Austicmanlet34 wrote:
is it damage to the brain or damage to the nervous system, Im really trying to understand what causes autism
It's neither, it's mutation. DNA gets damaged and causes recessive traits in organisms: one of the biggest causes of damage is radiation:
In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes:
Electromagnetic radiation, such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma radiation (γ)
Particle radiation, such as alpha radiation (α), beta radiation (β),proton radiation and neutron radiation (particles of non-zero rest energy)
Try to think of it like The Incredible Hulk: Dr. Banner's DNA was mutated by Gamma Rays... Not that it actually works that way though because Gamma Rays are very, very deadly. It's the stray particles that do very minor damage, but do change the DNA.
I hope that helps,
DIVAIR
It also could be caused by chemical exposure to toxic molecules in the environment. Certain chemicals can cause mutations to DNA. One example is chromic acid (often used to clean laboratory glassware). It is a carcinogen, a teratogen and a mutagen. It can be found in the environment if it has been illegally dumped there. That chemical was likely the cause of a live two headed catfish and a mutant large clam (not natural to the area) that I caught fishing as a kid in the 1980s. (I used to sport fish, but never to eat the fish.) The area has since been tested as severely contaminated with chromic materials from a closed chrome plating shop (who dumped their waste there). The lake is now gone as they had to completely remove the contaminated soil underneath the water during the cleanup process.