Some strange theories around, an excerpt from one of them-

Autism — A Cognitive or a Behavorial Disorder?

Edward J. Harshman, MD, MBA

Autism, the cognitive disorder of extreme social withdrawal, living in one’s own world, has no proven etiology. Current theories include neurotransmitter imbalance, improper nutrition, and genetic predisposition. While these theories do partially explain autism, parental behavior has been generally overlooked.

Autism is associated with firstborn children, with boys, and with unusually good looks. It is also becoming more common in our society. Autistic people often seem preoccupied with spinning objects or with making themselves spin.

No known genetic or infectious process preferentially affects firstborn children. But firstborns often receive different treatment from their parents than do their younger siblings. Inexperienced parents, specifically parents of one young child, are more likely than others to try to demand that their children’s opinions and feelings be what the parents want them to be.

Boys are more likely than girls to become autistic.(1) Genetics aside, our society tolerates a wider range of behavior in girls than in boys, as with women relative to men, because of recent social changes. A boy, if troubled by social pressures, is less likely than a girl to share his feelings openly and have them handled constructively by sympathetic parents or friends. He therefore risks reacting dysfunctionally, perhaps by severing his emotional link to the rest of the world to insulate himself from pain.

Autistic children are “often described as very attractive”(2); if a child is beautiful or handsome, then the risk of autism is apparently slightly higher than average. Attractive children elicit aggressive attention from adults. Suppose a small child, after a few minutes on a visitor’s lap, has had enough and wants to be put down. That’s fine, if he gets his way and gets socially handled only as much as he readily accepts. But if an unwelcome visitor insists on pawing him over and his parents tell him not to disapprove, then he will learn that his opinion in a social setting is worthless, and he has no defense if his personal space is invaded. Dissonance results from the apparently favorable attention plus the reminder of defenselessness. That dissonance discredits the child’s emotional connection with the outside world.


posted by Skyblue1