Pompei wrote:
There have been many speculative ideas suggesting autism is the result of some environmental insult like too much testosterone in the womb, a pathogen or a toxin. I personally do not find these theories credible. I wanted to create an alternative explanation that leaves out all of the pathology but I have no evidence my explanation has any validity.
I agree that environmental insults have little if any credibility as a monocausal explanation for autism, but given the number of genes that appear to be involved, could it perhaps be that these insults work on an epigenetic level and activate (or deactivate) gene sequences?
Thanks for the post btw. Haven't had the time to study it in detail yet, but I will.
Yes I believe environmental insults can and do generate "autistic behaviors" in some individuals and they very well may operate at the epigenetic level. I also agree they are likely not a cause of autism at a macro level.
