Is there a link between ASD and emotional deprivation

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With help I'm coming to terms with the emotional deprivation I was exposed to, especially as a child. Sometimes I think it's my imagination I wasnt emotionally deprived I just couldn't connect with anyone because of ASD.... I can't figure out if the emotional deprivation was the cause of the ASD or vice versa. Or maybe there just isnt a link?

I have spent a good deal of my life thinking my problems came from being emotionally deprived. But my sister and brothers don't have the same issues I have. I think people respond emotionally when they are given some kind of emotional input and I wonder if as a child we appeared as if we didn't want interaction and so we didn't get it as often.

Since Autism is generally believed at this point to be genetic in origin, this would be the more likely conclusion.

Especially since its what a lot of us continue to experience as adults.


N-N-N-Nobody's fault but mine... C'mon, Led Zeppelin, everybody sing!

emotional deprivation can't cause ASD. look up the term "refrigerator mother" and you'll see why that's a terrible misconception to hold.

but in very dramatic circumstances (severe neglect) it could probably cause some outward signs that look a bit similar.

EDIT: especially in monkeys ...

OK I have to bring up my earlier diagnosis of SPD again. I say it's provisional because I was under 18, but I was 17 so what's the difference? The therapist who did tell my mother she thought I had SPD had known me as a patient since I was in the 3rd grade so she had ample time over the years to observe me. And for those who haven't heard me bring this up again and again, this was in 1974 when the therapist told my mother this. I only just found this out a year ago. So Asperger's was not on anybody's wavelength then. So upon reading this thread I decided to look up characteristics of SPD in children, as my mother once told me my difficulties became noticeable around age 2. What I find under causes is (surprise surprise) another version of the refrigerator mother. It kind of makes me wonder. I know the circumstances were my mother was overwhelmed with my siblings when I was a baby and since I only cried for attention when I was hungry or wet, that's all I got. Still I don't see my situation then as gross neglect and abandonment. Some of the other characteristics mentioned a lack of enjoyment in life. Well, I was depressed and the therapist never figured that out!! No wonder I seemed distant. I was numb. Of course back then no one thought it possible that a child could be depressed, because they didn't realize then it was a chemical disorder.