The National Autistic Society (NAS) has stated definitely for the first time that autism is genetic, after a review of high-quality research and evidence.
The organisation revealed its conclusions on its website this week, and said the revelation was important “in light of the daily challenge of false claims about autism in the media and politics in the UK and the US.”
In a blog, Dr Judith Brown the NAS’s head of autism knowledge and expertise said: “You’re born autistic and you’re autistic for life.”
She urged schools, employers and healthcare professionals to instigate better assessment and support “to create a society that truly works for autistic people”.
Quality research and evidence
Brown said that her team looked at the available research and evidence about what causes autism, and analysed 99 individual sources, including 83 research papers.
“We want to give people a clearer answer, and what we found makes that very easy,” she said.
“Most autistic people are autistic because of genes they got from their parents. This is why autism often runs in families. Much less commonly, other factors can play a role, but usually in combination with genes from parents.
“There isn’t a single ‘autism gene’. Thousands of genes combine to make a person autistic. Scientists have identified many of these genes, but they think there are still many more to find.
“And there is no genetic test for autism. We don’t fully understand how genes combine to make a person autistic. It is complex and no simple test can give an accurate answer.
“Genetic testing cannot predict whether a child will be autistic or not, and it can’t be used to diagnose someone as autistic.”
Brown said that, until recently, ideas about what causes autism have been vague and subject to misinformation.
Most autistic people are autistic because of genes they got from their parents
Last year the Trump administration in the US made claims about paracetamol use in pregnancy and more recently has repeated inaccurate information about vaccines. The claims over vaccines were discredited decades ago, and no evidence has been found about a link with pain killers.
Brown added that beyond inherited genes there were two established factors that increase the likelihood of autism – rubella, also known as German measles, and exposure to anti-seizure medication in pregnancy.
In very rare instances, spontaneous genetic changes can also increase the likelihood of autism.
Absence of information
Brown said it had proved difficult to convince people that vaccines and pain killers had nothing to do with autism in the absence of information about what does cause it.
She said the organisation was confident of its findings as the published evidence had been judged against quality assurance criteria.
“We shared our review of the research with a panel of 300 autistic people and family members.,” Brown added. “The majority (64%) of our panel of autistic people and their families felt this information would help dispel myths about the causes of autism.
“We shared our review with a panel of 300 autistic people and family members. The majority felt it would help dispel myths about the causes of autism.
“But many expressed concern that this could lead to parental guilt or blame, even though no one controls the genes you get from your parents – it is the same way you get your hair or eye colour. After decades of prejudice and stigma, how could they not be concerned?
“Autistic people and their families want future research to focus on the priorities of autistic people, rather than ‘treatments’ or ‘cures’.
“There is no ‘cure’ for autism and most autistic people (and many others) believe there is no need for a cure or for any kind of therapy to ‘treat’ autism.
“This does not mean that autistic people do not face challenges, but with the right support in place, they can live fulfilling and happy lives.”
