Jill Escher
| Jill Escher | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1965 (age 50–51) Los Angeles, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of California Berkeley |
| Occupation |
Lawyer Investor Philantrophist |
| Known for | The Escher Fund for Autism |
| Board member of | President of Autism Society of San Francisco |
| Website |
www |
| Autism rights movement |
|---|
Jill Escher is an autism philanthropist, real estate investor, former lawyer, and mother of two children with nonverbal autism. She founded the Escher Fund for Autism in 2011. She is widely noted for her autism causation work.[1]
Inspired by her children’s autism diagnoses and her personal exposure history, she came up with a hypothesis that fetal exposures to pharmaceuticals or tobacco may lead to mutation or epimutation in early sperm or egg, causing a significant increase in the rate of neurodevelopmental dysregulation in resulting offspring. This is known as the "time bomb" hypothesis of autism. Each year, the Escher Fund for Autism awards scientists grants to investigate this hypothesis. Escher discovered that her mother took heavy and continuous dosses of synthetic steroid hormone drugs when pregnant with her. Escher believes these intensive exposures subtly damaged her eggs, resulting in severe idiopathic autism in her son and daughter.[2] Escher is a longtime supporter of and collaborator with Autism Speaks.[3][4] Escher claims that the increase in the rate of autism in recent times is not because of shifting diagnostic characteristics, writing that it is actually harder to get diagnosed than it used to be.[5]
Escher has criticized the book Neurotribes by Steve Silberman. She claimed that while autistic people deserved more respect as individuals, the book falsely portrayed autistic people on the whole as highly talented. In reality, she stated that most autistic people will not even be able to achieve independence, much less make great scientific achievements. She states that this predicament also applies to most high-functioning autistic individuals, and that the challenges are usually lifelong. Escher also writes about how the increase in the rate of autism is significant in low-functioning individuals, and therefore cannot be because of shifting diagnostic criteria. She disputes the book’s claim that autism is mostly genetic, writing about how the study that Silberman cited is based on speculation and not direct evidence. She concludes that it is impossible that the current autism crisis is caused by ignorance of cases in the past, as there would have also been a crisis back then.[6]
In response, the Autism Society of America stated that they respected Silberman’s views, and that he is a passionate writer on the topic of autism and its issues.[7]
References
- ↑ Escher, Jill. "About Us". Autism Society San Francisco Bay Area. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ Zeliadt, Nicholette (18 July 2016). "'Science junkie' bets big on autism's environmental origins | Spectrum". Spectrum. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ Escher, Jill (25 July 2012). "A Grandmotherly Clue in One Family's Autism Mystery". Autism Speaks. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ Escher, Jill (25 July 2012). "Autism's missing link? Study family history alongside genetics". Autism Speaks. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ Escher, Jill. "Jill Escher: Autism requires understanding and solutions, not lawsuits – The Mercury News". Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ Escher, Jill. "NeuroTribes: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back for Autism". Germline Exposures. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
- ↑ "Autism Society Statement on Autism Society San Francisco - Autism Society". Autism Society. Retrieved 2 December 2016.