Autistic Animal Awareness and Acceptance

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There is a growing agreement that it is the co-morbid conditions, learning disorders, disease, other conditions and factors that work, in part, as underlying factors associated with "Autistic characteristics" that make what is defined as a diagnosed disorder among humans.

Christopher Gillberg, designer of the Gillberg Criteria for Asperger's syndrome that is more reflective of the "Autistic Psychopathy" that Hans Asperger originally described in his case studies, is scheduled to make a presentation in support of this growing agreement at the International Meeting for Autism Research, IMFAR.

Research shows a broader autism phenotype out into 10 to 15% of the population, and at least one criterion element met out into 30% of the population.

The government funds the majority of Autism research, per 2010 IACC, Inter-Agency Autism Coordinating Committee report, at 335M as opposed to Autism Speaks 4% at 18M and the Simon's Foundation 12% at 53M, with less than 1% funded by all the other private research organizations combined together, in the US.

The combined global effort is likely close to or well over a Billion dollars, but I have not seen any hard numbers for that global effort.

The majority of this research is aimed at co-morbid Genetic factors, Learning disorders, Disease, other Conditions and Factors that may underlie, in part, the autistic symptoms working together as an identified and diagnosed disorder that limits and impairs one in daily life functioning including:

Non-Verbal Learning Disorder; Pragmatic Language; Impairment; Hyperlexia;Tuberous Sclerosis; 22Q11 Deletion Syndrome; ADHD; Motor Development Impairments, Sensory Processing Disorder; Noonan's Syndrome; Mitochondrial disease; Epilepsy; Viral and Bacterial Infections; Sex Differentials; the Gut and the Micro biome; Maternal Immune Activation – Influenza Virus most notably as well as historically rubella; Prenatal Hormonal Influence; Microglia; Astrocytes and Cytokines; Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC); Inflammatory Bowel Disease / Diabetes and Muscular Dystrophy; relationship of Atopic diseases, Allergy and Mast cells; Interrelationship of Intellectual Disability and Schizophrenia, and potential Epigenetic influence.

That is not a comprehensive list, but it is long enough to gain another perspective, that awareness and acceptance is not all there is to the total equation of what is defined as an Autism Spectrum Disorder in Human Animals.

What remains as an Autism Spectrum Disorder, with the more restrictive criterion elements of impairment in reciprocal social communication, in the DSM5 will likely close the parentheses of a spectrum disorder further in from the 10 to 30% of the Autistic traits suggested as existing in the general population.

The problems of that 10 to 15% broader autism phenotype or more in gaining acceptance with the rest of the social animal population, is a challenge that most social animals deal with on a daily basis, since their behavior has been noted, as far as science can look back.

RRBI like behaviors have always been an issue for social animals under chronic social stress. Difficulties in reciprocal social communication, have always been associated with how nurturing the environment of young social animals are along with inherent characteristics, including factors such as color of fur associated with the dopamine reward system of the brain.

Cats with a genetic factor for red fur, including Calico's and Tabbies, are studied as impacted by this genetic factor, and more aggressive by nature, in part, because of this issue.

If anyone with a science-oriented mind, thinks that humans are immune to what the rest of the social animal kingdom experiences with similar issues, they are living under a cultural illusion of exclusion that is not warranted by science.

Most interestingly, what is observed in the domesticated social animal experience that is often described as unusual behavioral impairments is not that much different than what is seen in human animals.

Autism is a human defined abstract construct for a human specific reciprocal social-communication disorder with RRBI's, but other animals experience similar issues, that are of course non-verbal in nature.

It is part of the gene pool that is evident from birth in most animals among the Sitters comprising about 20% of the animal kingdom vs. the Rovers.

I also vote for Autistic Awareness and Acceptance in Animals, in the month of April, and from now on, expanding part of that effort already named out into this full decade we are in.

Considering that Autism is currently assessed by behavioral observation, the phrase "Autistic-like", is a bit of an oxymoron, I think, often used as a politically correct device of language, where other animals are concerned.

autism and mental retardation are opposite sides of the same spectrum.everyone experiences there senses in a certain way.if the volume is turned up so high that it impairs everyday functioning then one is usualy diagnosed with autism.if the volume is turned down so low that it impairs everyday functioning then one is usualy diagnosed with mental retardation.

i would hazard a guess that 100% of the population meets some criteria for both autism and mental retardation.neurotypicals are just in the middle as far as how they experience there senses

I have three cats and wonder if one is on the spectrum. She is loathe to be touched. She is the smartest pet I ever had and I have had many different kinds of pets.

Thank you for the cat health link. That describes a lot of the behavior of one of my other cats who pulls some of the hair on her back off when she is stressed. My daughter also discovered that if she pet her on a certain spot, this cat would always turn around and groom the area on her back where she pulls some of her fur off.

I feel I understand humans a lot better by generalizing some social animal behavior to them.

Back to the first cat who despises being touched, she also has rituals that are very important to her. We need to go to several faucets many times a day to put her paw in the small stream of water. When I started talking to her at the faucets, then she needed that and just turning on the faucet and walking away was not enough. Also, consistency/schedule is more important to her than the other two cats.