Enhanced Motion Detection in Autism May Point to Underlying Cause of the Disorder

[creekland]

Some may find this recent study on autism interesting:

 

http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=6332

 

I wonder where it will lead... is it merely a correlation or could one cause the other (either way)?

[Alenee]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting.

[jelbe5]

Interesting. We are all four eyes in my household, except for the boy. He has really scary, could be in the Air Force, better than 20/20 vision. For years he used only his peripheral vision. He is expert at quickly seeing things I don't want him to see and seeing things we miss. He is really an "eagle eye".

[Crimson Wife]

Interesting, though I suspect it will only be true for a subset of kids with ASD. My little one is a sensory seeker rather than an avoider.

 

I actually think that ASD is a bit of a "kitchen sink" label akin to "fever". Just like there are many different underlying biomedical causes to fever, I believe that there are many different underlying biomedical causes for the symptoms described as ASD.

[Dandelion]

Very interesting.

 

This fits right in with the "Intense World Theory" of autism. When I first came across that theory a couple years ago, it really made sense to me. The premise is that the brains of autistic individuals are wired such that they are prone to hyper-perception, hyper-attention, hyper-memory, and hyper-emotionality. This leads to the individual becoming overwhelmed by sensory stimuli, and either focusing on fragments of the world (viewed by neurotypical people as autistic "obsessions") or shutting down completely as a way to cope with a painfully intense world.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[creekland]

Very interesting.

 

This fits right in with the "Intense World Theory" of autism. When I first came across that theory a couple years ago, it really made sense to me. The premise is that the brains of autistic individuals are wired such that they are prone to hyper-perception, hyper-attention, hyper-memory, and hyper-emotionality. This leads to the individual becoming overwhelmed by sensory stimuli, and either focusing on fragments of the world (viewed by neurotypical people as autistic "obsessions") or shutting down completely as a way to cope with a painfully intense world.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

The more I see of IWT, the more I fully agree with it...

 

My own "aspie" boy has the best eyesight of the family. He is closer to "normal" than autistic (on the spectrum), so all I'm doing at this moment is pondering the possibilities. They intrigue me though, and the more I understand, the easier the "different" parenting is.

[celticmom]

Interesting.

[Laurie4b]

Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

[Onceuponatime]

Interesting. Just to add a little something to this, I'm taking an online course called Genes and the Human Condition. There have been amazing strides in figuring out what causes various anomolies in human behavior based on the relatively new field of epigenetics. It has been found that environmental factors, such as parental lifestyle before the child's conception and and environmental toxins in the child's life can affect the tendencies and functions of certain genes. One of the latest findings is that exposure to Bisphenol-A seems to have direct correlation with autism. The BPA affects the way certain genes turn on or off which causes many of the changes/symptoms that are often associated with autism.

[Susan in TN]

That is interesting. When ds was in neurodevelopmental therapy, one of the most important factors was strengthening his central vision and eliminating the use of peripheral vision as much as possible (especially when it involved stimming or repetitive motion that involved the use of peripheral vision, which can stimulate endorphin production.)

[creekland]

Interesting. Just to add a little something to this, I'm taking an online course called Genes and the Human Condition. There have been amazing strides in figuring out what causes various anomolies in human behavior based on the relatively new field of epigenetics. It has been found that environmental factors, such as parental lifestyle before the child's conception and and environmental toxins in the child's life can affect the tendencies and functions of certain genes.

 

Middle son has a genetics course next fall. I find myself wishing I could sit in on it. Genetics has come a long way since the basic Punnet Squares and a handful of known genetic diseases (which is where it was way back when I was in school). I find myself really glad there are researchers out there making strides in it.