I just ran across this article, and it definitely merits study.
The Neanderthal theory of autism, Asperger and ADHD
This scholarly article seems to indicate that spectrum folk have retained quite a bit of DNA from Neanderthal ancestors, and this affects the way our brains work.
So, maybe we are a different species!
I’ll be using my B.A. in Anthropology to read this article — it’s pretty dense — and report back. Stay tuned …
……
On reading the report, it looks like the author’s analysis is quite weak. In many places in his study, he confuses correlation with causation:
Seasonal breading is common in primates. Left handedness is associated with birth during spring and summer. Autistics are more often left handed. It therefore seems likely that autistics are involved in seasonal breeding.
The above paragraph illustrates flawed logic (and poor spelling … the second word should be breeding).
In addition, he ascribes many traits to Neanderthals that we just can’t know are true, or do know are wrong. He claims they hibernated, ate a carnivorous diet, were furred, lived to 120 years old, etc. He links these traits directly with traits he claims are common in Spectrum people: seasonal affective disorder, wheat intolerance, more hair than NT people, delayed maturation. I’m finding this a stretch to believe.
The article continues with a large number of these correlations, and draws the conclusion from them that autistics have more Neanderthal genes that the normal population. Because these correlations are based on very weak data, I can’t support his conclusion, though it is very intriguing.
