Are Humans Evolving Towards Autism?
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Difference in processing styles
- Autistic People: Why They won\'t look you in the eye AspieWeb.net AspieWeb.net
A video describing why Autistic People wont look you in the eye.
The rise of Autism points to a future we may no longer be part of.
I heard three mothers talk loudly about their children at a pizzeria today. Their children are struggling to stay on their seats. In between disapproving "Behave, please!" The three mothers manage to have a conversation. “So what kind of services is she getting?” One parent asked another.
“Oh he’s in for speech therapy” The other shrugged.
“No, I wouldn’t have thought.”
“Yeah but he is, it’s a problem with his pragmatics.”
“My daughter’s getting some services for that too. They say it might be ASD.”
“So, I guess we’ll be seeing each other next year”
Apparently all three children at that table had issues associated with mild spectrum disorders or ADHD. More and more children are being diagnosed with autism each year. According to the Center for Disease Control, one in every 150 children suffer from the condition. It is getting harder to get all the appropriate therapeutic services for a child suffering from delays associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders because of the increase in demand.
While everyone is grappling to explain the explosion of cases of autism all over the world, some theories are proving to be more plausible than others. The Casein and Gluten rich diet that we now have mostly found in dairy products and wheat are said to affect the DNA tagging of the brain. This is known as methylation. Along with other chemical toxins from artificial additives and those found in traditionally grown produce, the combined assault of unnatural substances in the human diet to the brain may be increasing the symptoms associated with autism.
There are actually many cases (although not all) where autism and ADHD symptoms were reduced as the children began eating mostly casein-free and gluten-free organic foods. One celebrated case is Jenny McCarthy’s son. He reportedly recovered from autistic symptoms after she drastically changed his diet to mostly organic natural foods.
While for a while, the MMR vaccine was also blamed for inducing autism, recent studies of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the George Washington University Center offer more concrete path to the treatment and diagnosis of autism. The ScienceDaily (April 8 2010) reports that the research point to specific genes cause the methylation of the brain in the frontal region and the cerebellum.
So while research is being done to overcome autism, a new theory emerged that takes autism to a new level of scientific inquiry. And it is an interesting one. It is called “The Intense World Syndrome.” The theory proposes that because of the changes of the environment the human genes adapted and mutated to produce hyper-plastic and hyper-sensory brains. The law of Epigenetics kicked in and it is changing our genetic structures. We are evolving to suit our environment. What this means is that the person suffering from autism learns faster and senses things more intensely than an ordinary person. The overload of sensory information and the hyper-plasticity is causing an overload, that causes the symptoms we have now associated with Autism. It is not that they feel nothing, they feel too much. It is not that they are not learning enough, they tend to learn too much about one thing that the rest are ignored.
A group of highly functioning autistic people previously labeled as having Asperger’s syndrome are verbal and are intensely intelligent and even creative. They are the most likely to cope with the condition, fall in love, get married and produce children. If we are now at the cusp of human evolution, these kinds of Autism may be the interim for a new kind of human. One whose brain is hyper-plastic and hyper-sensitive. Perhaps in the coming generations, these pioneers will learn to reshape the world to suit what is comfortable and pleasant for them. Perhaps more organic foods will be grown, more efficiently. Perhaps they will create new environments where the sounds you hear are calming and soothing. Perhaps careers will become entirely interest-based and highly specialized. And because they are not very socially concerned but are capable of strong bonds with a few, the population will decrease drastically. Can you imagine a world run by the children we strive to medicate today to become like us? A world of Mozarts and Einsteins of which we neuro-typical people of the 21st century can only dream of.
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Thanks Tin!
Interesting concept about the evolution of humans.
No one really knows how or in what directions humans would or "should" evolve - who are we to say what is best when the environment does largely dictate what is needed?
Adaptation to needs is what evolution is about and maybe this intellectual focus is precisely what is on order.
I can see how some could find this concept scary but at one time, walking upright was a frightening thought!
Interesting food for thought!
What a stunningly original and well explained observation!
I had never even once considered that this might be the case - but you've made a compelling case that it is so.
Realistically, I think it's very possible that you're right.
I cannot look around at the world today and the state it is in and conclude that *they* (those diagnosed with autism) are the ones who are poorly adjusted.
Very original. I love having my mind nudged in a different direction!
I think you may have hit the nail on the head, in many ways.
While I can't say autism and ADD is an "evolution," maybe more of something that's natural but has been given rise due to birth rates (although, this is a bad idea, because of the lower percentages of births..) or perhaps, as you suggest, it is innately a response to internal and external stimulus pressuring newer generations of your species to evolve.
Either way, I find your conclusions about their mental facilities to be spot on.
I, myself, have been diagnosed with a few mental disorders, ADD/H being the most common and more "easily seen," if you believe in such foolishness. ;)
LeafyDen,
Hi! Thanks for reading on. I feel so blessed today with all the comments and insightful ones at that. I was scared of it because my daughter is somewhat here and there but they can't pin it down. Then I heard Temple Grandin speak and let's just say it opened my mind that we are indeed not looking at it the right way. It is NOT an epidemic, it is a response. The wonderful human response to the call of nature to survive. It's on its way to something we cannot comprehend just now. I am looking at my daughter with new eyes and my new perspective is showing me how beautiful and kind her world is.
Hi Ixxy,
The epigenetic response is a theory that it is indeed an evolution. I did not suggest it but report it. It is an existing theory that's out there and they did all the lab tests and all that. What i essentially did is imagine the implications if this were so because like you, my mind dilated a few inches and was unnerved. Thanks for your insightful and generous feedback!
People need to label phenomenon they don't understand for their own comfort. But you know what you are and that's what is important.
Ilmdamaily,
Thank you for your generosity! I find though that the credit goes to TED.com. They've been toying with this idea for a while now and I am so amazed that not a lot of people outside of the autism circles have heard this.
I'm glad you got it and appreciate it. I really think your comments are such an addition to the value of my hubs that I want to thank you a little bit too much that it's not cool anymore. Thanks again :)
Excellent response cecil, I can't add more. Thanks for calling out my inability to distinguish from the source and messenger. ;) Haha, I kid.
Labelling...indeed, categorisation just makes the world around us that much less intimidating. ;)
Oh, I was just careful not to take credit for it because it is such a big responsibility. All the same, I appreciate great comments from great hubbers! I want to digest your hub slowly so see you in your space!
No problem - thanks is never uncool lol!
I'm going to look into this whole TED thing - i've seen some other really great ideas come out of it too - in completely unrelated fields (Does the third world exist? A TED Video on my "travelling in the developing world" hub).
Looking forward to more out of the box thinking!
My brother has autism and is extremely smart at math, his condition gets better every year.
Yes, they need more attentive mothers which is actually what every child needs.
I recently acquainted a family on the NYC subway. Their nine year old was 'diagnosed'. As we sat there, he proceeded to glance literally for a moment at the train map. He sat down and drew the entire train map of all five boroughs -in crayon color- to the letter. Remarkable is not the word.
The notion that there is something 'wrong' with these children is a phobia, and a sad one at that. The imagination, acute focus and mental ability is off the charts. What if they embraced it instead of medicating it like everything else for profit ot worse, social diluting.
-James.
Hi James,
Joseph Campbell once said that when you stumble upon a truth, you gag. This is human consciousness in the gagging stage of our own improvement. I can imagine what it must have been like for the first humans with funny looking heads who didn't move as fast as the neanderthals and who were into making tools. No doubt they were ostracized. But that's another hub. Thank you for enriching my hub once again with your thoughts.
Interesting things, interesting hub, Good for U
I love TED.
There is a woman here named Baileybear who writes about Aspergers frequently. I find it interesting because my sister insists that she and I exhibit those traits,
If you are going to post things like this, I'll just have to add you to the people I follow. I hate when that happens :-)
Hi Pcunix,
Your name is so anti-mac. My ex worked for Unix and he was a real brainiac, looked like Clark Kent too. I think he had Asperger's. My husband and I joke around that both of us have Asperger's. It is very different for women though. Their socialization is not such a problem and it may demonstrate itself as obsessive fixations on typically female interests like fashion design, literature and art. It is the pragmatics and literal understanding of words that give them away. You seem to be keen on nuances and no pretensions at all in your comments on forums. I think you're just perhaps a little more technically capable and or intelligent than the average joe.
Thank you for going against your instincts and appreciating my hub.
hiyalenova, thanks!
Cecilia, the epigenetic theory makes a lot of sense. Thanks for covering it! I don't think, though, that it is the world being more intense that is bringing the change about. I think these traits are being selected for by our culture and our economy. To some extent, autism was always the wave of the future, because in comparison to a chimpanzee, even the average neurotypical human seems autistic.
Dear Aya,
You got me interested in the chimpanzee factoid! I am definitely interested. The tip of my ears twitched and I sense something big in that one-liner. I will be dropping by your space for sure. Thanks for that interesting addition!
I find it really an interesting dread that our world is being ruled by a group of autistic people.I always feel one way or another we are always evolving towards something new and becoming someone else.I will be following your next hubs on this topic.thank you so much :)
Hi Andromida!
It is the autistic types that have been moving our race forward, if you think about it. There is a new breed that was "prophesied" to arrive and they were called the indigo children. Recently, a couple of authors claim that these indigo children are actually those we call autistic.
Well, in truth, I find it a little weird that we haven't really evolved since, and like you wondered if we are in fact due...hence the thought behind this hub. Thanks for dropping by!
Great Hub - The only thing constant in the universe is change - so who knows where the human condition is going.
I don't agree with this stuff at all
Hi Martin,
The good thing about possibilities is it is not certainties...yet.But then, we'll never know. We'll be long dead by then.
Nice subject...
It boils down to the simple fact that some of us are on different levels via our current plane of existence that doesn't often parallel with others (damn, I hope not!).
Like you, for instance: My interstellar beacon tells me about you...hold on...checking...waiting...oh, here comes the data and it says: that you have had a significant amount of mysterious dreams in the past, early on in your life, that lead you to the path in which you stand today. No? Am I and my space data incorrect?
I mean really; I'm alien from this planet and also have one of my surviving comrades from the faulty starship, that crashed-landed in your year of '89, hidden in my basement because she's a bitch that refuses to contain herself, while I've been waiting on her to die for the last 21 Earth years...and still, to this day, there are Homo sapiens out there that think I'm insane for saying such things! Ha-ha!
Okay, ignore that last part, but you can always tell me if I'm wrong about your reason for your path; and for the onlookers that read my alien crap, can you actually believe any of that crapola I said? Ha-ha! Yeah, it is hard for me as well since I have a disorder of being highly advanced. Hmm, I'm waiting on you to label it, althout autism just isn't flattering enough for my grey skin... Oh well...
At any rate, I was just amusing myself with my own hogwash, and I mainly just wanted to say "Hi" Cecilia, and that we have chatted before, long before I got shitcanned on one of those forum-based, not-to-be-named, 'article-submit' sites, or whatever you call them cyber-thingy-ma-jiggies...
Cheers! ;)
Hi D,
People come back to life, you're not the first one I know who has. I know about 3 or 4. Some come back with much better manners, some have total amnesia (or pretend to) But you my dear, will always have a unique...way...of revealing your true self regardless of the fact that it is totally unnecessary to guess because of the clues strewn out (more like billboards). Regardless of your name, you will be forever more recognizable to me. Some have missed you, yes. That would include me.
Evolution may come in some small way as a result of people changing their views on autism spectrum disorders. A brilliant man said that the different ways we view the world are all just serving one mind. (so evolution is everywhere at all times)
Hi Brianzen,
True, a recent article in Discovery at the beginning of last year pointed out that even the "races" are evolving apart from each other. The point of this article is to see autism, the mysteries surrounding it as an effect of the choices we made, the changes we have done in our environment and the glorious way our biological intelligence copes to ensure our optimum survival.
Cecilia, could you give a link to that article about the "races" evolving apart? I've never heard that before.
Hi Aya, here is an online link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29123062/
The crucial statement here reads like this: “It is likely that human races are evolving away from each other,” says University of Utah anthropologist Henry Harpending, who co-wrote a major paper on recent human evolution. “We are getting less alike, not merging into a single mixed humanity.”
It is very interesting... when I look at the people of New York in the subway, i go from face to face with that thought in mind. I sometimes wonder, what kind of sentient species will this greasy Greek guy be in a million years?
Interesting! So what should be treated today might just be normal in the years to come! And thanks for that link - I would have thought people would become more global and therefore more similar rather than the other way around - but that article is very informative.
Really interesting Celilia! I've read some spiritual based info that also proposes that autism spectrum behaviours are an evolution of the human ie: an adaptation reflected in DNA. My mind is open on the possibility.
On a personal note, my youngest daughter is dairy intolerant and definitely on the autism spectrum (though I haven't been so worried as to get a diagnosis). I've noticed that eating dairy affects her behaviour as well as causing physical symptoms, but everyone thinks I'm crazy if I dare to say it. I have wondered if she would cope better with purely organic dairy products though I have yet to try it.
Good job - enjoyed the read :)
Hi Susana S,
I really think anything you do to naturalize her environment will help. Salt Baths help too. I personally think the best way to deal with this is to celebrate her strengths and look at her weaknesses as great opportunities for even higher and deeper learning.
I recommend you check out the Arrowsmith Approach. This is interesting in that when disabled children are taught to cope through exercises, the end up being better at the skill the neuro-typical children. I have tons of data then a weakness is actually your cue to a hidden strength that requires much attention and focus in order to bring out.
Dear Shalini Kagal,
Thanks for reading the link, I was surprised myself but then it makes sense. All the diversity we see now came from a single genome that replicated long ago. Even the universes are moving apart from each other. The parallels of humanity and cosmology is not commonly known, but we really do seem to mirror cosmos we inhabit. We create and recreate ourselves through the paths we choose to take.
Oh I do not see her as disabled - she's far from it. I totally agree that what some people might perceive as a weakness is usually the greatest strength - I'm not to keen on all the labels myself ADD, ADHD etc. They are just children with different wiring and should be appreciated for who they are rather than boxed.
My little ones brain just works in a very different way to most of my own generations. She's amazingly bright, incredibly intuitive and she told me yesterday she can see what other people are doing just by thinking about them! Defnitely an indigo :)
The painful part is the rejection they have to go through because they're different. But I try to explain it this way : sometimes people who are not so smart, can't tell what smart is.
As a teacher I see more and more kids with learning difficulties, ADD or who appear to be in the autistic spectrum. There's got to be something causing it, I agree.
Thank you, cindyvine. It really is great to hear an educator agree!
Great hub! I have been wondering if Asperger's is really a genetic mutation. The different genetics would give rise to neurological differences. The psychologists label it a disorder, because it's not the "norm", but Asperger's Syndrome is on the rise, and a lot of people with it think it is more a difference in personality than anything else. I'm inclined to agree
Thank you and on another note, that is a cool pic you have there.
I love your theory as it is definately well thought out and an intelligent answer to what most are questioning. I don't question my son's Autism, my world is better in the long run for my son but I do have definate opinions that took years to develop my own theory and my own take on the Autism issue.
I believe, and actually will use the term, that we have autism that is genetic and we have "environmentally" induced Autism (environmental autism) which would be the more high functioning percentage as we see that more so now then lower functioning. I also believe the arguement we have better knowledge and diagnostic procedures now then before thus the rate of diagnosis increased; is only slightly affecting the increase but not to over a thousand percent from twenty years ago.
I believe pesticides over local grown food bought and consumed by locals as well as the chemicals going into the water and drinking it is also a factor, as well as mercury, as well as vaccinations. (I am sorry but despite the overwhelming dispute against it being the cause I stand by my own research regarding the rate of increases once live viruses in multiple amounts were injected being when it rose) by my own observations into the drastic difference and change from a normal functioning and average intelligence toddler to an infant and violent. So, argue all you want amongst yourselves in that debate fact is its lumped in with the "environmental" causes of autism. Now behavior is affected by diet and by the technology we have too so yes, I believe that contributes to teh co-occcuring disorders we see in children today; and I happen to be against medicating autism as the motivational factors behind their behaviors is different so my son acts adhd but fact is he is not. The make up of their neuro-transmitters and the emittance in amounts causing the misfiring of the wrong amounts in their brain are different; so medicating is a temporary solution with major consequences.
Now to the evolving theory; I will have to research some too but I believe you have something very valid there. I happen to have lived where "chem-trails" or geoengineering was going on and also the same spot the alien landing supposedly didn't take place when they had an eyewitness and being in germany I watched as the government lied to us and the broadcasts out on the economy ( I can understand a lot more german then the locals knew) were discussing it happening in four other countries and laughing at the fact "their government is lying to them again". I ran home on post and lo and behold AFN wasn't running it at all. It was some training excercise and the arguement being it landed in an area that was impossible to hide it unless there was an underground bunker. Well, I lived on the naval air station...THERE IS a bunker not a mile or so away. The chemtrails we have videos of just from our everyday catching kids on camera...let me just put it like this is it ALSO possible that being I WITNESSED about 80 percent of it and that the only two concieved and born and got their first few rounds of vaccinations from and my autistic all of them during first three years; on an installation where their records are electronically stored and if you all don't get a dose we do. Adults too. That MAYBE a consiparcy theory as it is...does fit into the plan that either it was an unfortuante by product of geoengineering to control weather over the air station to protect our fighter jets and caused the autism thus they want to cover it up...or that its done on purpose as you look at the people in history with the disorder...we are talking einstein, jefferson, curie, emily dickens and many many others. That maybe all of it is entertwined and this "evolving" is actually humanly impossible ( I did research awhile ago and there is a video on youtube that is verified to be factual of the impossibility that our genes could mutate at the rate of 1000 plus percent in just twenty or even thirty years...)
Its just a thought.
Interesting piece and very well written. The DNA methylation link is the most promising discovery made in autism research recently since, if the idea holds up, methylation can be reversed. You do a great service by spreading that word. Hopefully, the casein/gluten hypothesis will be rigorously investigated at some point soon since right now there is only mixed anecdotal evidence. If it holds up under clinical trials, that would be another treatable cause for autism. The evolution towards autism is an intriguing idea since in this case, the DNA change doesn't have to happen in the parents in order to be instilled in the offspring. This type of inheritance wouldn't rely solely on the classical evolutionary pattern that the more adapted individuals reproduce more than non-adapted. Here you explain how the environment itself shapes each generation. Very interesting concept. The one criticism I have is that it would have been great if you had more explicitly helped debunk the MMR vaccine story, which was never replicated by other scientists and was eventually shown to be based on fraudulent data. Thanks for a thought-provoking article.
Hi, "Data" was a robot which is why he lacked human empathy. Other than that, insightful article. Also, people, don't forget to eat healthy --this goes both for parents-to-be and their children, autistic or ADHD or not. There are several different ways that people respond to sugar in their diet, and it pains me to see an autistic kid eating un-healthy junk food. And it isn't just sugar, but that is the biggie, especially highly-processed bio-available sugar. Some people swear by the Feingold Diet, while others are able to control symptoms with less restrictive dietary plans. I guess I'm revealing my bias that the genetic factor in Autism isn't so much about human evolution as it is about our degenerating environment.
Dragonlady,
Thank you, I would like to debunk it, except that I don't think there was enough data about it. I wrote for pharmaceutical companies before and I'm telling you vaccines are bread and butter. The machinery behind that is formidable. They could call it fraudulent or destroy the credibility of scientists just to keep afloat. So I'm leaving it out there for people to know. I personally think we don't need that much vaccines to survive. Cheers!
Demandstream
Spock is an alien too. Point is, the symbolism of these characters emerged from the collective unconscious and into our myth-machines, they resonated for a reason. I'm totally there with you about the environment. But Epigenetics will tell you evolution is largely about the environment shaping the lifeform. We are creating an environment that is creating a new human.
I think that when we changed the environment and made it more structured, processed, specialized, we in turn changed our adaptation habits. These adaptation habits are becoming genetic.
Tin Sanchez 20 months ago
I like this.