For decades, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been seen primarily as a brain-based developmental condition, with conversations centered around genetics and behavioral therapy. But what if, for some children, the brain isn't the only part of the story? What if the immune system—specifically, how it responds to infection and inflammation—plays a much bigger role than we’ve realized?
At Restorative Medicine Center, I work with children and families facing complex medical issues, often those who haven’t responded to conventional approaches. Over the years, I’ve noticed something intriguing: many children with autism symptoms also show signs of immune imbalance, chronic inflammation, and even stealth infections passed on during pregnancy. This pattern sparked a hypothesis—one that’s backed by emerging science and real-world patient experience.
Let’s break it down.
A Hidden Influence: Infections Passed from Mother to Baby
Certain bacteria carried by ticks, like Borrelia (which causes Lyme disease), Babesia, and Bartonella, can be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy. While this might sound surprising, it’s actually well-documented in the medical literature. These infections can be sneaky—they often don’t cause immediate symptoms, but instead quietly interfere with the baby’s developing immune system.
And here’s where it gets more interesting: these pathogens seem to "prime" the immune system, making it hypersensitive to later stressors—like a routine virus, a vaccine antigen, or other immune challenges that occur in infancy. That’s when some children start showing signs of developmental regression: loss of speech, increasing rigidity, sensory overwhelm, or behavioral changes.
Could Autism Be Autoimmune Encephalitis in Disguise?
When the immune system goes rogue and attacks the brain, it can cause a condition called autoimmune encephalitis. In some children, this looks eerily similar to autism: language delays, obsessive behavior, tics, mood swings, even aggression. Researchers have even found autoantibodies—immune markers that mistakenly target brain tissue—in both kids with autism and their mothers.
This overlap isn’t just theoretical. In my practice and others like it, parents have reported remarkable improvements in their children’s behavior, speech, and focus during antibiotic treatment—especially when those antibiotics are used to target chronic vector-borne infections. These improvements aren’t always permanent, but they suggest a very real connection between chronic infections and the brain.
Rethinking Autism from the Immune System Out
If we reframe autism in some cases as a form of immune-triggered encephalitis—rather than a purely neurological or genetic condition—it opens the door to new ways of helping. It means we can begin to screen high-risk infants for immune and infection markers early, long before symptoms set in. It also means we may be able to intervene using not just behavioral therapy, but antimicrobial or immune-modulating treatments when appropriate.
But what’s even more powerful is this: we may not need to wait until a child is sick to take action.
Prevention Starts Before Birth
If these infections can be passed from mother to baby, then identifying and treating them during pregnancy could be a game-changer. Women with a history of tick exposure, chronic fatigue, autoimmune symptoms, or unresolved illness should be screened for Borrelia, Babesia, and Bartonella before or during pregnancy. Early treatment, done carefully and with expert supervision, may help reduce the risk of passing these pathogens on—and possibly protect the baby’s developing immune and nervous systems in the process.
This is prevention at its most powerful: addressing root causes before they ever have a chance to trigger downstream symptoms.
Why This Matters Now
Autism diagnoses are on the rise, and while part of that is due to increased awareness and better screening, there’s growing concern that environmental and biological factors are also at play. If chronic infections and immune dysfunction are part of the puzzle, it’s time to investigate that connection with the urgency and depth it deserves.
Future research will need to explore this hypothesis in depth: tracking outcomes of children born to mothers with these infections, looking for immune biomarkers in ASD subgroups, and running clinical trials to test treatment approaches. But we don’t have to wait to start thinking differently.
A New Lens, and a Reason for Hope
Autism is a complex and varied condition, and no single theory explains it all. But for the children whose symptoms may be rooted in immune dysfunction and infection, this new lens offers a chance—not just for explanation, but for healing.
Because when we see autism not just as a brain disorder, but as a story unfolding across the immune system, the gut, and the developing body, we open up new doors. For understanding. For prevention. And, most importantly, for hope.