Autism and Education; Science and Me
Autism and Education; Science and Me
Autism 102 Autism Causes and Symptoms
What are the causes of autism? What are the symptoms? In this episode explore what scientists think causes autism and a closer analysis on the symptoms.
Bai, D., Yip, B. H., Windham, G. C., Sourander, A., Francis, R., Yoffe, R., . . . Sandin, S.
(2019). Association of genetic and environmental factors with autism in a 5-Country Cohort. JAMA Psychiatry, 76(10), 1035. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.1411
Bryda E. C. (2013). The Mighty Mouse: the impact of rodents on advances in
biomedical research. Missouri medicine, 110(3), 207–211.
Gilmore, H., MSW, BCBA. (2019, November 16). Levels of Autism: Understanding the
Different Types of ASD. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from
Kinney, D. K., Munir, K. M., Crowley, D. J., & Miller, A. M. (2008). Prenatal stress and risk
for autism. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 32(8), 1519–1532.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.06.004
Malkova, N. V., Yu, C. Z., Hsiao, E. Y., Moore, M. J., & Patterson, P. H. (2012). Maternal
immune activation yields offspring displaying mouse versions of the three core
symptoms of autism. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 26(4), 607–616.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2012.01.011
Masi, A., Demayo, M. M., Glozier, N., & Guastella, A. J. (2017). An Overview of Autism
Spectrum Disorder, Heterogeneity and Treatment Options. Neuroscience Bulletin, 33(2),
183-193. doi:10.1007/s12264-017-0100-y
NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (n.d.) Autism Spectrum
Disorder Fact Sheet [Fact Sheet]. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2632594/ (Massive Prenatal stress study)
Autism 102
Hey. You are late. I have not seen you in a while…. Wait, I’m-I’m late? No, I’m not the one who is late. A teacher is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. That’s a wizard? Um, well a teacher is never late. Everyone else is simply early. Oh, wait that’s a queen? Ah…Okay. Hey everyone welcome back. I hope you are ready to think today, because now is the time! I am your host, Thomas Herrera, and you are listening to Autism and Education, Science and Me. What is the topic today? Let me look at my white board. Aha! Last time we defined autism, talked about its history, defined the levels of autism, and provided some basic descriptions of autistic symptoms. Today we will begin with some possible causes for autism, a review of classic autistic symptoms, and then describe each part of ASD in detail. Sound cool? So, sharpen your pencil, grab your pen, and get ready to learn. Here we go.
So, autism causes and symptoms. What causes autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)? Well to no one’s surprise, it is complicated. But scientists believe we have narrowed it down to two prime causes. These causes are genetics and environmental factors. Genetics refers your personal DNA code that makes you who you are. This is your DNA, RNA, and proteins that makes you up as a person. Your genetics are inherited from your mother and father and are passed down generation to generation. Environmental factors include many things like the physical environment you were raised in, to outside factors such as familial and nonfamilial influences. Genetic influences are a little more complicated so we will start there.
Rhetorical question time. Is there an actual genetic factor that influences the likelihood of developing ASD? Are some individuals, like twins vs non-twins, more likely to inherit it if their sibling has it? What is the deal? Some studies suggest that there is in fact something there. For instance, with identical twins, if one twin is autistic, there is a 36-95% the other twin will be as well. This is higher than the chance of fraternal twins of the same gender; if one fraternal twin is autistic there is a 0-30% the other twin will have it as well4. Okay. There is something there. Keep going. Several studies also have determined that the genetic factor for ASD is not as simple as other traits. ASD inheritance can be Mendelian and non-Mendelian in nature1,4. It may be inherited normally, like the classic examples of height, hair color, and eye color, or it may be more complicated in nature such as blood typing, or autosomal recessive traits. So, once again, to no one’s surprise, it is complicated. Now that I think about it, since genetics are so complicated, which factor plays a larger role? Do genetics play a prominent role or does the environment? Nature vs nurture?
One study aimed to find to just that. A study involving more than 2 million individuals from 5 different countries wanted to determine the risk factors of ASD. They choose five countries, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Israel, and Western Australia involving 2,001,631 individuals. They checked in on their observees periodically for up to 16 years. As discussed before, they knew ASD has both genetic and environmental origins. They focused on both origins in this study. While also focusing on genetics, they also focused on two environmental impacts: maternal effects and shared environment. Maternal effects include the non-inherited influences originating from the mother that are not actually inherited. The other environmental impact is called shared environments, or any environmental exposures that families experience to make them act similar.
Context time: maternal effects. Definition: non-inherited influences you adopt from your mother. Think behaviors or activities your mom exhibits that you do as well. Example, both my mom and I tend to keep a large portion of stuff we buy or receive. We hold onto materials so we can either use them later or hold on to them for safe keeping. I hesitate to call it a hoarding problem because that is another issue entirely, but also because I know she is listening to this right now. Hi mom! Anyway, other maternal effects include singing or humming when we work while we are alone. Mom’s songs are more uniform, while mine are more whatever earworm I happen to have been listening to at the time.
Shared environment. Definition: Any outside factor, be it upbringing or environment, that makes family members act more like one another. Example: my family grew up eating white rice for most of our meals. We all love to eat this side dish. One time, my siblings and I were celebrating a holiday at my sister’s house. My brother-in-law, while cooking, asked a question: “If I make white rice for you guys will you eat it?” My brother, twin, and I all said “Ooh! White rice!”. When my sister came home later, my brother-in-law told her about the rice. My sister’s response: “Ooh! White rice!”. We all tend to like puns and play word/board games together. All of us, my twin and older brother and sister all enjoy these activities.
Context time over.
Okay, so how did this study manage to observe these factors? From each of the different countries, only single births were observed, and each family had to have multiple generations on file, so the researchers could use the country registry to analyze genetic and nongenetic factors. This study had the following results: across 5 countries, only 1.11% or 22,156 individuals were diagnosed with ASD. The most contributing factor was genetics, while nonshared environmental factors making up the next most contributing factor, and the maternal effects had minimal if any impact.1 So genetics play a large role, but what about environmental factors? To answer this, let us look at another massive study.
One influence of ASD according to research, is prenatal stress. How does prenatal stress impact ASD? I am leaving a link to this article in the bibliography. This paper was very in-depth and analyzes the issue from many different angles and background. This paper brought up some various interesting points about how prenatal stress impacts ASD. It found evidence that strongly suggests that prenatal stress plays a significant role in inducing ASD. The evidence came from many different investigators, different experimental designs and tests, and various species exploration, including humans and other animals (monkeys, rats, and mice)4.
Wait, it included other animals? Hooooold up. Why? Have you ever wondered why scientists use lab rats or lab mice in their experiments? Like why? Well wonder no more. Your teach has got the answer! The whole reason behind using other animals is the idea of comparative medicine. Comparative medicine is when medicine is conducted on one species and applied to another. Why would you other animals? Well for several reasons. Ones that come to mind are ethics, cost, convenience, and safety. The goal of medicine is to help people not harm them. When we develop medicine, we want to make sure it is safe. That is why medical trials are a thing. But you do not want to harm people when you are trying to save them. See the conundrum? That is where animals come in. So why mice and rats? The main reasons are anatomical, physiological, and genetic similarities, space and resources, and life span. Mice and rats share many anatomical structures to humans, if you want to test how a system would be impacted on a human, using a rat or a mouse is a good analog. Mice, rats, and humans also have about 30,000 different genes, sharing roughly 95% of our DNA. This high comparison makes comparisons more reasonable and feasible. Mice and rats are rather small species. Relative to a human, a mouse needs a lot less space and resources to remain alive. Compare that to how fast rodents reproduce. Mice pregnancy last around 19-21 days, while mice are weaned at 3-4 weeks, and are sexually mature by week five or six. Humans, on the other hand, have a pregnancy that lasts 9 months, weaning lasts years, and we are not sexually mature for at least a decade and half. Compared to that, using mice and rats is a simple numbers game2.
Back to prenatal stress. This study observed ASD behaviors—abnormal social interaction, communication problems, and repetitive behaviors—in various species when they were exposed to prenatal stress. But before we spread the word, we need to talk about stress. Stress is a hard thing to analyze; it is a relative word. Two studies showed an increased risk of ASD between stressed and non-stressed mothers. One study in 1990 involved 59 mothers with ASD children and 59 mothers who did not have any children with ASD. A study in 2005 compared 188 mothers with ASD children to 202 mothers without ASD children. Both reported more stress with the ASD mothers. However, there were limitations. Some stresses were short-lived, reoccurring, or constant. Not every mother experienced the same level of stress, and each stress impacted different mothers differently. There were too many varying factors to really make a verdict. Not all stresses were the same, not all stresses were constant, and ethnic backgrounds were different. This paper brought to light more information on prenatal stress but warns that it should be continuously studied and explored. Maybe one of you will continue the research4. One can only hope.
Now, I am not going to gloss over the fact that one study involved mice and observed ASD symptoms. I know you are curious, so let me bring us back to that. This paper discussed the implications of maternal stress and the risk of ASD in offspring. They tested how maternal exposure affects mice behavior. They stimulated the maternal immune system during pregnancy and analyzed the social, communication, and repetitive behaviors of the offspring. You know, the standard issues plaguing those with ASD.
ASD affects communication, but how does little Stuart Little communicate? Mice communicate with one another either acoustically (squeaks ultrasonic vocalizations) or chemically with smells such as odors or urine. When separated from mothers, or in the presence of other mice, young pups communicate with ultrasonic vocalizations. A cry for help so to speak.
This mouse study involved three groups of mice. A control group (nothing done to these mice), one group injected with a potassium salt called poly(I:C), and a saline solution made from sodium chloride. The young pups were tested in various ways. To test communication, the noises the young pups made were recorded after they were removed from their mothers, and when placed with other mice, both male and female. The young pups were also placed in a small box and urine samples were collected for analysis. Imagine being the poor scientist responsible for that job.
“What you do today?”
“Oh, I collected mouse urine.”
“Cool.”
“Actually, it was lukewarm.”
“Oh.”
Ahem. To test their social interaction, they made a social chamber test. Think a three-chambered box where a mouse can pass through each chamber. The young pups entered the chamber two times and were observed for ten minutes. The first pass was an empty chamber; the second pass had a caged mouse.
Finally, to test their repetitive behaviors the pups were tested two ways. Firstly, they were placed in a box with a small 4-cm layer of chipped bedding with twenty marbles placed equidistant from each other. They were observed burying the marbles. Secondly, they were placed in a box and observed grooming themselves. Also, another fun job for a poor scientist.
What did the results say? Surely we could not actually see ASD behaviors in mice. Except that is exactly what they saw. The mice subjected to poly(I:C) exhibited the following symptoms: lower rate of USVs during maternal separation and intraspecies social encounters, decreased sociability, such as spending less time with the caged mouse and more time in another chamber, and an increase in repetitive behaviors, such as burying more marbles and grooming more than the other two groups. The mice were observed communicating to others less often, were less social when given the chance, and had repetitive habits. Do these sound familiar? They should, they are autism traits! In mice!5. Isn’t that cool?
Okay. Need a break? Yes? No? Actually, who cares. This is prerecorded. You can pause and play whenever you want. I’m just going to keep talking. Alright, we talked about factors that impact autism, now let us revisit the symptoms. Last episode we discussed the various levels of ASD. Here is a quick refresher. ASD has a total of three distinct levels: Level 1 Requiring support, Level 2 Requiring substantial support, and Level 3 Requiring very substantial support3,6. Severity of ASD is based on the degree of which social communication, insistence of routines, and repetitive behaviors affected daily functioning of the individual7. That is the main difference between High-Functioning, and Low Functioning Autism, neither of which are acceptable terms to use in diagnostic circles. Level 1 individuals have mild autistic symptoms that interfere with their life, but not enough to alter their day-to-day life. Examples include difficulty initiating social interactions, repeated and restrictive behaviors, and slight issues communicating verbally. (I fall into this group.) Level 2 individuals have more severe autistic symptoms. These symptoms impact their day-to-day life. These individual have moderate trouble initiating social interactions and have reduced/abnormal responses in these cases. They have trouble communicating, if they communicate at all, and must complete their repetitive behaviors. Level 3 individuals have severe autism. These individuals are the ones you think of when you think of autism: their lives are run by their autism—extremely limited verbal and nonverbal social communication, very minimal social interaction, and extreme restricted and repetitive behaviors.3,6.
Let us dive into these behaviors a little more shall we? Signs of ASD can be observed even as early as infants. Individuals can become overly focused on certain objects, rarely make eye contact, and fail to engage in typical babbling with their parents. Remember, ASD symptoms affect three main areas, social interaction, communication, and routines and repetitions. Each person with ASD is effected differently in each area.
Among the three, social interactions are particularly challenging to those with ASD. The mutual give-and-take nature of conversation can be exceedingly difficult to navigate. Think about all the little nuances that occur in a conversation. Think of the subtle hints to how others are thinking, feeling, or acting. You can tell a lot of information from a person at first glance. This is not the case for those with ASD. Usually, ASD individuals do not understand how to engage with other people. They may find it difficult to understand other people's feelings or talk about their own feelings, making bonding difficult7. I think the best way to describe this in this way. Neurotypical people, all you people who are not on the spectrum, are connected to a universal “Hive Mind”. Think like a global “Internet” in which every human on the planet is connected to at all time. Accessing the “Hive Mind”, one can instinctively know acceptable behaviors that help you survive in the world, understand acceptable behaviors in most contexts, and offers insights to other opinions and points of view.
Those with ASD, myself included, are not connected to this “Hive Mind”. Maybe we have a permanent aluminum foil covering our heads, so the connection does not actually go through. Without this connection to the “Hive Mind”, it is often difficult to understand or determine social clues in most situations. Why is this so important? Think about the nature of our species. Social skills are everything in society because humans are a social species. We live in groups, hunt together, eat together, and do plenty together. A lone human is a lonely human. Plenty people say they like being alone, but we are wired to want to be with other people. We are a social animal; being with others is natural. Therefore, navigation throughout society is important. We all want to belong; no one wants to be considered a pariah. As stated earlier, I believe neurotypical individuals are connected to a “Hive Mind”, where atypical individuals are not. Those not connected to the “Hive Mind” never received the explicit rules of the world. This explains why ASD individuals have trouble with social interaction. We simply do not know what to do. But social interaction is only half the battle. There is also communication.
Communication is the second area affected by ASD. All living things communicate with one another. There are many ways communication can occur: verbally, nonverbally, chemically, through smells, etc.. ASD, as a spectrum, has vastly different verbal abilities. These abilities may range from no speech at all to fluent speech, albeit awkward and inappropriate. Delayed speech and language skills are also common. They may repeat certain phrases, or give unrelated answers to questions. ASD individuals may not know how to express a thought or a feeling. They may not be able to describe, “Oh, I’m sad. I am angry. I am hungry. I’m hangry.” Or they may discuss inappropriate topics at inappropriate times. They may tell jokes during solemn or formal settings, fill the void of silence with noise, react to situations that should be avoided or ignored, or even provide compliments when no compliment was necessary. All of these are verbal examples. What about the nonverbal? On the nonverbal side of things, individuals with ASD may find nonverbal cues such as gestures, body language, or tone of voice hard to follow. How many times have you pointed things out and were able to follow it? Or how many times has your body language given away your feelings? These are all clear communication issues. The “Hive Mind” also helps in this way too. Access to the “Hive Mind” gives meaning to the subtle hints most people pick up on. Most people have little to no issues in these moments; ASD individuals need a little more time, help, and patience. People with ASD may also speak in a different tone, such as a flat, robot like or singsong voice.7 The way they speak sounds different, almost alien. After all, if you put the wrong accent on the wrong syllable, no one understands what you are saying.
Communication is what lets two beings understand one another. But it requires an understanding of so many fine details. You don’t normally worry about what to say in a conversation. Sure, you may be a little apprehensive, but when the moment you begin discussing, you go with the flow. ASD individuals are not so lucky. Like I said before, ASD is a spectrum, so not everyone focusses on the same issues. But for me, sometimes during a conversation I need extra cues to help me keep the flow steady. I do not know when a conversation should end, keep going, or is going the wrong direction. I need more information to accurately make the correct decision in a conversation. Conversation is ending? I need a little more confirmation in face expression or body language. Conversation needs to be extended? A little more confirmation from someone can confirm that the extension is wanted, and its not me just continually talking. I do a little more observing than I intend to. But that is necessary for me to accurately keep conversing. It sounds a little hard doesn’t it?
Okay, I’ve rattle on long enough. Let us finish this with repetitive behaviors. Many children with ASD will also engage in repetitive movements or unusual behaviors such as flapping their arms, rocking side to side or twirling7. They may engage in these activities at all hours of the day, sometimes without even realizing they are doing it. I personally do not have such behaviors, but I do tend to talk with my hand. Excessively. No one else in my family does that. But I will just move my hands in arcs when I talk. I have been told that it can be a little distracting at times. This is something that just happens. ASD individuals just do it, and stopping them from said action has consequences. See the meltdown section of the previous episode. Aside from repetitive actions, ASD individuals are also known for their routines.7 What are some examples? Waking up at the same time every day. Going to sleep at the same time every day. Wearing the same clothes every day, eating the same food every day. I like to call myself predictably predictable. At any given time of day, you can probably find me doing the same things day in and day out.
But wait, I hear you cry. I have a routine. How is this different from neurotypicals? Good point. You are correct. Routines are a part of everyone’s daily life. But everyone knows that life never goes the way you plan. There is always something that can disrupt the normal flow. That is a fact of our universe. Entropy. In an isolated system, all things move towards disorder. Things will always change. The different between ASD and neurotypicals, dear listeners, is the aftermath. When an obstacle gets in your way, what do you do? Do you A: cry, B: go back, C: go around it, or D: do nothing. Most people will do B or C. They walk it off. They will adapt. They will change. ASD individuals are not those people. I am not necessarily saying they will do A, but A and D are pretty close. Why is this though? Why do you think ASD individuals have such trouble? I think I have the answer.
Consider round pegs and round holes, and square pegs and square holes. A round peg cannot fit in a square hole, and a square peg cannot fit in a round hole. Neurotypical individuals can be either a round peg or a square peg, and they can change their shape depending on the situation. Atypicals are stuck as either a round peg or a square peg. They can fit into only one shaped hole. When they cannot, they do not know what to do. The only thing they can do is break down. The “Hive Mind” must also give individuals some sort of instructions to make this change easier. After all, no one would get anywhere without change. Change many be scary, change may be unwanted, and change may be uncomfortable. But, without change, none of us would be here today. We are all here after millions of years of change.
So, what did you learn today? Plenty. We talked about the two causes of ASD, genetics and environmental factors, and discussed the symptoms of ASD. Hopefully my two models helped you understand it a little bit better. The “Hive Mind” is my own creation, and I am proud of that one, but the square pegs and round holes, came from somewhere else. I do not know exactly where, I can’t say for certain it was all mine, or if took pieces from somewhere else and just ran with out.
Next time on Autism and Education, Science and Me we will take a break from some research and talk a little bit about the nature of Remote Instruction. Look forward to it.
Thanks for listening. At times, the stream of consciousness of an autistic person can be hard to follow. But keep in mind we try our best to learn and adapt. I hope today’s topic brought more insight into the mind of other people. Thanks for tuning in. Share with your friends, engage with others. Until then, I will still be here. Waiting in limbo until I record again. See you next class.
1. Bai, D., Yip, B. H., Windham, G. C., Sourander, A., Francis, R., Yoffe, R., . . . Sandin, S.
(2019). Association of genetic and environmental factors with autism in a 5-Country Cohort. JAMA Psychiatry, 76(10), 1035. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.1411
2. Bryda E. C. (2013). The Mighty Mouse: the impact of rodents on advances in
biomedical research. Missouri medicine, 110(3), 207–211.
3. Gilmore, H., MSW, BCBA. (2019, November 16). Levels of Autism: Understanding the
Different Types of ASD. Retrieved December 30, 2020, from
4. Kinney, D. K., Munir, K. M., Crowley, D. J., & Miller, A. M. (2008). Prenatal stress and risk
for autism. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 32(8), 1519–1532.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.06.004
5. Malkova, N. V., Yu, C. Z., Hsiao, E. Y., Moore, M. J., & Patterson, P. H. (2012). Maternal
immune activation yields offspring displaying mouse versions of the three core
symptoms of autism. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 26(4), 607–616.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2012.01.011
6. Masi, A., Demayo, M. M., Glozier, N., & Guastella, A. J. (2017). An Overview of Autism
Spectrum Disorder, Heterogeneity and Treatment Options. Neuroscience Bulletin, 33(2),
183-193. doi:10.1007/s12264-017-0100-y
7. NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (n.d.) Autism Spectrum
Disorder Fact Sheet [Fact Sheet]. Retrieved from