Is autism brain damage?

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Until we know for certain what causes AS/Autism, we can not really answer the question.

Das Unheimliche manoeuvre topiche

Less than canny. This concept could be expanded to explain a lot of stuff--racism, xenophobia, prejudice, sexism.

ASD is not brain damage, however many people with brain damage also have ASD. Research has been carried out and it suggests that in some ASDians there is a difference in brain structure, function and development. However this does not always hold true.

ASD is also not a phsychiatric illness, however many people with ASD also have the cormorbidities of Psychiatric disorders.

ASD is considered a neurodevelopmental disorder.

I can see how someone with ASD can have brain damage. Some of them might bang their heads so hard, they get a head injury and left it damaged.

::side steps drama::

No. I see it more as an operating system problem. You have the correct hardware, but maybe the software works a little differently.

Autistic people are more left brain, not more brain damaged.

The only brain damage I have was from after I was autistic - from banging my head with my fists as a child.

I have only one thing to say:

NO.

I would like to take issue with something that pezar said; -

"You can't fix a brain once it's been damaged, generally."

I run a child development consultancy called 'Snowdrop' (I was also dad to a little boy who was brain damaged who diplayed many symptoms on the autistic spectrum) and I treat many children who have autism. Autism in my experience is a destination which can be reached by more than one route. One route is through genetics, - increasingly more and more evidence is coming to light concerning genes which can cause autism. Another route is brain damage. I see children who have been starved of oxygen at birth, who'se problems clearly fall within the 'autistic spectrum.' Indeed I feel so strongly that this is the case that I wrote a blogpost about it on my blog, 'Snowdrop Blogspot.'


As for fixing damaged brains, well we now know that the brain is plastic, it reorganises its structure and functioning all the time is response to it's environment. This is a process called 'Long Term Potentiation.' We also know that new brain cells are manufactured throughout life in a critical area of the brain called the hippocampus, which is heavily involved in memory and learning. What I do is to provide a developmental envionment, through a programme of developmental stimuation to encourage the brain to respond in this way and lo and behold, most of my kids, including those who have autism, make progress. So you CAN positively influence the way a brain functions, even when the child has autism.

I wouldn't be surprised if brain damage was involved. When my mom was pregnant with me, she was in a car accident. I also think that genetics plays a role. My dad exhibits autistic like traits, but not strong enough to be considered on the spectrum.

i assumed autism was some kind of frontal lobe damage, especially in an area called "mirror neurons"...these neurons allow NT's to comply and adapt to each other. because of this damage the brain rewires itself and causes short circuits in certain areas giving us heightened abilities in these areas.

for example, my frontal lobe should deal with social skills, but that's where all my musical ability/knowledge is stored, my practiced and learnt NT social skills are in the back of my brain in a part you'd usually use to store facts and school lessons. through practice it was possible for me to wire these bits up, although its still far from perfect, my brain will priorotise musical and visual stimuli over anything a person says to me so i have to concentrate to listen to people sometimes.

im only assessing the word damage in comparison to an NT brain, im fully aware that i just have different strengths and weaknesses, and am not damaged.x

"Autistic people are more left brain, not more brain damaged. "

I don't like to generalise because every person with autism, indeed every person is unique, but I think the evidence points to the fact that people with autism (people first, label second) are wired differently. It's the wiring diagram that is not the same as the mainstream peopulation. I do have a reference for this but as yet I am not allowed to post links.

No

An easy way to find it out is too scan some people with autism's brains, then you will get an answer.