Autism as a prediction deficit? - Gifted Issues Discussion Forum

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Autism is characterized by many different symptoms: difficulty interacting with others, repetitive behaviors, and hypersensitivity to sound and other stimuli. MIT neuroscientists have put forth a new hypothesis that accounts for these behaviors and may provide a neurological foundation for many of the disparate features of the disorder.

The researchers suggest that autism may be rooted in an impaired ability to predict events and other people�s actions. From the perspective of the autistic child, the world appears to be a �magical� rather than an orderly place, because events seem to occur randomly and unpredictably. In this view, autism symptoms such as repetitive behavior, and an insistence on a highly structured environment, are coping strategies to help deal with this unpredictable world.

I don't really know what to make of this article or this theory. It is definitely interesting, but I don't know if it makes sense. What say you all?

A theory that accurately describes a single, unifying cause of a complex set of end symptoms would be a major breakthrough. So far, all we've been able to do is help them develop mechanisms to cope with the end symptoms as they're presented. This could open the door, down the road, to holistic solutions.

It's interesting that the little bit of data they've managed to produce regarding the areas of the brain that get involved with prediction are the same areas that show different structures in autistic brains.

It's a hypothesis with a lot of promise, but it's still just a hypothesis.

In the opposite direction "Schizophrenia is eight different diseases, not one" http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/15/genetic-cause-schizophrenia/15535557/
I wouldn't be surprised if a similar thing is true for autism.

I much prefer the intense world theory, this idea doesn't seem quite right to me. But I'm not a researcher or a doctor, or psychologist...

Originally Posted by ElizabethN

Autism as a disorder of prediction

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Autism is characterized by many different symptoms: difficulty interacting with others, repetitive behaviors, and hypersensitivity to sound and other stimuli. MIT neuroscientists have put forth a new hypothesis that accounts for these behaviors and may provide a neurological foundation for many of the disparate features of the disorder.

The researchers suggest that autism may be rooted in an impaired ability to predict events and other people�s actions. From the perspective of the autistic child, the world appears to be a �magical� rather than an orderly place, because events seem to occur randomly and unpredictably. In this view, autism symptoms such as repetitive behavior, and an insistence on a highly structured environment, are coping strategies to help deal with this unpredictable world.

I don't really know what to make of this article or this theory. It is definitely interesting, but I don't know if it makes sense. What say you all?

Dubious.

I think they are looking at a middle set of symptoms and secondary brain activity and deluding themselves into thinking they are at a primary cause level. The closest to primary I've seen is the mini-column cortex research which offers at least a partial cause perspective.

However, the mini-column size/distribution doesn't seem to be a sufficient cause. Combined with "intense world"/saturated sensory information seems to give a pretty good range of coverage. I think ultimately the fuzzy boundaries and symptoms are an overlap of 3 to 4 different brain variants, none of which are singularly an issue a few are related to giftedness.

My husband is on Autism Spectrum and I've read a lot on it, and have had in-depth conversations for support and educational purposes with many women with AS partners (all very intelligent professional women, just to avoid the hysterical bickering wife impression). While I will always say people with Autism have varying degrees of how their behaviours manifest as much as people without Autism are all different, this description as a core definition sounds very spot on.

To say "Autism is a disorder of prediction" sounds like it's just a different wording on what's already been speculated. I don't know as a theory, but it definitely does not sound too far off. It does explain some things elegantly.