we're both aspergic, will our child be severely autistic?

Post Reply New Topic

Asperger's is a very heritable condition but being a geneticist I would not estimate the risk as higher than 50 %. Which, for all intents and purposes is a very high risk. And is useless really, you don't need genetic analysis to get an answer of the type 'either your child will or will not have it', common sense dictates it.
And it is not strictly cumulative so you can't possibly know whether your child could be more severely affected than you two. It is much more likely that it will resemble your own type of ASD.
My father has Asperger's and my mother was a NT with ASD traits (half an Aspie, actually, her mother had Asperger's too) and they produced one Aspie, one perfectly normal NT, 50/50. I myself am an Aspie married to a NT with ASD traits (and God, the longer we live together, the more Aspergic he gets) and I am perfectly sure that if we ever try to produce a child it have Aspergers. But that's my rotten luck, not a risk calculation.

So is there research that points to ASD or Aspergers inheritance via Mendelian genetics? Have the boffins identified the ASD gene/s which the autism socieites are so keen to help future parents abort otherwise happy healthy children?

More than having an AS child? if anything our ASD child has solidified our marriage and made it stronger. My wife and I have equal conviction to stick it out with our daughter. She is actually a pleasure to go out with and is an angel at home. But of course she has her moments, as do all chiuldren including nuerotypes.

One of the things I would like to do is dispel some hime spun myths re: ASD children by parents of AS kids and AS people themselves. My growing suspicion is AS people seem to desgnate ASD and HFA with the so called "other end of the spectrum" impairment and retardation in order to uplift their own flagging self esteem living in a nuerotypical world.

I've gotten lost in this discussion, so forgive me if I said this already.

Whatever child you have, it will be YOUR child - he or she will be more than just the autism spectrum. He or she will have some of each of your strengths and some of each of your weaknesses and something that is uniquely his or her own. What's important about that is that you are uniquely able to understand what your child needs, especially since you are open to the idea. I think where parents run into the most trouble with kids on the spectrum is when they try to distance themselves from the diagnosis.

I have to say, I was much more worried about getting a girly-girl than I would have been about getting a kid who was like me (this happened with me and my Mom, and has never been resolved.)

"ASD" is Autism Spectrum Disorder, which includes AS as well as AD (Autistic Disorder, aka classic autism or HFA/LFA), so i highly doubt SpatzieLover was trying to draw any distinction between the two.

I definitely do see some inclination to disassociate AS from AD, but thats all over, not just in those with or parents to someone with AS. you see it in schools, doctors, psychologists.... and yes often it has to do with the assumption that those with AD have cognitive deficits, and the fact that the criteria require that AS do not.

the worst thing i have seen tho is the assumption that someone with high intelligence is only "mildly" affected. intelligence can mitigate a lot of the traits and behaviors, however it does not mitigate sensory issues, social anxiety, or how someone feels inside. being smart isnt enough, you have to be able to function, too.

Mendelian genetics does not exist as such. It is a simplistic concept that is taught in high school so as people could grasp basic principles in of heritability of traits. Nothing is that simple. Even in monogenic diseases not every patient with the same molecular defect would have the same clinical course.
Up to the present moment, over a dozen of human genes implicated in autism spectrum disorders have been identified but none of these genes can be called 'the autism gene'. The effect is cumulative and influenced by a plethora of other factors.

Come to think about, there are only a couple of genetic diseases so far which include autism as a part of their clinical presentation and for which the responsible genes have been identified so that the segregation of the associated traits would be closer to Mendelian genetics. Among these are Rett syndrome (hMECP2 gene) and Fragile X syndrome (FMR1 gene). Autism is not actually the primary concern in both of these conditions and those are not actually happy healthy children.

Anyway I don't believe that name calling helps in about any activity. I thought that we Aspies were often unintentionally rude.

Thanks for the feedback. Where was I rude?

I understand this is what is meant by "high functioning" the ability to mitigate excessive sensory input to facilitate (normal?) cognitive expression in a nuerotypical social environment.

I have five kids...my first three were with my first husband who is Bi Polar and has many relatives with undiagnosed and diagnosed mental illnesses...Bi Polar being at the top of the list. I have Asperger's and was diagnosed a few years ago. My first son has many Autistic traits but also is Bi Polar...he is nearly 24 now and has had a very difficult life mainly due to the fact that he was diagnosed very late (age 12) and was already experimenting with drugs...also his father was abusive. Out of my two daughters from that marriage I have one who is about to turn 21 who has some learning disabilities but is otherwise very social and neruotypical. My now nearly 19 year old is Asperger's but in the last two years has show signs of paranoid schizophrenia which could very well just appear to be due to serious stress that has caused emotional breakdowns....she has also used some drugs which cause me to worry about what damage that has done to her brain. My first marriage was a disaster and my kids were exposed to abuse.
I am now married to a French mad scientist LOL.....My husband has many Asperger traits but because he is so successful (PhD) I highly doubt he would be diagnosable or would he need to be. I am more severely affected and have a lot of difficulty understanding other people. I do very well on the internet but if you met me in real life you would think you were meeting a completely different person. I have little to no eye contact (I have learned to force it) and I have difficulty carrying on a conversation....I have the typical Aspie obsession, one sided conversations with people I dont know because its safe and I know what Im talking about. When Im writing I can think about what I am saying and go back and read what I have written. I am much better talking to people who I know and feel comfortable with. My husband and I have two children together. My nearly 6 year old daughter was diagnosed with moderate to low functioning Autism when she was nearly 3. She is now considered high functioning. My 8 year old son is basically the male version of me and was diagnosed with Asperger's at age 6.
Still...as was pointed out, genetics can be random. My husband is a genetics professor. I will have to ask him about this and I may have him weigh in on it.
I think if you want to have children you should not worry about who or what they will be but just be aware of what their needs are. Aspies can be good parents and I think if you are committed to it and aware you will do just fine. I know my stories about my first three are a bit scary but you have to understand that I was undiagnosed and had no idea what Asperger's even was, plus my X husband was undiagnosed and abusive. I was only 18 years old when I got married as well. I was completely unprepared for all of it. You are prepared and understand....just like me with my younger two and they are doing great. My oldest son is doing better now as well....he is getting the help that he needs and he understands himself better too. Hopefully soon my Aspie daughter will start to understand and get better as well.

I don't think that 'boffin' was ever meant as a compliment. There are a lot of us boffins here on these boards, you know.
And this board is an autism community too. At least that's written in fine print below the banner on the left.

I'd support azurecrayon's opinion. High-functioning autists may have very severe sensory trouble and may look like they do not belong in a neurotypical social environment (weird mannerisms, need to stim, unability to cope with change, difficulties with communication, etc.). From my point of view, a high-functioning autist or Aspie are capable of forming goals for themselves and do not let the abovementioned issues get in their way in reaching these goals. That is, they struggle every day with varying degrees of success but finally get on top of their problems. That does not mean that they will stop being weird or that their sensory issues will eventually subside, it's just that they will not stop fighting.

LOL! I think we have a cultural misunderstanding here. In Australia we affectionately refer to experts in a particular field or professions as "boffins". It was not my intention to be rude but for the sake of international diplomacy I'll be cogniscent of it's ambiguous meaning.

Got it thanks

I have never heard the word Boffin in my life LOL!

Interesting points. I will share that I use the term "highly affected" to refer to a level of barrier, not intelligence or lack there-of. The combination of traits that make acheiving something resembling a "normal" life more difficult. I refer to my son as lightly affected because his AS is not the barrier between him and his desired life that it seems to be for some. He has a strong co-morbid issue in the hyper-extension / disgrahia, and certain sensory issues, but for the most part he's functioning really well in "normal" settings and feeling good about his life prospects. No anxiety, no depression; rare panic attacks.

Google boffins bookstore .....it's one of the largest professional bookstore catering for what we like to call boffins ...everything from mechanics to medicine.