I was born...normal.

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My guess is that my autism (if that's what we'll call it) is caused by something as simple as an imbalance in the neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, cortisol and all the others). Just too much or too little of one or the other. I think it's probably genetic.

Just a quick reminder, from someone with several "genetic" conditions/disorders—there *can* be spontaneous mutations. Genetic doesn't mean it *has* to be inherited.

Even though they found large amounts of lead in the soil near my house and ended up closing a section of the street blocking off a good chunk of a side street to traffic. There were three or four kids that lived on my street that went to special education classes but my street also produced 2 validictorians two years apart. I still will blame my Aspergers on genetics and not the environment. Some of the people in my dad's side of the family are too smart and too weird not to be somewhere on the spectrum.

If all or most people are exposed to such circumstances, they are by definition normal. Normal MEANS common or expected. MOST people are "normal" for a given value of normal in most situations. There are even situations in which we're normal. Want to know some normal things? I have pimples and that's normal because I'm a teenager. I'm overweight and that's normal because I'm American and something like 2/3 of Americans are. When I have my period the pain usually makes me moan and writhe and pray frantically, and that's normal for women. Sometimes I catch a cold, which is normal for humans.

Of course it's a matter of normal for a particular group. Sensory issues like I experience aren't normal (though they're not all that rare, either), but for autistics they're normal. Lead poisoning is more common in some places than in others. It's probably par for the course in some places but uncommon in others.

I was born 4 months early so I blame my brain not being fully developed as the cause of my issues. No one else in my family acts the way I do that I know of so I know mine is not genetic, I just hope I dont pass it on to my own children and start it in my family. I worry about that a lot.