"Distinguished" professor says autism is "growing monster"

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Claims from a world-leading professor lured to Perth to head up a game-changing research hub, that autism is a silently growing monster and forms of it can be prevented, have prompted outrage within the autism community.

Professor Jeremy Nicholson — who left Imperial College London to join Murdoch University and lead the Australian National Phenome Centre at Fiona Stanley Hospital’s Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research — told The Sunday Times last week forms of autism triggered by environmental factors could be prevented by this work.

His remarks, which also referred to autism as the most expensive disease in the Western world, prompted a social media backlash.

Professor Nicholson said he had the greatest respect for people on the autism spectrum, their families and carers: “Many people on the spectrum are exceptionally talented individuals and contribute positively to society in many ways.

“But autism is a complex mosaic with a constellation of subtypes, possible causes and presentations, the relationships between which remain poorly understood. We need to unpick the extraordinarily complex root causes of ASDs (autism spectrum disorders) and understand how genetics and environmental factors such as diet, microbial and pollutant exposure might be involved in each individual.

“This approach is at the heart of precision medicine and health care — a major driver for the new research centre we are building at Murdoch University.

It's not a bad monster, it's just misunderstood.

And everyone thinks the most educated are the least ignorant...

Come on, people! There is a distinction between uneducated and ignorant!

His tone-deafness is almost ... aspie-like, isn't it.

Perhaps we should research the effect of environmental factors, diet, and pollutants on people's levels of education.

Oh I don't know, I've always felt like a monster