Talk:Autism

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Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Many of these questions have been raised in the scientific and popular literature, and are summarized here for ease of reference.

The main points of this FAQ can be summarized as:

  • Many common ideas about autism have been researched and either confirmed or refuted.
  • Wikipedia:Neutral point of view requires that minority views not be given undue emphasis.
  • Therefore it is against Wikipedia policy for views without scientific support, such as the belief that autism is caused by vaccination, to be presented as a controversy in a science article like autism.
References
  1. ^ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2008). "Outbreak of measles--San Diego, California, January-February 2008" (Full free text). MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report. 57 (8): 203–206. PMID 18305451.
  2. ^ Parker, A. A.; Staggs, W.; Dayan, G. H.; Ortega-Sánchez, I. R.; Rota, P. A.; Lowe, L.; Boardman, P.; Teclaw, R.; Graves, C.; Lebaron, C. W. (2006). "Implications of a 2005 Measles Outbreak in Indiana for Sustained Elimination of Measles in the United States". New England Journal of Medicine. 355 (5): 447–455. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa060775. PMID 16885548.
  3. ^ Glanz, J. M.; McClure, D. L.; Magid, D. J.; Daley, M. F.; France, E. K.; Salmon, D. A.; Hambidge, S. J. (2009). "Parental Refusal of Pertussis Vaccination is Associated with an Increased Risk of Pertussis Infection in Children". Pediatrics. 123 (6): 1446–1451. doi:10.1542/peds.2008-2150. PMID 19482753.
  4. ^ Williams, K.; Wray, J. A.; Wheeler, D. M. (2012). Williams, Katrina, ed. "Intravenous secretin for autism spectrum disorders (ASD)". The Cochrane Library. 4: CD003495. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003495.pub3. PMID 22513913.
  5. ^ Brown, M. J.; Willis, T.; Omalu, B.; Leiker, R. (2006). "Deaths Resulting from Hypocalcemia After Administration of Edetate Disodium: 2003-2005" (Full free text). Pediatrics. 118 (2): e534. doi:10.1542/peds.2006-0858. PMID 16882789.
  6. ^ Chiang, H. -M.; Lin, Y. -H. (2007). "Mathematical ability of students with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism: A review of literature" (Full free text). Autism. 11 (6): 547–56. doi:10.1177/1362361307083259. PMID 17947290.
Past discussions

For further information, see the numerous past discussions on these topics in the archives of Talk:Autism:

External links
Featured articleAutism is a featured article; it (or a previous version of it) has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Wikipedia community. Even so, if you can update or improve it, please do so.
Main Page trophyThis article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on August 24, 2005.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
December 31, 2004Peer reviewReviewed
August 3, 2005Peer reviewReviewed
August 10, 2005Featured article candidatePromoted
December 17, 2006Featured article reviewDemoted
July 24, 2007Good article nomineeListed
July 30, 2007Peer reviewReviewed
August 14, 2007Featured article candidatePromoted
Current status: Featured article

I don’t think cocaine and alcohol cause autism[edit]

As someone with autism, I am pretty sure that instead of causing autism, that cocaine and alcohol would do something else. I am not an expert about the causes of autism, but I am pretty sure that cocaine and alcohol would cause another disability or just result in death. Bubba2018 (talk) 01:47, 28 September 2018 (UTC)

@Bubba2018: The part about cocaine and alcohol is sourced, do you know of a source that says cocaine and alcohol don't cause autism? Just saying "I am pretty sure" without a reliable source to back you up is not a valid reason to change the article. Tornado chaser (talk) 02:03, 28 September 2018 (UTC)
Clarification: The article (as sourced) says that cocaine and alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy are "risk factors". That is to say women who use cocaine and/or alcohol during pregnancy are more likely to have children with autism. It does not mean drug use by the mother necessarily causes autism, only that mothers using EtOH/cocaine are more likely (as a group) to have children with autism.
Whatever the case, Reproductive Toxicology is a reliable source for the info. Is our wording of "risk factors" an appropriate wording for the source's "factors associated with"? While "risk factor" does not mean causative, would other wording be clearer/more appropriate? - SummerPhDv2.0 04:32, 28 September 2018 (UTC)

@SummerPhDv2.0, oh! Like I said I am not an expert on the causes! No, I don’t have a source but I heard that the causes were unknown. Bubba2018 (talk) 02:28, 29 September 2018 (UTC)

It's a correlation. Some correlations are because one thing causes another (like smoking and lung cancer). Others are further down the line (people who use smoker's toothpaste have higher rates of lung cancer than people who use regular toothpaste, but only because they tend to be smokers). Still others are unrelated or tangential connected.
Causes of autism are not known. Several correlations are known. - SummerPhDv2.0 04:38, 29 September 2018 (UTC)
  • I reworded the lede “caused” to “associated with”. “Cause” is a very strong conclusion requiring strong evidence, and is not supported by the references. Ref 4 uses “results from”, which is stronger than “associated with” but is well short of “caused by”. A key point in all reliable sources is the lack of certainty. —SmokeyJoe (talk) 05:31, 29 September 2018 (UTC)

Speech therapy[edit]

"People with ASDs have deficits in social communication, and treatment by a speech-language pathologist usually is appropriate."[1] Why was this removed? Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 03:52, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

I just mentioned the importance of services being carried out by behavior analysts, speech pathologists, special education teachers, and licenced psychologists in the treatment section. No reason to be in the infobox or lead. ATC . Talk 21:47, 31 October 2018 (UTC)
Yes a speech language pathologist is typically one of the key specialists involved.[2]
The 2007 Pediatrics paper says "People with ASDs have deficits in social communication, and treatment by a speech-language pathologist usually is appropriate."
This is greater evidence than any of the meds mentioned.
But sure we can mention "Early behavioral interventions" first Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 06:31, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
I still do not think their is relevance to mention speech therapy in the lead because under the "speech and language therapy" category of the Pediatrics source, all the therapies listed - "DTT, verbal behavior, natural language paradigm, pivotal response training, milieu teaching" - derive from the field of behavior analysis not speech pathology. Speech therapies would include, i.e., PROMPT (Prompts for Restructuring Oral Muscular Phonetic Targets), Articulation Therapy, Kaufman Speech to Language Protocol, etc. (none of which are recommended by the AAP, Surgeon General, or US National Research Council).
The next two sentences following "People with ASDs have deficits in social communication, and treatment by a speech-language pathologist usually is appropriate," states: "However, traditional, low-intensity pull-out service delivery models often are ineffective, and speech-language pathologists are likely to be most effective when they train and work in close collaboration with teachers, support personnel, families, and the child's peers." What the Pediatrics source implies is that unless the speech pathologist is also a behavior analyst, speech pathologists should mainly consult and train other behavior analysts, special education teachers, and licensed psychologists when it comes to, i.e., incorporating oral motor imitation or tactile prompts into the Discrete Trials (DTT), but low-intensity speech related services (i.e., Articulation Therapy, Kaufman Speech to Language Protocol) are not beneficial enough for all the skills that need to be taught based on the intensity provided (or very few hours of traditional speech therapy). While speech therapy can be be helpful if offered on the side, they should not be the main course of treatment, and therefore, there is no relevance for it in the lead. ATC . Talk 20:18, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
Disagree. Speech therapy is much more a core part of treatment than medications. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 21:20, 3 November 2018 (UTC)

Medications[edit]

Are not a primary treatment "Current evidence-based pharmacotherapy options in children with ASD are very limited, and many have substantial adverse events. Clinicians should use pharmacotherapy as a part of comprehensive treatment, and judiciously weigh risks and benefits."[3]

They are occasionally used for associated symptoms but poorly supported. Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 03:56, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

Behavioral therapy[edit]

A number of types are used and thus linking to the board category in the overview of the topic in question is perfectly appropriate. This ref for example discusses the use of CBT for associated anxiety.[4] Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 18:47, 31 October 2018 (UTC)

I left CBT in the infobox as it has some evidence of effectiveness in older children with autism who have co-morbid anxiety. Although ABA and CBTs often overlap in theories in techniques (especially in counseling), the reason why I listed ABA and CBT seperately is because people often refer to ABA as the Early Behavioral Interventions (EBIs) - structured and naturlisric teaching interventions for young kids with autism - which is completley seperate from CBT, as it is more related to counseling. CBT (without the "s" at the end) is often used synonymously with Cognitive Therapy which is not really behavioral; it's just the branding name. ATC . Talk 21:59, 31 October 2018 (UTC)
They can be well summarized as "behavioral therapy" as the term encompases both "ABA" and "CBT" Doc James (talk · contribs · email) 05:28, 1 November 2018 (UTC)

New section[edit]

I suffer from Autism and personally I think stacking bricks is more related to OCD than Autism and also Autism more than likely is NOT caused by alcohol and drugs, because my parents didn't take any

Kieran R. Halfpenny (talk) 22:54, 12 November 2018 (UTC)

@Kieran R. Halfpenny: New comments actually go at the bottom, so I have moved your comment here.
wikipedia is based on reliable sources, not editors' personal experience, so you will need to find a reference for the fact that stacking bricks is associated more with OCD that autism, and the article doesn't say that the only cause of autism is parental substance abuse, just that this increases the likelihood that the baby will have autism. Tornado chaser (talk) 00:10, 13 November 2018 (UTC)