FASD is a cause of Autism?

What Is Real Autism?
By Lisa Jo Rudy, About.com Guide
Updated January 08, 2010

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

Question: What Is Real Autism?
There's plenty of controversy over the question, "What is real autism?" If a child once had symptoms, but now no longer has symptoms, was it "real" autism to begin with? What if the symptoms were caused by a known issue, or started after a child turned three? Here are answers from a top expert, Dr. Susan Levy of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Answer: While the definition of "real" autism may seem elusive, in fact it's much simpler than you might imagine. If a child under the age of three develops symptoms which meet the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder, then that child is appropriately diagnosable on the autism spectrum. Period.

To clarify this point, I asked Dr. Susan Levy, a top autism expert at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia:

If a person has "autism-like" symptoms, does he or she have an autism spectrum disorder? That is, if a person has, for example, fetal alcohol syndrome with "autism-like" symptoms, does that person have autism caused by FAS, or FAS with autism-like symptoms, or a dual diagnosis?

Here is how Dr. Levy answered the question:
If they meet the criteria, they have autism. Those medical issues are the underlying cause. Autism is the end-product of different biological entities. FAS [fetal alcohol syndrome] may be a cause of autism. The medical issue may cause the problem. There could also be confounding issues that make diagnosis difficult. [It's also critical that] onset must be before age 3. if there are cognitive impairments after age 3, it's not autism - it's brain injury with autism-like symptoms.
Dr. Levy says, while about 80% of autism is idiopathic (of unknown cause), there are at present many known causes of autism including FAS, rubella, Fragile X Syndrome, and more. In addition, according to a a report published in Pediatrics in 2009 entitled "Prevalence of parent-reported diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder among children in the US, 2007," as many as 40% of children who received an autism spectrum disorder at some point in their lives are no longer diagnosable on the autism spectrum.

Sources:

Interview with Dr. Susan E. Levy, MD, Director, Regional Autism Center, Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, December 2009.

Rice, Catherine. "Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders." Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, United States, 2006.

__._,_.___