What the hell causes aspergers??

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Although I have'nt been diagnosed. Everything I've read seems to point to me being an aspie. What I'm crious about is, what are the root causes of Aspergers?? Does it come from an isolated upbringing?? Is there a genetic component?? Was I stepped on my head as a kid?? Was it all the LSD I did in high school?? Should I have smoked crack instead?? Anyone out there have a clue??

Mostly genetic I think. Some people have all the genes for autism/AS but never develope it - which could mean there are some nurture/environmental triggers or just that they missed some of the critical gene sights and haven't discovered them yet.

w00t for diathesis-stress! It's the psychological be-all, end-all, the band-aid that covers everything! :D:D:D:D

Well if you want to be technical, there actually is no gene for AS, as genes can only affect physical traits, not behaviour. Of course, our genes might produce proteins and chemicals that might make us have AS.

Well, at least in my own case I'd have to say that it's probably almost 100% genes by what your saying because it's almost completely disconnected from my personality and very connected with the very physical/neurological (unless I got some bad well-water as a kid in my other house).

:pulls out a dictionary to look up 'diasthesis':

Well, my bad if I was speaking too much for other people. I'd say at least for a good % of us it's virtually all diasthesis and not personal choice or personality. As for speaking for myself, I'm definitely not trying to run from anything or band-aid any of this. I'm an NT at heart with AS difficulties, always have been, always will be.

I know for me it's probably gentic with environmental triggering involved. My life is a crazy one.

We don't know yet. There is some evidence of a genetic component, but there's also evidence that it's not 100% genetic.

All we have so far is speculation, which can be fun but not necessarily productive.

So... What causes AS?

I wish I could give a straight answer. I've researched it pretty extensively and have noticed some patterns suggesting it to be a genetic mutation.

The late Dr. Hans Asperger did notice in many of his young patients that there seemed to be autistic traits in many of their parents, especially their fathers. Mr Asperger believed himself to have "a dash of autism" as well but I don't know if he sired any children of his own. Maybe somebody here can set me straight on this one.

There is also speculation that the mercury-based vaccines used in the mass vaccinations of children during the 1960's may have altered the development of some children's brains and nervous systems, causing some of them to become autistic. I come from that era.

My father has some autistic traits but OTOH he has other traits that would dispell that notion. His father was a loner by nature and a man of few words who never shared much of himself with anybody. His father was also adopted and an only child so I don't know anything about his ancestry. But then too, neither were ever DX'ed so there are no real conclusions there.

I do have a nephew who shows some of the same autistic traits I did when I was his age (his kindergarten teacher is the one who mentioned) but councelling and therapy seem to have corrected that. That in itself suggests a family trend.

My daughter doesn't show any signs of being HFA or AS-autistic but that could come up later in her life when she has children. If she bears an autistic child, then we'll know where it comes from.

AS is a very new item in the medical field and it's not that well understood yet. We'll just have to give it some time. Meanwhile, let's all enjoy being AS-autistic

There seems to be a strong genetic component for Aspergers. But then, there also seems that there is some interplay of enviroment as well.

An overwhelming percentage of Aspies had problems before, during, or after birth. Some had early childhood infections. The list really goes on.

It isn't thought that in most cases, the environment is enough to cause AS, alone. But that it is a contributing factor.

My answer: GENETICS AND ENVIRONMENT.

God was very disappointed with the current model for humanity so he beefed it up.

It's probably genetic for me, although I'm not sure why I'd be like this while my brother is the complete opposite. Also, I may have had a head injury when I was young. I'm not sure if it was me or my brother, but my dad was putting some paneling up in our house, and slowly lowered his arm. One os us was standing in his way and got hit. I remember them putting the paneling up (I was 3) but have no memory of being hit in the head.

I'd have to vote for the genetic factor too (although there are probably other factors that play a small role too.) I have a lot of relatives who are pretty obvious aspies - too many of them for it to just be coincidental.

I always vote for an excess of testosterone, a condition referred to as the excessively male brain.
It is a theory as to the biological causes of Asperger's that has never gone away.

There is a link to an academic paper (pdf file) about the condition at The Autism Research Center at the University of Cambridge.

Aha

Sophist,

You mention problems at birth. In my case that seems to hold something. When I was born, my mother tells me it was a long difficult labor in that (1) I was born about 3 weeks past the due date and (2) the doctor had to use foreceps.

With that kind of strain on the skull and neck...hmmmmmm... that might explain a thing or two.

My Father (dead almost 10 years now and 5 years before my diagnosis) was so obviously an Aspie. (although the assertion that anything was "wrong" with him would have offended him) My sister is also a pretty obvious Aspie but doesn't believe it's genetic and thinks it's just me that has it. She continues to struggle.