Introduction: Unraveling the Mystery

The term “autism” first appeared in the early 1900s and comes from the Greek word “autos,” meaning self, used to describe conditions of social withdrawal—or the isolated self. Around 1910, a Swiss psychiatrist used the term to refer to certain symptoms of schizophrenia. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the medical community began to see autism as a separate condition. While our understanding since then has grown exponentially, research has been fraught with controversy. Autism appears to be on the rise, depending on how you define it; and, with findings that suggest that its causes are more complex than imagined, parents and parents-to-be are rightfully concerned. Will there ever be a cure? Moreover, does autism necessarily “doom” kids to lives of social isolation, or can its limitations be at least partially overcome if it’s recognized and treated earlier?

In this eBook, we’ve gathered the most current information on autism—how it’s diagnosed, who’s at risk, genetic and environmental causes, treatments and therapies. Autism is just one of three diagnoses that the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) includes in what it collectively calls autism spectrum disorder (or ASD). The other two are Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS).

In Section 1, we take a look at the symptoms, or traits, of ASD, which include three main disabilities: lack of social skills, lack of communication skills, and repetitive behaviors. While the symptoms usually don’t show up before a child is two, recognizing them earlier might help alleviate some of the developmental problems that occur later in untreated kids. In “Early Intervention,” Marissa Fessenden writes about how toddlers who received speech therapy not only improved their verbal communication skills at the time, but continued to benefit years later. This section also discusses how having autism should not overly restrict children; in fact, many autistics have unusual and outstanding talents, and several stories point out the benefits to recognizing these and encouraging autistic kids to develop those skills.

Section 2 features a handful of excellent pieces on the phenomenon of autistic savantism—a small percentage of autistics show extraordinary mental abilities—while Section 3 examines the contributing effects of maternal and paternal age. It seems that advanced age of both Mom and Dad are correlated with autism, and other studies indicate that autism is more prevalent in boys for a reason—increased testosterone levels during fetal development.

The complicated genetic causes of autism are analyzed in Section 4. More and more studies are showing that while autism can be caused by a single mutation, many cases are caused by numerous, small changes across the genome. Twin studies have shown that epigenetics must play a role, too, and most recently, scientists have implicated copy number variations—structural changes in the genome where large swaths of genes have been duplicated or deleted, and which are not inherited from Mom or Dad. In “Autism and the Technical Mind,” Simon Baron-Cohen makes a case for why autism seems to crop up more often in children of “geeks,” while a series of articles looks at another piece of the puzzle—mirror neurons, and how these specialized cells might be what’s behind the “theory of mind,” which is lacking in autistics.

Section 5 addresses possible environmental causes. Lately, numerous studies have pointed out that these have to play some role in triggering and/or causing the disease. Section 6 takes a look at the nature of the autism “epidemic”, including two important stories by Ferris Jabr—“Redefining Autism” and “By the Numbers”—discussing changes to the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5. Finally, Section 7 addresses the most current therapies. Two companion pieces by Nancy Shute take us on a journey through the minds of parents, many of whom are desperate to help their autistic kids lead easier, productive and more fulfilling lives. While science rushes to offer better options, this eBook gives a synopsis of the state of the union—what we know and what we don’t know about this challenging condition.

-Jeanene Swanson
Book Editor