Perhaps it could be said that autism is a collection of symptoms, rather than a cause? But I suppose the same thing goes for many disorders. I kind of get the impression that it's the degree to which a person is able to or finds it important to mirror the behavior of people around them.
Autism is an inherited (i.e., genetic, and therefore a vaccine argument is immensely dumb) developmental disorder. It occurs as a result of a child's brain "locking" neural pathways in to place earlier than would otherwise occur in a healthy child, meaning that the autistic child has not had enough time for unnecessary pathways to be culled.
The result is often slightly improved cognitive skills, but impaired social development, and sensory hypersensitivity. The severity of these symptoms will vary depending on the individual, hence the term
autism spectrum disorder.
I'm at the high-functioning Asperger's Syndrome end of the spectrum, and would be very upset if someone told me I should be eugenicsed, although I certainly wouldn't wish it on somebody else. I can only imagine how hard it is for people with severe autism, and the people around them.
The other thing I take issue with are idiot parents who insist that their autistic child isn't disabled or in any way unhealthy. Treating them like a normal child
will be severely detrimental. They
will need extra attention and education.
Spoiling them because they're unironically "special" will
also be severely detrimental, in the same way it's detrimental for any child (any anyone who has to deal with the spoiled brat).
...
Wow, I'm on rant-roll tonight. I wonder what the next one will be about >.>