Nedan finns en bit av en amerikansk text om vad som orsakar autism. Jag citerar den inte för att den är anmärkningsvärd i någon som helst mening, tvärtom. Den är extremt typisk. Den kan sammanfattas så här: Ingen vet.
Men pratar man med folk som har AS verkar det finnas ett/något fenomen bakom definitioner och kriterier. De flesta av oss känner igen fenomenet. Men riktigt vad det är verkar slinka/glida/halka bort. Litet grann som våta tvålar.
Så där står vi med våra upplevelser och tankar och känslor med och inför detta fenomen. Fenomenet definieras av vissa av våra beteenden. Men inte alla. Vi
VET att vi är litet annorlunda. Och oftast på vilka sätt. Men i övrigt vet vi inte, och ingen annan heller.
http://www.asatonline.org/about_autism/causesautism.htm"At this time, the exact cause of autism remains uncertain, but research suggests that any one of several factors may be involved in its onset: genetic factors, possible environmental influences; certain types of infections; problems before, during, or after birth. Some studies suggest the possibility of a disruption of very early brain development, before birth.
There is extensive past and ongoing research intending to delineate the causes of autism.
Increased frequency of occurrence of autism within families supports a probable genetic contribution to the disorder; however, it is very unlikely that any one single genetic defect will explain all cases of autism. Observations that the identical twins of an individual with autism has only about a 60% chance of also having autism, lead to the conclusion that genetics alone do not explain the condition. Ongoing research is seeking to find out if a genetic predisposition to autism may be triggered to develop into autism by the occurrence of certain environmental, infectious, immunological, and other conditions or events.
At this time, there is no evidence that specific toxins in the environment, immunization practices, dietary differences, or immunologic differences cause autism. It is quite likely that some combination of genetic, neuropathologic, and environmental agents will explain the etiology of autism, and that the etiology may vary from one individual to another.
Since the definition of autism is a behavioral definition, meaning that it is solely defined through a certain constellation of behaviors, and not through biological tests, it is quite likely that different types of conditions could result in similar behavioral manifestations among individuals. For instance, in some specific disease entities, such as Fragile X syndrome, untreated phenylkotonuria, and other specific genetic disorders, affected individuals have the behavioral characteristics of autism."