What causes ASD/aspergers ?

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Is the cause a smaller brain than NT people , or are there are many explanations ?

Brain size would be uneffected. Ok, there are individuals be they on the spectrum or not who have smaller or larger heads with smaller or larger brains. It may be possible for the odd person to have a small brain which may effect things but to be honest, I have known very highly intelligent people who are not on the spectrum with small heads and their brains are obviously not effected. If the small brain was due to a birth defect then possibly... But read on and I will explain more from what I have found out about autism, aspergers etc. (Today all classed under the autism spectrum).

But lets get back to what happens which causes one to have autistic traits, or be on the autistic spectrum.

The autistic brain will have the odd connection missing or a few connections missing. The brain is being developed before one is born and even after one has been born. Now the brain has the amazing ability to compensate its growth into other areas if one area is not accessable.

First of all, consider a computer. (Don't do this for real. Is an example) Open it up. Find those tiny wires or tracks in one of the circuit boards and sever it. Now unless you are an electronics expert and know the computer, you do not know what this will do to the computers day to day operation. It may not even power up. It may run well and do everything perfectly until one day one asks it to do something which needs this one connection and something goes wrong. It could completely shut down. It may go crazy and start printing out random things! One never knows until it hits the point where it needs its connection to function correctly.
This happens with the person who has autism...
BUT sometjing else happens too.
Remember me saying that the brain while it is developing can divert its growing process into other areas to compensate? Have you heard of autistic people who have unusual and amazing abilities? Some can work wonders with computer programming. Some can do amazing mathematical calculations all in their minds.
But there are also negatives. The brain can be over alert in certain areas and create what we call as hyper sensitivities. For example, being hyper sensitive to light, or hyper sensitive to touch. I am hyper sensitive to certain smells. I need to mention how this works with me. It is a bit like when Superman goes near cryptonite. My ability to smell is about average but if I smell certain odors, my mind starts to shut down... I can end up on the floor in a limp like state having lost my ability to use my limbs, and if it goes further, I can loose my vision and hearing as my brain totally shuts down. (Most of the time I would more likely get a partial shutdown so I have just enough time to remove myself from the area which dissagrees with me).
But anyway. I hope my explanation helps. I am not an expert. I only found this site just over a year ago as I have been having these shutdowns since I was a small child, and no doctors or no tests could seem to find out what they were, and it was only through God giver circumstances where I stumbled upon autism as a possible answer. I knew nothing about autism before that.

Something I will add is that autism is not catching, as all who have the condition have had it since birth with the very rare exception of a few unfortunate people who have had brain damage after an accident.
There are a great many people with autism that have not been diagnosed and they do not know they have the condition. I am in my late 40's and only about a year ago I realized I had autistic traits, so I asked to be assessed. We have waiting lists here in the UK and I am just passed half way down a waiting list. I may or may not be on the spectrum, but I know I have traits.
If I am on the spectrum, I know what it is like to go for years as being different and not know why.

Being on the autism spectrum has nothing to do with ones intelligence, as intelligence levels vary from person to person just like they are with any other person who is not on the spectrum.
Often those on the spectrum can also have other conditions as well which tend to be a little more common with those on the spectrum then those who are not. I actually put two and two together when I was looking up about a condition I have on youtube about protopragnosia (Faceblindness) and the person talking about it said that 60% (It could have been 80%. I can't remember) of people with the condition were on the autistic spectrum. This is what prompted me to find out if I was autistic where I went to ask my doctor (Who could not give me a direct yes or no as I need to be assessed to find out), and then I joined this site initially just to ask a single question about what I now know are called shutdowns. I have been here ever since and learned soo much. There are very tallented and amazing people on this site. Feel free to ask questions.

Here is a list of just some of the things that have been blamed* for causing ASD/Asperger's Syndrome:

• ADD/ADHD in parent(s) • Agnosticism • Alcohol consumed during pregnancy • Allergies to mother's milk • Almond milk consumed during pregnancy • Aluminum cookware • Anoxia at birth • Antibiotics used during pregnancy • Antidepressants used during pregnancy • Arguing during pregnancy • Artificial colors in food • Artificial flavors in food • Artificial sweeteners (i.e., Aspartame, Cyclamate) in food • Aspirin used during pregnancy • Atheism • Atkins diet during pregnancy • Autoimmune encephalitis • Baby formula • Bad genetics • Bad parenting • Bedrest while pregnant • Being born a twin • Big brains • Birth-control pills • Breastfeeding • Caffeine consumed during pregnancy • Caesarean birth • Cat dander • Cell phones • Changing schools • Chemtrails • Child abuse • Child neglect • Conceived under a full moon • Conservative politics • Cosmetics use during pregnancy • Cow's milk and dairy products during pregnancy • Defective womb • Demon possession • Ear piercings as an infant • Egg whites consumed during pregnancy • Eggs consumed during pregnancy • Elderly parents • Energy-saving bulbs • Evolution to the "Next Level of Human Consciousness" • Exercise during pregnancy • Fabric softeners during pregnancy • Fish consumed during pregnancy • Fluoridated water consumed during pregnancy • Fluorescent lighting • Food poisoning (i.e., Salmonella) during pregnancy • Genetically Modified Foods during pregnancy • Gluten (i.e., wheat, barley, rye, oats) • God's blessing • God's curse • God's punishment • Grandparent had measles • Heavy metal music during pregnancy • Heavy metals (i.e, Lead, Mercury) • Herbicides during pregnancy • Herpes during pregnancy • Hot tubs during pregnancy • Infant neglect • Inter-racial parents • Intestinal parasites • Jealous siblings • Ketogenic diet during pregnancy • Lack of faith and prayer during pregnancy • Lack of vaccines • Liberal politics • Lyme disease • Maternal aggression • Maternal depression • Maternal dominance • Maternal indifference ("Refrigerator Moms") • Maternal obsession • Maternal passivity • Maternal stress • Maternal weight (too much or too little) • Microwave ovens • Microwaved food • Mixed-race ancestry • Mobile phones • Mold / Mildew • Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) consumed during pregnancy • Mosquito bites • Munchausen-by-Proxy • Mycotoxins • Neanderthal ancestry • Not breastfeeding • Not eating broccoli during pregnancy • Not enough dairy during pregnancy • Not enough discipline • Not enough fermented food in the diet • Not enough meat during pregnancy • Not enough sunlight during pregnancy • Not enough vegetables during pregnancy • Not listening to Mozart during pregnancy • Obsessing over autism • Obsessive-compulsive parent(s) • One or more siblings too close in age • Parents vaccinated as children • Paternal age • Paternal aggression • Paternal depression • Paternal dominance • Paternal indifference ("Refrigerator Dads") • Paternal obsession • Paternal passivity • Paternal stress • Paternal weight (too much or too little) • Permissive parenting • Pesticides • Pets • Plastic • Playing video games during pregnancy • Plug-in air fresheners • Power lines • Premature birth • Prenatal vitamins • Preservatives in food • Rapid birth • Red meat consumed during pregnancy • Rubella in parents or grandparents • Sashimi / Sushi consumed during pregnancy • Sex during pregnancy • Shellfish consumed during pregnancy • Silver amalgam (tooth fillings) • Sin • Skittles (the candy) consumed during pregnancy • Slow birth • Small brains • South Beach diet during pregnancy • Soy milk consumed during pregnancy • Stress during pregnancy • Sugar consumed during pregnancy • Surgery in infancy • Talking about autism • Teflon cookware • Television programming (i.e., "Barney", "Peppa Pig", "Sesame Street", et cetera) • The Internet • Tobacco used during pregnancy • Too much coffee during pregnancy • Too much sunlight during pregnancy • Traffic fumes • Tylenol used during pregnancy • Vaccines • Vegan diet during pregnancy • Vegetarian diet during pregnancy • Viral infection during pregnancy • WiFi devices during pregnancy • Wrong maternal probiotics • Yelling during pregnancy •

*Blame is not evidence.

Last edited by Fnord on 28 May 2020, 9:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

Will all this evidence, how can they not see the conclusion ?

I know you're being sarcastic, but ... WHAT evidence?!

ASD folks have the same range of IQ as NTs. So brain size cant be lacking.

If anything its having too large a brain.

They have shown that the brain cells in the brains of ASD folks fail to trim branches, while those in NT brains do have nicely pruned rows of hedges for brain cells. Makes sense. Autistics get hung up on special interests and have trouble focusing on practical executive skill tasks. So ASD folks have large, but cluttered brains. Like the house of a hoarder.

Hehe. If my brain is like that it goes with my hair style (If my brothers wife doesn't get to it!), my bedroom or other things. Haha!

Autism is just a 1940s parking space for brain disorders science did not understand.

We now know there are probably many different autism’s each with their own causes and levels of disability.

Some with possible potential future treatments.

The wrong sperm.

One possible explanation in some, not that far fetched to imagine some future therapy to treat this:

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/extra ... r-in-mice/

Or the wrong ovum.  Maybe even both.

Probably bigger considering in my experience we're the only ones with any intelligence.

Or the brain of an intelligent person...

There is no empirical evidence to support either opinion.

Eating Nutella.

That's what causes autism.