. What can be said about this? It is troubling; I can already imagine various responses: Eventually, a genetic screen would help prevent this. (or…) This is why screening would be dangerous. Some people think autism is worse than death. This woman must be mentally ill. And so on, and so on… I think this woman was simply a self-absorbed, immature, malignant narcissist. If she had commi...

This is from an interview About.com conducted May 1 with researcher Hakon Hakonarson, the lead researcher on an autism genetic database analysis conducted by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Question: Could any of these genetic differences be identified in utero? Response: Yes, all of them could be tested in utero; we have identified 10 new variations (9 rare and 1 common) and we have replicated (and confired) four other once that were previously published (neurexin 1, contactin 4, 15q11 and 22q11). However, we do not have a yes or no answer as to whether the fetus will be autistic -- but if we are testing a fetus in an autistic family the value of the test is much higher. I know something more should be said, but I'm not sure what. We know that autism is a set of symptoms, without a clear etiology. But, this genetic finding certainly brings us closer to understanding some of the symptoms consistent with the DSM-IV criteria for autism disorders. Experiments on mice reveal...