Psychiatric/psychological disorders very often have physical, genetic causes. It takes time, but the causes are slowly being revealed.
What causes? All I’ve heard is what it isn’t. I have good reason for wanting answers.
Autism has strong biological contributing factors. The mirror neurons seem to be weaker than the average person. You don’t have much interest in people relative to things, and you don’t learn to read people at pre-verbal ages. That undermines social skills dramatically.
Aspergers/ASD can be defined as autism plus high enough IQ to learn intellectually what others learned before they could really communicate verbally.
Risk factors for autism include:
* premature birth, the earlier the greater the odds of problems
* a father who is strong on systemic thinking
If you’re a preemie, the brain development is cut short by the need to live. Increased odds of learning disabilities and mental retardation. And autism.
If Dad is an uber-nerd, that doesn’t mean you lack social skills, but if you get a double dose of the genes, the odds of ASD and autism go up. Part of the reason we see more of it today is because the very nerdy types who would have been bookish monks 200 years ago make a fortune in Big Tech and get married. Michael Burry of “the Big Short” is a classic case of this - including his autistic son.
Assortive mating - nerdy types hooking up in Silicon Valley and the international equivalents - is probably a factor, too.
And then there is the rediagnosis craze. The kid in the corner with behavioral issues isn’t “retarded”, he’s labeled as autistic. More money and services that way. OK, reclassify more as autistic to get them more services.