Put simply, we do not know exactly what causes autism. It is likely to be genetic and may be hereditary but as yet the evidence of a gene or genes responsible for autism hasn’t been found.
Although we don’t know the causes, we do know what doesn’t cause autism: vaccines. In 1998 Andrew Wakefield published a paper in the Lancet stating there was evidence of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism, a link that was never proven and was completely disingenuous at the time (he was being paid by people filing lawsuits again vaccine manufacturers – conflict of interest much?). Unfortunately it took 12 years for the Lancet to retract the article so the damage was done.
There are a number of other suggested causes of autism, none of which I will post here as all of them suggest that blame can be laid with parents or medical professionals, not views I want to give the light of day.
When thinking about the causes of autism it does lead to another question: Cure… if I could take Victoria’s autism away from her… would I? Perhaps surprisingly given the challenges she and we face daily my answer is an emphatic “no!” Remember when I said Victoria has autism but isn’t autistic? Her autism is a part of who she is but not what she is and to take away any part of her would be to change her which is obviously something I would never wish to do. The main reason for setting up this site is to raise awareness to the fact that we are all different and those differences should be embraced, supported and respected regardless of whether they fit inside social norms or not.