The Neurodevelopment of Autism:
Recent Advances
George W. Niemann
President, Bancroft Institutes
Haddonfield, New Jersey, USA
Introduction
During the past several decades researchers have been trying to show that people with autism have definitive brain damage. However, despite the use of more sophisticated brain scanning and imaging methods that have recently become available, there is no evidence of "brain damage" per se. As Bauman (1993), who has conducted some of the most thorough and detailed neuroanatomical examination of human brains from autopsy material has stated "there is no evidence of "brain damage" in the usual sense." Earlier Tsai (1989) had come to a similar conclusion when he reported that "results from neuropathological and brain imaging studies strongly suggest that the cerebral defect in autism is microscopic or functional, without gross neuroanatomical pathology."
Bachevalier (1994) in a very comprehensive review of numerous studies looking for cortical malformations, concluded that, " a direct role in the pathogenesis of autism seems unlikely" because no malformations confined to any specific area of the cortex could be found and they were not even present in most subjects. Yet, despite these convincing conclusions, researchers continue to look for the "holes" in the brain. Unfortunately, this kind of zealous search for neuroanatomic defects predisposes most of us to think that all people with autism must somehow be deficient because, after all, they must have damaged brains and it will only be a matter of time until technological advances produce higher resolution techniques that might find the "holes" or other anomalies in their brains.
This article argues that it is time to take a different approach and that there is much more hope for remediating the autistic brain than once thought because of recent neuroscientific findings. Fortunately, recent discoveries in the way the brain develops, from the moment of conception and during the early years, provide greater insight into the construction timetable of the human brain and the capacities and limitations imposed on behavioral and other interventions. Rather than being seen as a static event, it is important to keep in mind that the development of the brain is a dynamic process that is constantly evolving and changing in concert with the environment in which the child is placed. The limiting factors are both the biological structure of the brain as well as the environment. Limiting either one will compromise human potential. Conversely, enriching both will enhance the road to developing an individual"s full potential. This paper explores the manner in which the brain develops from the point of conception, key developmental events that may be crucial to understanding the behavior of a child with autism, and the need to provide the most conducive environment to enrich brain functioning early in life and maximize the functional capacity of the individual with autism.

Neurodevelopmental Process

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