Originally Posted by Libertine

My view is that there is probably no connection whatsoever between the two. It's a classic case of people mistaking correlation for causation.

Autism is most likely caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, possibly with environmental factors triggering a genetic predisposition.

Over the past few decades, a few major things have changed in the way we live our lives.

First, there's the issue of improved diagnostic tools, methods and criteria. A kid who would now be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder would have been considered retarded, socially awkward, anti-social or eccentric in the past, depending on which specific disorder is present. Both parents and doctors are more likely to recognize symptoms and to take action. That alone would be responsible for a huge boom in diagnosed cases.

Keep in mind that people with milder forms of autism, like Asperger's or PDD NOS, can often function fairly well without any medical intervention.

Second, our environment has changed significantly in recent times. There are numerous types of pollution out there now that simply didn't exist a few hundred years ago, and our activities are radically different from what they were just a few decades ago. With many thousands of environmental factors changing, it's not exactly unthinkable that any combination of those might play some role in triggering autistic characteristics.

Of course, that's not exactly a satisfying conclusion for people whose child has a disorder that can be quite serious. "We just don't know what causes it yet" is something few people want to hear. "Vaccines did it!" is a simple, understandable alternative. It gives people something to blame, and an explanation.

Unfortunately, this particular explanation simply isn't backed up by the many studies that have been done on it. For a while, there were some indications that it might be a significant contributing factor, but with more studies, it turned out to be a dead end.

Now, the sad part is that all the hype about this particular theory is drawing away funds and attention from more productive lines of research into autism.