Autism caused by parental neglect?

[Thinx]

I suppose we are back with this dilemma of the DSM and other diagnostic criteria being behavioural, so it depends how you define 'autism'. Currently some people who could be diagnosed with 'autism' as described in the criteria for diagnosis will be defined as 'autistic' when in quite a crucial genetic way, they are not.

Others, who actually are genetically affected but can, for example, strategise around aspects of their autism, and/or who are female, whilst the current and past criteria have bias towards recognising male type behaviours, won't get diagnosed despite having what, yes, I m gonna call, True Autism. This isn't caused by parental neglect.

Equally, some who cease to meet the criteria, will still have 'True autism', and would benefit from looking for strategies to help themselves with aspects of how they are that may be caused by this, such as black and white thinking.

Others who have black and white thinking, but are not diagnosed as or actually autistic, may also benefit from working to lessen this aspect in themselves, although that may be an uphill struggle, and they may find awareness of this aspect of themselves hard to recognise.

I say this not only to the OP, but to others responding to this thread, where there does seem to be the usual dogmatic flavour of this OPs responses. Not so much a discussion as an insistence on a point of view, which judging by it's relative rarity on this site, is not a common quality of autism.

 

[Graphin]

I find the "autism is just childhood trauma" thing bogus, buts let's dive in more.

Most of the studying done on abused children may not be representative, because the majority of child abuse victims are "hidden". With the immense social bias most abusive mindsets, those with which they want to keep the kids, can keep them with barely any effort even if it's obvious what's happening. It's very likely that those that will get studied before they're 25+ are essentially a narrow subset of cases.

Nevermind, had a lot to tell got triggered trying to write this essay.
btw, I think adhd is generally closer to childhood trauma than autism

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

"2. Psychological - rigid thinking patterns that can cause most of the symptoms of autism"

Listen Mr "Formerly"

This statement isn't true and DSM V doesn't define our condition.

On the other hand you display rigid thinking.

Self-education should afford us a chance to think in the round.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

Half of the school shooters in the US were autistic. Those other symptoms can co-occur with autism. I wonder how many of them were neglected by their parents. I'm guessing most, if not all, of them.

What that actually means is that no parents should neglect their children.

You can't use logic.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

Nothing. Like the boy in the book, I was emotionally neglected my entire childhood, had all the symptoms of autism, and don't believe I ever lacked a theory of mind. However, I was professionally diagnosed with autism although I no longer meet the criteria anymore. Do you think I was misdiagnosed or that parental neglect caused my autism?

Neither.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

I agree. That means if they met the criteria for autism, it wouldn't be a misdiagnosis. Since the effects of neglect are treatable, it also means they could recover from autism.

Recovery from everything is only in part.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

If someone who suffered emotional neglect during their first two years of life met the criteria for autism, there is currently no known way to tell whether their neglect caused their autism symptoms.

There are little known ways of telling how it worsened them.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

... should appear 'cured' ...

And this doesn't mean one isn't objectively and existentially hampered by spin-off effects and maladaptation to core physiology alike. Officialdom don't define. Our insightful testimony does.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

If Dr. Perry is right that early childhood emotional neglect causes the same symptoms as autism, that means all of those school shooters diagnosed with ASD may have met the criteria due to parental neglect and may have been able to recover from their symptoms through psychological interventions which could have prevented those school shootings.

I realize it wasn't autism but what they thought about the way they were treated (feeling like they were treated unfairly and rejecte.d because of differences that weren't their fault) that made them get angry and feel the need to bring others to justice.

You have yourself hereby disproved that this has got anything to do with it.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

What would make it a false diagnosis? According to the current DSM-V criteria, those who suffered from childhood neglect can be correctly diagnosed with autism and lose that diagnosis once they recover from the effects of being neglected.

Lifelong conditions need lifelong adjustment. This is why diagnosis by DSM is a false concept (though in practice it sometimes - stress on sometimes - fortuitously acted as a stepping stone). When we understand how we are we have to take our own responsibility to continue opening our own doors life long, if we are allowed.
You have shown yourself as if you are an all-or-nothing and narrow thinker. Are you disrespecting the colossal effort every one of us puts into our own sensory and intellectual adjustments daily?
Some people will need a continued "label" to give them the chance to be allowed appropriate adjustments at school, work or clinic.
I think the fact that you chose a name that isn't personal probably shows you haven't yet dealt with your neglect very much. Yes you have learned to keep a more even keel as we have.
Now all of us continue to deal further with our neglect in slow time. What we deal with in spade loads and with aplomb and self-esteem and high achievement is the practicalities of living - just like every responsible citizen does. And we don't finnick at each other for it.
So please put neglect on the back burner till you are ready to further deal with it as we do, and enjoy all the other threads on the forum about all the other subjects.
Why don't you develop an appetite for developing your intellectual and sensory management. It's very fulfilling and we found it raises our self-respect no end.
Please esteem forum members for exposing their personal resources by respectfully towards you arguing reasonably at cost to them, in what they hoped would be your behalf.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

... The first thing in evaluating someone, is to find out if they had experienced early childhood neglect and or trauit doesn't exclude itma. If the person being evaluated has no such history, then it is probable that their condition is neurological rather than psychological.

And if they do, it doesn't exclude it.

 

[cnn]

causal fallacy
Questionable cause - Wikipedia

 

[Ezra]

And if they do, it doesn't exclude it.

Right, if there is no trauma then it is more likely neurological. But if there is trauma then it could be one or the other or both.

 

[Mary Terry]

Nothing. Like the boy in the book, I was emotionally neglected my entire childhood, had all the symptoms of autism, and don't believe I ever lacked a theory of mind. However, I was professionally diagnosed with autism although I no longer meet the criteria anymore. Do you think I was misdiagnosed or that parental neglect caused my autism?

How is your theory that parental neglect causes autism different from the debunked "refrigerator mother" theory from decades ago?

 

[onlything]

@FormerlyAutistic , I wanted to confirm if I understand well what you mean if that's fine with you.

The mentioned book describes a boy that due to neglect and trauma acquired symptoms very similar to those caused by autism, although the child was decided not be have been autistic themselves.

As such the discussion is about the formal diagnosis process. You say that since childhood neglect can cause similar symptoms, some folks could be diagnosed as autistic and after dealing with their trauma, they could lose their autistic 'status' and be considered 'cured'.

Actually, I agree that it's possible.

However, as others mentioned, such instance would be a case of misdiagnosis with the person not having been autistic in the first place. As such, while in the view of the society that person could be considered 'cured', it is not so in practice, since what the person got better at is dealing with their trauma, not autism, since they didn't have autism in the first place.

Another point you make is that autism could be caused by child neglect in the crucial early years of a child when the brain of the child is still developing, especially during the first year or two. This... I could see as happening in very specific circumstances - although it's little more than speculation at the moment and there isn't really a way for an average person to study it.

If early trauma was one of the main causes of autism, autism itself would be much more common, since, unfortunately, children are too often abused and neglected in this world by people that should give them the most love.

What I see as much more likely is that the stress caused by the neglect and/or abuse exacerbated the already existing traits or activated specific genes - potentially worsened the autistic traits. I don't have much to do with the biological field, so I may be mistaken concerning how it works, though.

It is possible, however, that poor parenting may aggravate the social problems autistic people have, since it doesn't allow for free learning of typical body language and social cues.

Still, this theory as a main reason for autism doesn't hold its own weight, too similar as it is to the already disproven refrigerator mother one.

You seem to hold much anger towards your parents... It may mean little, but whatever it is that you experienced, I'm sorry you had to go through it.