Miner

zone_tripper said:

Therefore, as I said earlier, a more likely cause of Autism is congenital and genetic, related to a faulty gene passed down within blood-related family members, and not environmental or directly related to working in mines.

Agreed.

Apart from use of the word 'faulty'.

hohner said:

I come from a line of welsh miners, I believe autism is environmental genetically based condition.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/spike/columnists/mining-boom-has-tragic-side-effect-more-children-with-autism/story-e6frerh6-1225863666380

A good overview of mining and high autism levels.

Having given the article a cursory readthrough, I noticed this comment...

"...Apparently, mining boom equals lots of engineers equals more children with autism. I don't know about you, but I find this link astounding. It is a well-established fact, say researchers, that there are increased numbers of highly analytical people, such as scientists, physicists, mathematicians and engineers, among the parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)..."

I think you have misread the article.  The article does not state that breathing in coal dust or working down mines causes Autism within families, but that a certain type of occupation attracts academic and engineering types who themselves may have autistic traits or inherit the autistic gene.  Therefore, if you have a community of scientific and analytical thinkers like engineers, scientists, geologists, etc, then chances are they may sire children who may have autism or some autistic traits.  And this MAY explain the higher rates of Autism within the community of Mackay .  

Many of us with diagnosed Autism / Asperger Syndrome do not come from mining communities and do not come from mining families.  

Therefore, as I said earlier, a more likely cause of Autism is congenital and genetic, related to a faulty gene passed down within blood-related family members, and not environmental or directly related to working in mines.  

Agreed

My Father had autism and came from Cyprus - he never saw a mine. Neither have I, being from London. Or my Aspie sister. There are people with autism all over the world. Some from mining communities, many not. Some who've had various inoculations, others who have not. Their diets are many and varied. The only common factor appears to be a genetic predisposition. 

Hope said:

hohner, autism also occurs within middle-class professional populations, not just ex mining and industrial communities. In fact, autism occurs right across the occupational/class spectrum. And you can't compare the results of a famine with autism in this way. The second generation you mention, would presumably have been starved of vital nutrients in the womb, leading to the small stature you mention. But what has this got to do with autism?

I tend to agree with Hope.  I come from a white collar family background and I have been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome, I have an uncle who most likely is autistic (although he has not been diagnosed and is now in his 80s), I have had other uncles who have had issues relating to depression and alcoholism, one of my grandmothers suffered from depression.  And yet none of us come from mining communities, none of us ever worked down mines (to the best of my knowledge), etc.  

I firmly believe that the cause of Autism is largely congenital and genetic, in relation to faulty genes passed down through blood-related families.  

Thanks for the interesting replies.

hohner, autism also occurs within middle-class professional populations, not just ex mining and industrial communities. In fact, autism occurs right across the occupational/class spectrum. And you can't compare the results of a famine with autism in this way. The second generation you mention, would presumably have been starved of vital nutrients in the womb, leading to the small stature you mention. But what has this got to do with autism?

Impossible to prove either way, frankly.

Firstly, before the industrial revolution Autism wasn't even known about, let alone recorded, so it's impossible to state whether there were autistic people then or not.

Secondly, even since the industrial revolution, the understanding of autism, and particularly it's more subtle forms, has grown and so apparent the incidence rate has increased purely due to the increasing numbers diagnosed.

Thirdly, whilst there is good evidence for clustering of autism around centers of technology, all this shows is that there is a strong genetic component to the condition.

Fourthly, correlation does not imply causality.

the commonality of the environment and genetic generational output is correlated,, basically the vegetables become the soup over time..  Generational conditional diversity to meet the environment, remember the blacked soot beach trees in an industrial city, the moths turned from white wings to black wings to blend in to the environment... or the village in norway which survived a famine a hundred years ago, and the "second" generation were recorded all smaller and less in weight, scientist said this was a genetic marker, evolutionary change due to environmental factors,, so Autism spectrum could just be an environmental adaption through genetics long-term via industrialisation,, aka mining, factories etc...

What do you mean by "environmental genetically based", hohner?