by Nicholette Zeliadt
April 20, 2020
From genes to environment, experts have identified several factors that influence a child’s chance of having autism. But risk is not destiny, they say.
In the past 50 years, scientists have compiled a short list of factors, including certain genes, premature birth, and some medications, that might contribute to autism.
In the past 50 years, scientists have compiled a short list of factors, including certain genes, premature birth, and some medications, that might contribute to autism.
Still, there is no way to prevent a child from having autism, in large part because experts don’t actually know what causes it in most people. “We can find many, many factors that are correlated with autism,” said Dr. Katarzyna Chawarska, Ph.D., professor of child psychiatry at Yale University’s Child Study Center. “But in reality, we really don’t know if they’re involved in the cause of autism.”
It’s also important to note that many autistic people and their families see autism as something to be celebrated. And that traits of autism exist in everyone. “Many of them, whether you have autism or not, may very well give you something that’s positive,” such as an intense passion for certain subjects and a keen eye for detail, said Ed Cook, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
One thing is certain: There’s no one single cause of autism, and every case is the product of multiple factors working together.
[...] studies have shown autism runs in families and have put its heritability at around 80 percent, or about as heritable as height or eye color.
“There’s certainly a lot of things we don’t know about the causes of autism,” Dr. Carbone [pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah] said. “But one thing that we absolutely are sure of is that parents don’t cause autism.”
[...] studies have shown autism runs in families and have put its heritability at around 80 percent, or about as heritable as height or eye color.
“There’s certainly a lot of things we don’t know about the causes of autism,” Dr. Carbone [pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah] said. “But one thing that we absolutely are sure of is that parents don’t cause autism.”
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Autism researchers are starting to think that autistic and non-autistic faces may “speak a different language” when conveying emotion. This could mean the “social difficulties” often associated with autism may, at least partly, result from differences in the facial expressions produced by autistic and non-autistic people. It means we may need to re-think the idea that autistic people have difficulties with expressing their emotions and instead consider that non-autistic people may have trouble reading them.
Since interactions are necessarily at least two-way, it’s important that we also think about how well neurotypical people read autistic facial expressions.
The findings from two recent studies suggest that many neurotypical people find it difficult to read and interpret the facial expressions and body movements of autistic people.
So why do neurotypical and autistic people struggle to read each other’s facial expressions? One reason could be that autistic and neurotypical people produce different facial expressions.
When feeling sad, for example, an autistic person might move their face into an expression that would not be used by most neurotypical people – per the video below. Because this expression is different from what a neurotypical person may expect to see, they might not recognise that the autistic person is feeling sad.
Since interactions are necessarily at least two-way, it’s important that we also think about how well neurotypical people read autistic facial expressions.
The findings from two recent studies suggest that many neurotypical people find it difficult to read and interpret the facial expressions and body movements of autistic people.
So why do neurotypical and autistic people struggle to read each other’s facial expressions? One reason could be that autistic and neurotypical people produce different facial expressions.
When feeling sad, for example, an autistic person might move their face into an expression that would not be used by most neurotypical people – per the video below. Because this expression is different from what a neurotypical person may expect to see, they might not recognise that the autistic person is feeling sad.
It may be time to reframe the idea of “social difficulties” in autism and shift away from the idea of “deficit” towards one of “difference” between autistic-neurotypical interactions.
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