Final Research Topic

In my final research paper, the question I want to answer is what do I believe is the the real etiology of autism. There isn't a set in stone cause of the disorder, but I feel that it is important I decide which theory of autism to support. I am familiar with the disorder and learned about it in the past, yet I didn't have enough information to state my opinion until I completed my research. I came across two theories that had the most relevant information. The theories are known as congenital and regressive autism. Those who support congenital believe that autism is caused by abnormals genes or altered chromosomal patterns. The onset of the disorder is seen at the time of birth, therefore only caused by factors prior to birth. Regressive autism is drastically different, where the onset of the disorder doesn't appear until after the first few years of the child's life. Factors related to this theory would be present postnatal and due to the environment. With a bit more information on these theories, I decided which I wanted to support. With that said, I believe the developmental disorder of autism is caused by prenatal and perinatal factors that affect the genetic makeup of an individual.

As I previously stated, I had already had prior knowledge of autism before researching. In all of my speech and education classes, I have studied it in some form. Mainly I have learned the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and educational services needed for children with autism. These individuals lack communication, language, and social skills. They seem to be extremely introverted and have a hard time engaging socially. However, this is disorder is a bit unique due to the vast range of diagnosis. The disorder is seen in forms of mild to extreme autism. Therefore, the term autism spectrum disorder is used to classify cases of autism because of the different forms. In addition to studying these aspects of autism, I briefly explored (by briefly I mean little to none) the possible causes of the disorder. Since it's a debatable topic I didn't learn much about it.

In addition, I needed to find information on the opposing theory, regressive autism, to make arguments that favor my opinion. This goes in hand with the information I needed to look up for the opposing arguments. This is the only other theory that I will state in my paper. Lastly, this is an up to date list of the sources I am using in my paper. This list will probably grow longer within the next couple weeks.

Goin-Kochel, Robin P.; Myers, Barbara J. “Congenital Versus Regressive Onset of Autism

            Spectrum Disorders: Parent’s Beliefs About Causes.” Focus on Autism and Other

            Developmental Disabilities. Fall 2005. 1 Mar. 2011.

Mooney, Chris. “VACCINATION nation.” Discover. Discover, June 2009. Web. 1 Mar. 2011

Spence, M. Anne; Flodman, Pamela. “Nuclear and Mitochondrial Genome Defects in Autism.”

            Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Jan. 2009. 1 Mar. 2011.