Why are there so many special needs kids?

amother

Lightgray

Fri, Jan 14 2022, 2:43 am

amother [ Cherry ] wrote:

It's any virus making your kid have autism. .

Interesting. If that is true, we would expect a lower incidence of autism in 1st borns (a pregnant woman with no children will be exposed to far, far fewer viruses than a pregnant woman with a preschooler in almost all cases), and a lower incidence of autism in children born after large gaps vs small gaps (a 3rd grade sibling brings home fewer viruses than a preschool sibling).

Just anecdotally, I don't find that to be true (actually I know more 1st borns with autism), but of course that doesn't prove anything.

On the other hand, just anecdotally, autism seems more rare among homeschooling families (whose kids would be exposed to far fewer viruses).

amother

Blush

Fri, Jan 14 2022, 8:11 am

I did not read the whole thread. I used to work with higher functioning special needs children who were on the spectrum or had ADHD. Very often I noticed a lot of similar features in their (likely never diagnosed) parents. So the only real difference is that their children received a diagnosis and are now getting the help that their parents could have used.

amother

Clematis

Fri, Jan 14 2022, 9:07 am

amother [ Lightgray ] wrote:

Any cause of maternal immune activation , or immune activation in the child, can potentially cause a cascade of event that would lead to autism *in susceptible individuals*. It’s not about how many viruses they are exposed to, it’s about how regulated or dysregulated their immune system is, and the state of their blood brain barrier, and various other factors.

amother

Clematis

Fri, Jan 14 2022, 9:07 am

amother [ Lightgray ] wrote:

Interestingly, I just Googled it, and 1st borns are MORE likely to have autism.

Mothers chelate into their fetuses, so first borns get a lot more toxic load from their mothers then subsequent children.