Autism is a common developmental disorder also named the autism spectrum disorder that means impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, highly limited activities and interests.
It’s hard for kids with autism to talk with other people and express themselves using words without special help.
Very often such children also may react to what’s going on around them in unusual ways what is caused by abnormal sensitivity to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation. However, inappropriate behavior is not necessarily caused by external factors. It is common for children with autism to flap their hands, say certain words repeatedly, play constantly with one particular toy. They have restricted patterns of interest that are abnormal in intensity or focus. Autistic children have difficulty with linking words to their meanings, with expressing their own thoughts. Generally, they cannot interpret what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues.
Autism affects many children, but scientists still cannot find the true causes of this disease, as the human brain structure is very complicated. Usually, genetics and environment are viewed as the main causes of autism. So, it is supposed that some people are born with a genetic predisposition for autism, so they are more likely to develop autism because it or similar disorders run in their families.
Studies show that people with autism have irregularities in several regions of their brain – abnormal levels of serotonin or neurotransmitters. According to these researches, autism could result from the disruption of normal brain development early in fetal development caused by defects in genes that control brain growth and that regulate how neurons communicate with each other.
However, genes don’t completely explain the rising number of new autism cases. Therefore, the environment is considered to play an important role in the disease expansion as well. Toxins, chemicals, or other harmful external elements can trigger autism by aggravating genetic vulnerability or independently disturbing brain development.
In some cases, autism causes are associated with agents that lead to birth defects or exposure of children to vaccines. Moreover, oxygen deprivation during delivery or fetal development can increase the risk of autism. Among other environmental factors, there are air pollution, food additives, mercury in fish, flame retardants or certain chemicals used to produce synthetic materials such as plastics. These chemicals are found to be highly dangerous to young babies
, as their brains are subject to absorb toxins and unable to clean them up.
