3 ms·

I did some research on this a while back, conclusion is far from certain. There are some clear pointers to increased diagnosis (changes to the definition of aut

I did some research on this a while back, conclusion is far from certain. There are some clear pointers to increased diagnosis (changes to the definition of autism in later DSM versions, improved awareness and access to literature), but there are also studies that indicate an increase in the number of cases. It’s impossible to be sure what’s driving this: pollutants, increased average parental age, or some other factor. Given that autism is highly heritable, most experts are sceptical of the idea that environmental factors could drive a major increase in the numbers, although again, it could be the case that genetics predicts only predisposition towards autism, rather than the condition itself. A lot of wiffle to say “we don’t know”, but if there is a genuine increase in the incidence of autism in the population for etiological reasons, it’s relatively small.

bhouston 1y ago
> Given that autism is highly heritable, most experts are sceptical of the idea that environmental factors could drive a major increase in the numbers But we do know that age of fathers does drive increase autism rates - thus while there is likely a genetic component, there are degradations related to age that further increase the risk: https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/risk-of-autism-spikes-for-children-of-older-men/?fspec=1 https://www.thetransmitter.org/spectrum/risk-of-autism-spike...
tptacek 1y ago
High heritability doesn't exclude environmental factors. Your environment is also inherited, in a way captured by broad-sense heritability metrics. (I don't have a big concern with what you're driving at, just with the notion of using heritability statistics dispositively this way).