What do you think causes Autism?

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aliens?

genetic mutations?

exacibation of moonlight maybe? lol

I read your links, but I still don't think it all makes sense. If a high-fat diet generates more neoteny, and Autism is in fact neoteny, wouldn't we then expect radical increases in Autism? We do not, not according to my research. In fact, I think the prevalence is decreasing about 1% per year. I base this on birth-statistics in Aspie-quiz, and genealogy data I collected for about 800 people. The apparant rise in diagnosis is not a real rise in prevalence, it is caused by the increasingly hostile environment Autistics live in.

Though, I both agree with your idea that Autistics exhibit neoteny (both genders, IMO), and that they are adapted to live in a matrifocal social environment. However, I think the reason for this is very different than the reason you propose. The reason Autistics show neoteny is not because they originally needed a longer maturation time, but because their environment required long inactivity during winter. This is also why SAD (Season Affective Disorder) / winter depression is related to ASCs. If one proposes 5 months of inactivity and 7 months of activity, maturation time needs to be increased to about 35 years instead of 20 to create the same window for learning. The reason for the matrifocal social environment was that Autistics inherited this social model from another species (Neanderthal), and these traits are linked to other social traits as well (for instance partner obsessions, deviant sexuality, odd sleeping patterns, odd eating patterns, and the activity-profile of ADHD). IMHO, dominant females and submissive males is not some recent hormone-related happening, it is coded for in the DNA of Aspies. If this was so easy to change, and could be changed by environment, why do we not see the differences between Chimp and Bonobo disappear in Zoos? These two species have opposite gender-behaviors. Chimps are patrifocal, bonobos are matrifocal. Additionally, chimps and bonobos are very closely related.

If you didn't already know about it, here is my theory: Neanderthal theory

rdos, there are places where we seem to overlap, places were we have a different focus, and at other times we have either different studies we respect or different ideas of how evolution operates. Autism, assuming it has several very different causes, offers opportunities for more than one etiology to be right.

The genius pat of your brain gets so developed that it messes with the development of other parts of your brain.

Vaccines just kidding. I believe it's genetic and if the parents or someone in their family has Autism like traits they are far more likely to have an Autistic kid. It can run in families as well.

Well...

we all know that its the fault of the CIA, and their hideous experiments with creating human-dolphin hybrids in the late Forties.

(that's an actual serious theory I have seen posted on WP).

This sounds as good as any other explanation. Yes, it's also genetic. My whole immediate family seems to be on the spectrum, the more I think about it.

Actually it probably is something like that.

There are "idiot savants" who are low functioning autistics, but have a genius for the piano, or doing arithmetic. And many more normal appearing aspies seem to be just less extreme versions of idiot savants (Ive been accused of being 'like an idiot savant').

There is evidence that that the brains of autistics/aspies fail to "trim their neurons" as they grow the way NTs do, so that ASD folks are like neurological 'hoarders" with cluttered mental "homes".

***Yes, I picked up on that comment, too. It was kind of insightful, though I would substitute the word. self. for the second use of the word, brain. Also, the op was asking about classic autism, and to me it sounds like the person you quoted was talking about aspergers and making a distinction between this and classic autism. So was he saying there is a certain mechanism behind the entire spectrum? I think this could be true, but to understand further one would have to touch on how that would work, and, also, would such a mechanism or aspect of brain function be entirely genetic? That is over-simplistic. External events as well as environmental factors CAUSE human beings to respond in certain ways.

Thirdly, I am not really sure there is exactly a "genius part" of ones brain. I think genuis is probably more about comprehensive wiring, the entire hook-up, or maybe one particular aspect of functioning related to a broader set. I do not believe there is a particular gene for the integrative aspect of the mind. That would make us dumber. This said, I do think he was onto something that could be a good starting point for further inquiry. Also, I am beginning to realize that very smart people can really be much smarter. In effect, certain people may become less smart because of how smart they already are. This is kind of hard to explain, but my boyfriend is (or was before his stroke, though hopefully still is) a kind of genius, but his mental process was not comprehensive. He skipped major steps in ordinary data processing in order to be this way, and I, also, though not a genius (at this time) skipped steps and took certain shortcuts in data processing individual to my particular developmental circumstances in order to be the way I am, for example, to write poetry,--twas very intrigued with that at one time--or maybe "poetry" took me over because I could not face being slapped violently in the face as a child while also being encouraged to think life was beautiful.