Autism, Epigenetics and Unconditional Love

Several clients have asked me what they can do before conception and during pregnancy to prevent autism in their future children. The short answer is that autism is not 100% preventable because there isn’t a way to erase all the risk factors altogether. However, there are modifiable nutritional and lifestyle factors (epigenetic variables) that can greatly reduce risk. Here is a summary of what I’ve learned and seen along the way through scientific articles, clinical experience and observation of the world around me. 

Epigenetics and Unconditional Love

It’s impossible to talk about autism risk without talking about epigenetics, and it’s impossible to talk about epigenetics without talking about unconditional love.

Epigenetics provides a lens to improve health and quality of life before conception even occurs. Don’t you just love the idea of leveraging the empowering aspects of epigenetics by starting wherever we are along the timeline and doing what we can to optimize our quality of life while being aware and appreciative of differences and uniqueness?

This is diametrically opposed to eugenics, which persecutes people who don’t meet some culturally defined standard of physical and/or mental “fitness.” If you’re getting ready to start or grow a family, step into a space where epigenetics and unconditional love are inextricably connected. It’s understandable if you’re afraid of having a child with autism, and to seek out a fool-proof way of preventing it.

However, there aren’t any guarantees. While you can lower the risk, you can’t completely eliminate it. Thus, unconditional love of your future child means openness to the idea that while you can give your child the best possible conditions, you can’t control everything. In other words, becoming a parent means embracing the unknowns and loving your child, no matter what. It means not blaming yourself if your child doesn’t meet your ideals or your family’s or your culture’s ideals. 

What are some of the risk factors for autism?

Autism is an incredibly complex and still poorly understood multi-factorial condition. We cannot fully prevent autism or any other widespread multi-factorial condition, but we can work on all of the modifiable variables within the list of known or suspected causative and contributing factors. There are likely combinations of factors from among the following that affect susceptibility to autism: 

• Genetics
• Epigenetics (environmental factors that alter the expression of DNA and can activate or de-activate latent susceptibilities)
• Toxic exposures – please be aware that nobody can fully avoid them, and that we each have a unique sensitivity threshold
• Immune dysregulation – autoimmune illnesses, and possibly some kinds of infections in utero
• Folate need and/or methylation issues
• Individual nutritional deficiencies and needs in mom and baby.

The Hypermobility-Autism Connection

Over the years, I've noticed in my nutritional therapy practice that there is an overlap both in individuals and in families between signs and symptoms associated with autism and those associated with joint hypermobility. For example, a lot of my female clients with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder and/or hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome have a child who is somewhere on the autism spectrum, and many of my clients with ASD are also hypermobile, or have a parent with hypermobility or a related condition, such as fibromyalgia. 

I’m not sure whether hypermobility is a causative factor for autism spectrum disorder, a downstream effect, or a bit of both. However, I've also noticed that my clients/families with hypermobility/ASD presentations tend to have issues with a combination of heavy metal toxicity and dysregulated essential minerals. I think that the poor digestive and immune function of people with hypermobility/ASD can be a set-up for the poor regulation of metals and minerals in the body, with repercussions for many areas of functional health. 

Putting it all together

While we can’t control all of the risk factors that might play into autism, there are many modifiable epigenetic factors that we can leverage in our environment, nutrition and lifestyle in order to reduce the risk. Nonetheless, all the wonderful work that goes into prevention efforts should always occur with a spirit of unconditional love rather than with the illusion of full control over the outcome.

Sara Russell is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner who works remotely with clients worldwide, specializing in complex health conditions. Sara approaches each client’s health goals foundationally, from a root-cause-oriented, bio-individual and client-centered perspective. You can learn more about Sara’s work at https://buildnurturerestore.com