What is Autism's mechanism?

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Hi everyone... I am a law student with aspergers....

I was just wondering what is it, that makes someone autistic? Is it different brain structure? neurons and wires that get "tangled up?"

My mother is working on being an autistic special ed teacher. Every so often a neighbor hood boy (aged comes over and she tries to read with him/ teach him to read. He is severely autistic. He is very friendly and huggable, but it seems he cannot really speak in a meaningful way. He can echo his name like a pokemon, and can reply "yes" or "no" to questions but it seems he is not hearing the language or knows what is being asked of him...

He also chirps and sqwaks and stuff... I wish there was some help for him .

Anyway, does anyone know? Like what is it in someone's brain that makes them this way? Is it an an immune system reaction?

What do you think?

For the boy who's aged 8, maybe see if he can learn sign language? or type with laptop, which has less flickering light than a desktop

I know with spoken languages, there are certain specific brain areas such as Broca's area and Wernicke's area, and strokes in different areas can lead to various funky types of aphasia.

So, if there is something to being wired up different, and I think there is, the first communication method we try may not exactly be playing to strength.

Here ya go. Have a firehose: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_autism

And since the Asperger's-Autism Spectrum is a constellation of symptoms such as sensory issues, patchy social skills, intense interests, stimming (which I view largely as a positive), meltdowns, overload, etc., and not every person has every trait, it would not surprise me in the least if 32% of people on the spectrum have one cause, 27% another cause, 22% yet another cause, etc (just as an example).

And I think it's fine and okay to talk about science at the same time as we preach Spectrum Rights, namely the right of a person to be authentically themselves even if different.

Last edited by AardvarkGoodSwimmer on 04 Nov 2013, 12:25 am, edited 1 time in total.

It's referred to as a neurological dysfunction, so yeah, it's a brain thing, definitely. There are studies right now working on identifying the specific areas of the brain involved:

Link>> Asperger's and Autism: Brain Differences Found<<

General consensus in the medical community seems to be that it's genetic, but no specific gene abnormality has yet been identified as the cause, my guess is that's because it isn't just one genetic location that's affected, but several, and which ones may vary depending on the severity of the condition.

There seems to be a hereditary component, but it isn't always passed down directly.

And it could be loosely hereditary, for example predisposition to autoimmune issues combined with certain events affecting the immune system.

Another possible cause are issues with sulphur metabolism combined with too many Clostridia bacteria in the gut which uses up the body's sulphur reserves in turf wars.

Saw this theory presented in The Economist.
http://www.economist.com/node/21560523
http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt207147.html

This would be another loosely hereditary theory, in that we tend to acquire the same or similar gut bacteria as other family members, especially our mothers.

I think that as people evolved and became more intelligent that their brains changed.

I think autistics have a brain that is very perceptive. In this boy's case he is surely too perceptive of certain things to the extent that he isn't perceptive enough of others.

There is a link I the fist post of this thread that discusses the idea of autism being the result of brain development. http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt243988.html

If you are looking for neurological basis the single most constant and non-overly specific cause is that there is more neuro connections than there is supposed to be.