Why is so much about autism unknown

PetiteQuark

Soo alot of my family members are autistic and well, my mums autistic and i guess so am i (i think im not sure if im formally diagnosdd) and i just realised why is so much about autism unknown like its causes and what it does exactly and how it happens, like why is it so complex? Also i dont understand why eye contact is so important either, i dont think its that big of a deal to not have eye contact

Azziman

Hi @PetiteQuark, thank you for sharing this. For the question on eye contact, the way I understand it is that physical elements or actions can act as proxies for someone's intentions, personality etc. Eye contact is normally associated with connection and trust - for example, eye contact is commonly cited as an important indicator of romantic attraction, and averting eye contact is commonly seen as a sign that you're not being truthful or honest. They're not fool-proof by any means though, but a lot of people do use them knowingly or unknowingly.

As for why not much is known about autism, I'd suspect there's a few things going on, though I'm not very well-versed in the topic myself. In terms of causes, lots of older theories have been found as not founded in science, and the current approach isn't really a clear and simple answer. Each person's experience of autism varies, which makes it more complex to have a simple and clear understanding, and probably makes it messier and slower from a research perspective to progress knowledge. It's also relatively recent in terms of medical history - 15 years ago, Autism Spectrum Disorder wasn't a formal term, and 50 years ago, autism wasn't an official diagnosis either - so there's been a smaller body of research as a result. It then takes time for that to filter through as "common knowledge" to GPs, hospitals etc. Someone else here can probably give a more informed insight, but that's my understanding of why it is where it is so far.