Autism Physiology

I shall give you an educated perspective on what I understand of the decades of research into autism has provided for us. I truly believe in autism as a few sub types, their mechanisms physiologically speaking differ and can cause large fluctuation in traits shown. I don't wish to rewrite the diagnosis of people, I only wish to enlighten people on the pathways that lead to all types of autism. These are:

• Hormonal Autism (HA) – This subtype of autism has its origin in the body of a developing fetus. The initial stage likely occurs within the first trimester of pregnancy, and its occurrence is sparked by a rising androgenic/testosterone hormone within the mother. This can happen for a number of reasons, namely stress, genetic predisposition (family history of pituitary or other hormonal imbalances, endometriosis, PCOS) or other sicknesses that affect the hormonal regulation.

  
  As the hormone androgens rise from Leydig cells at approximately 9 weeks, genetic sexing of the baby occurs. This most often creates a male baby, however sometimes a female is born if those levels are borderline. At this same time, the brain is also being formed. However, through an unknown mechanism, too much androgen or testosterone is present. This starts to damage fatty tissues and structures of which the brain has a composition of 60% fat. Leptin, a hormone noted as a “fat burning” hormone is produced in the woum also during pregnancy. I recognize a link in this process to that of hormone imbalances and other hormonal sicknesses, and that I suppose could also be a link to autism conditions as well as perhaps other learning difficulties.

The brain notes the fat loss, producing a compensatory reaction. This compensatory reaction occurs approximately during the second trimester. This may also result in the chemical imbalances noted in later life of people on the spectrum. The brain produces cells in the areas affected, of which was examined by the works of Velmeshev in 2019, and of course those before him who examined the donated brain tissues of people on the spectrum. The degrees upon which the new tissues reprogram or express themselves will then decide on the type of autism noted and its affects on the person. These have been noted as smaller but more numerous amounts of cells in one area, and larger but fewer cells in another area of the brain. Therefore, Hormonal Autism (HA) is considered a mostly male type of autism due to the hormones involved. However, the timing and release or build-up of those fat damaging hormones will determine the sex of the baby itself. It was shown androgens present between sexually opposite twins (male and female) have been observed to show male led differences in the female, so if twins are able to represent the possibility of sexual morphism despite hormonal influence, it shows how females on the spectrum have this possibility too.

• Maternal Immune Activation Autism (MIAA) – a number of scientific studies have shown a link between a mother's immune system can be a significant cause of development of autism. Boulanger-Bertolus et al (2018) related that a number of factors could play into this including: Infection, psychosocial stress, maternal psychopathology and high body mass index. This causes the developing brain to struggle, and to become damaged as the brain of a developing fetus is incredibly delicate. This is not something many people should worry about however, as MIAA is usually related to the next type of autism, however not always hence its separate category.

• Genetic and Environmental Inherited Autism (GEIA) – This can be passed from a person who has autism onto their children, or very least provides the genetic coding responsible if the correct environmental triggers are present. This subset of autism follows the pathway of HA, however no physical damage occurs in the brain of the developing baby. The brain forms differently, following the genetic pathway of the parental genetic materials. You may observe people with this autism type to share common problems with their parent or familial genetic connection. The sex of the baby plays no role in this and females on the spectrum will likely struggle with hormonal imbalances in varying degrees. Due to passing down of traits, females who are often good at social masking, they are often noted as being difficult to diagnose. Also I want to note here, people with a genetic category of autism are far more likely to show coping mechanisms that help mask the condition. This I attribute to simple evolution at play amongst generations with the condition passed down.
  
  

• Traumatic Autism (TA) – Occurring when brain damage happens during damage to the head or even perhaps the HPA axis. The compensatory reaction afterwards then creates the rewiring of the brain in a way that shows autistic traits. Another form of this traumatic autism can occur during childbirth, whereby the placenta or umbilical cord may be entangled around the baby, causing a starvation of oxygen and thus causing neurological cell death. Again, sex of the person involved with this autism type is likely equally distributed. People have shown no previous autism traits, however after a vehicle accident where brain or spinal cord damage is created, they were later diagnosed with autism as a result.

The physiology of autism and its complexities is fascinating. Just as we may never know if someone has one or the other subset of autism, we must provide the correct support level to those involved. An important and interesting question is, do people have any differences in need based upon these subsets?

That draws us forwards to our next topic where we will discuss the best environments for people with autism in general, and how these things can aid in their support. People on the spectrum often have hypersensitivity to sensory information. That could be foods, light levels, sounds, textures and smells and much more also. Every person is different and it is important to understand their triggers because if you know the trigger, you can stop the suffering for everyone.