Annotated Bibliography

Source 1:

Dryden-Edwards, R. (2015). What is Autism?: Autism Causes. Emedicine health: experts for
everyday emergencies. Retrieved from
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/autism/article_em.htm

The purpose of this article is to inform the basic information about autism. It starts by
explaining what it is, what are the probable causes, the signs and symptoms, the proper medical
care, and information about support groups or centers to help out the individuals and the family
as well. It is not a very specific article; it just gives overview information on each topic. It
provides general information but still somehow explains what autism is and some of its major
probable causes.

Since this source is from a normal-regular website with a .com termination, it tells us its
not very reliable. It is definitely not from a database, and there is no way to know that it was
peer-reviewed by professionals in the area prior to publication. It proved the author name,
however, it does not tell us about their credentials. Therefore, it cannot be considered a reliable
or extremely credible source, but it can be used as a reference.

Source 2:

Schofield, K. (2016). Autism, Chemicals, Probable Cause and Mitigation: A new Examination.
Autism-Open Access, 6(180), Retrieved from
http://www.omicsgroup.org/journals/autism-chemicals-probable-cause-and-mitigation-a-
new-examination-2165-7890-1000184.php?aid=78797

The purpose of this article is to inform and explain what can possibly be a cause for
autism. It does inform that since there is no actual cause for it, the people involved in this article
did an extremely new type of research. These researches decided to examine certain neurotoxins
that are in the pregnant mothers blood and consequently in the fetus blood as well. Their interest
was in especially two elements, Aluminum and Mercury. Therefore, they proceeded with their
research and explained their result.

This article is definitely a credible and reliable source. It is posted in the Autism-Open
Access database; therefore, it had to be peer-reviewed by experts prior to publication. Since it
also contains experimentation, research, and results, it does tell you that it is an accurate and
believable source. Therefore, it is an excellent article that can be used for any research paper.

Source 3:

Szczaluba, K. (2014). Diagnostics of the Genetic Causes of Autism Spectrum Disorders- A

clinical geneticists view. Psychiatria Polska, 48(4), 677-688. Retrieved from
 http://www.psychiatriapolska.pl/uploads/images/PP_4_2014/Eng_ver_677Szczaluba_Psy
chiatrPol2014v48i4.pdf

The purpose of this article is to prove what the genetic cause for autism is. This article
conducted a research in people who already have autism. The article shows information and
results about how autism can be caused genetically in a 10 to 13% of the cases.

This article is a reliable and credible source. This article was posted in the Poland
Psychiatric Database. Therefore, all the articles are peer-reviewed by experts in the field prior to
publication. Since the author of this article and several articles in the same database all work for
this psychiatric place in Poland, gives us the credentials that the author is an expert in the field as
well. Therefore, it is an excellent source for the research paper.

Source 4:

Yuen, R. & Scherer, S. (2016). Mssng study expands understanding of autisms complex
genetics. Autism Speaks: Mssng- changing the future of autism with open science.
Retrieved from https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/mssng-study-
expands-understanding-autisms-complex-genetics

This article talks about two researches that think that by doing genome sequencing, they
will be able to prevent autism. They believe that autism might have been caused during the few
stages of the pregnancy in the development of the brain. This is why they think that by doing
this, they will be able to monitor the pregnancy and prevent autism.

The article is posted in the autism speaks page, which is credible and reliable. This
website, with the termination .org, is an organization that is extremely involved with people who
have autism. Therefore it is reliable, since they have experts in autism who are in charge of the
entire organization.

Source 5:

Whiteman, H. (2015). Scientists discover how a gene mutation causes autism. Medical news
today: since 2003, Retrieved from
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/297844.php

This article talks about how there could possibly be a gene that causes autism. This
research and belief was made through a group of researches in the University Of North Caroline
School Of Medicine in Chapel Hill. It informs about their research and study, and how this is a
new and great discovery.

This article was posted in the medical news today website. This article doesnt offer
much information on the author, and since it has a termination of .com, it doesnt seem as
reliable as other sources. It doesnt prove that it was peer-reviewed by experts prior to
publication, but it does give information on who did the study, therefore, it could still be
considered a good reference.

Source 6:

Locwin, B., & Entine, J. (2016). Autism in our DNA?: Slew of studies points to genetics as main
driver, but there is no autism gene. Genetic literacy project: science not ideology.
Retrieved from https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2016/07/21/autism-in-our-dna-
slew-of-studies-points-to-genetics-as-main-driver-but-there-is-no-autism-gene/

This article informs about how autism can be genetic and why. It relates it with how a
pair of twins can have autism by explaining that if only one had the disorder, and then eventually
the other one was diagnosed with it, then it should be genetically related. It also explains that it
could possibly be a paternal link in the genetics.

This article provides vast information on the authors and their credentials. It also links
other articles written by the same authors. Both authors have several articles on different medical
issues; therefore, it shows that they are experts in the field. Since the article is also posted in a
.org termination website, it tells us its from an organization, which is from the genetic literacy
project organization.

Source7:

(2015). Study: Half of all autism cases trace to rare gene-disabling mutations. Autism speaks.
Retrieved from https://www.autismspeaks.org/science/science-news/study-half-all-
autism-cases-trace-rare-gene-disabling-mutations

This article also informs on how autism can possibly be genetic. It actually makes
reference to a previous article already mentioned, because they are somehow linked with each
other since it has the same topic. It also has to do with the MSSNG project as well.

This article is also posted in the autisspeaks.org website. This website and organization,
already previously mentioned, has a lot of valid and credible information about autism.
Therefore, this source is considered valid and reliable.

Source 8:

(2008). Gene Lost, Autism Gained: Loss of the Contactin 4 Gene May be Responsible for Some
Cases of Autism. The Tech: Museum of Innovation-Stanford at The Tech Understanding
Genetics. Retrieved from http://genetics.thetech.org/original_news/news80

This article is also informing and explaining how a specific gene can cause autism. This
article explains why they have this belief and explain their evidence as well. It does also relate to
the twins theory and how both kids may have autism.
 This article is posted in a genetic organization website. It would make us thing that it a
very reliable and credible source. However, it does not provide the authors name or their
credentials. Therefore, it could be skeptical to believe the information or not, even if it is
published in a reliable website.

Source 9:

Padawer, R. (2014). The Kids Who Beat Autism. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/magazine/the-kids-who-beat-autism.html?_r=1

This article is based on a particular case and how they experienced this throughout their
lives. It talks about how the mother reacted and how she dealt with it. Apparently, everything
seemed fine with her son, until later on he was diagnosed with autism. She had a belief this
would go away; in order to have her son back to normal, therefore, it is an emotional article.

This article is posted in the New York Times magazine. This magazine is very popular
and several people rely on its credibility and validity. It does provide some information about the
author, and even provides a link to talk to the author. However, since its a magazine and has a
.com termination, it is not as reliable like a database article.

Source 10:

(2016). What Causes Autism?. My Child Without Limits.org. Retrieved from

http://www.mychildwithoutlimits.org/understand/autism/what-causes-autism/

This article provides basic information on what is autism and its probable causes. This is
definitely written for the general public due to the fact that it provides very general information
that is easy to read. It doesnt go to specifics on the causes, but it is a good source to start the
introduction with.

The article is posted in an .org, which again is an organization. Therefore, it is a good

source, however, it does not include the authors name or credentials. Since it is basic knowledge
it all the information is accurate, it is safe to say it is a good source for a research paper.

Source 11:

(2015). What is Autism?: Causes. Autism Society. Retrieved from http://www.autism-

society.org/what-is/causes/

This article talks about general information about autism. It doesnt provide many
specifics about the causes either, but it does provide different links about the disorder. This was
definitely written for the general public with the purpose of informing.

The article is posted in the autism-society.org website. Therefore, it s a good source

because it does have experts in the field in charge of the organization. However, it does not
provide an author or its credentials. Therefore it is somehow skeptical in how reliable this source
could be, but it is a good source to use for general information.

Source 12:

(2007). Autism and genetics: Ways to get Autism that do not run in the Family. The Tech:
Museum of Innovation- Stanford at The Tech Understanding Genetics. Retrieved from
http://genetics.thetech.org/original_news/news49

This article provides information on how autism can be genetically linked. It mentions
that it could be a specific gene and provides its evidence. It does have very similar information
compared to the other articles, but it is because they believe in the same information.

This article was posted in the genetic organization website. Therefore, it does give the
article some credibility and authority. However, it does not provide an author or its credentials.
Therefore, it is somehow hard to use the source, but it is also posted on a good website.