April 11, 2008, Newsletter Issue #86: Books About Autism and Genetics

Tip of the Week

Two books really stand out when it comes to autism and genetic research. The first is The Research Basis for Autism Intervention by Eric Schopler, Nurit Yirmiya, Cory Shulman and Lee Marcus. This book is a collaborative effort to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice in the field of autism. This publication helps individuals who work in the field as well as families make connections between genetic and therapeutic interventions.

When families and therapists understand the link between the autistic child's specific needs they are better equipped to develop useful interventions. Understanding the deficits that the genetic problems cause is a great starting point for developing a plan.

For example, we know that children with autism have a dysfunction with "mirror" neurons in the brain. It is important to develop interventions that help the child compensate for the shortcomings like non-verbal imitation and emotion drills.

Autism, Brain and Environment written by Richard Lathe is a great resource that taps into the possibility of environmental factors in combination with genetically compromised immune systems. The text links environmental elements to a genetic predisposition to autistic traits.

A person may have a weakness in his genetic makeup that may not manifest itself until he is exposed to certain environmental elements. For example, many attribute some cases of autism to the MMR vaccines that contained the preservative thimerisol. However, not all children who received the vaccines developed autism.

There is a possibility that some autistic children have a neurological allergic reaction to the vaccines because of an underlying genetic weakness. The genetic weakness is comparable to an allergy to peanuts. One person can eat them but another person might have serious medical problems if he does.

The two books help us look at autism in a new light. Therapeutic approaches need to address the challenges the child has because of the genetic abnormality. Researchers might want to consider a combination of environmental as well as genetic factors in the possible causes of autism.

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