When a Bon Ayr woman learned her son was autistic, she began investigating the disorder.

“From what I understand there are two kinds of autism. There is the kind that you can develop after you have shots and there is the kind that you’re born with,” said Dana Hall, whose son, Cameron, was diagnosed with autism when he was 18 months old.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting a child’s ability to interact socially and to communicate, said Dr. Wendy Stone, professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and director of the Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Hall believes the epidural she received prior to her son’s birth may have played a role in his condition, and thinks his condition worsened after he had his childhood vaccinations.

Some people believe a preservative, thimerosal, which contains mercury and is found in childhood vaccinations, is a causing agent in the development of autism.

But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there has not been enough evidence to link vaccines as a cause for autism.

Michael Aschner, also a professor at Vanderbilt University, says a number of studies have been conducted regarding vaccines and autism.

“The Institute of Medicine had a big study last year concluding there is no association between exposure of thimerosal, which is the preservative in the vaccine, and autism,” he said. To date there is no known cause for autism.

“We know it is a neurobiological disorder. We know it has to do with the way the brain develops,” Stone said, but other than that the cause of autism is a mystery.

Autism is most likely an interaction with genetics and the environment, Aschner said.

“It’s not just exposure to vaccines,” he said.

If autism was directly related to vaccines, everyone would be autistic because nearly everyone receives childhood vaccinations, said Aschner.

The average age in which parents usually become concerned about their children having autism is between 17 to 18 months.

“Some parents observe behaviors earlier and some don’t see behaviors until later,” Stone said.

Children with autism usually don’t have good social or communication skills.

“So, children don’t interact well,” she said. “They don’t communicate just for social reasons. They communicate when they want things and when they want you to do things for them, but not to share events or interests with them. So, bringing a scribble they’ve done to a parent is not something an autistic child would do.” An autistic child also tends not to make eye contact as often or at the same times as a non-autistic child.

“They may hand you a jar of bubbles, but they may not look at you while they do it,” Stone said.

There are different degrees of autism. Some children are more severely autistic than others.

“It’s like hair color,” she said. “You can have light brown hair and dark brown hair.”

If parents suspect their children are autistic, Stone said, it is important to get it identified early on and begin intervention as soon as possible.

“There is evidence of children who receive specialized intervention at an early age making very nice gains,” she said, adding they are able to improve their cognitive and social skills.

Several research projects are being conducted at TRIAD in regards to autism. Those projects involve sleep patterns, daytime behaviors, joint attention skills, genetics, parental well-being, as well as a few involving siblings of autistic children.

More information about autism and the research at TRIAD can be found by visiting www.triadatvanderbilt.com or the CDC by visiting www.cdc.gov, or by e-mailing TRIAD at triad@vanderbilt.edu.