The cause of autism remains a mystery. Researchers have not discov-
ered a single cause of autism (Autism Society, 2008), yet they know that
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H.R. Hall and J.C. Graff
parenting behavior does not cause a child to become autistic (American
Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2008). Researchers strive
to find reasons why some children have autism and others do not. Even
though researchers do not understand why the phenomenon occurs, the
chance that another child in the family will develop autism increases 2%
to 8% when one child in the family is diagnosed with autism (CDC,
2010).