Does AS skip generations?

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I always heard autism is mostly genetic. Can they skip generations? I suspected that my dad is an aspie as he's an eccentric scientist, is pretty quirky and has no friends. I finally convinced him to take the AQ test and he only scored 22 points, whereas I got 44. I suppose it's possible that there are a few English words he might not be too sure about, but still there's just no way he could have missed that many. So he probably really is just a geek and scientist, not an aspie. I don't know why but somehow that makes me feel lonely. Like if I didn't get it from him, where did I get it from? It now feels like my fault, I'm the one who started this all and made my kids autistic.

I have problems with the AQ test- it requires too much self knowledge. An example question when a person is asked to agree or disagree with the following statement; "I enjoy social chit-chat." I know this implies "small talk" but it can be misunderstood as "Do you like to talk to others?" and MANY Aspies (including myself) LOVE to talk nonstop about their obsessions to others whether or not their conversational partner cares. I also find many other questions on the AQ test either too loaded or too stereotypical.

I find this questionnaire FAR more specific and detailed for those who want to see how they compare with diagnosed Aspies
http://www.rdos.net/eng/Aspie-quiz.php

Have your dad take that test and see what the results are.

Hope that helps,

Allie Kat

Thanks! I doubt he would do that, though. I already had to beg him for two weeks before he would do the AQ test. This one is much longer.

I don't think it always comes out every generation. It has in my family but that doesn't mean it does in all.

I think it can skip generations, but I don't know how common that may be.
However, I think nearly every generation would display some traits, though may not necessarily require diagnosis, if indeed autism is genetic.

I feel like you do sometimes. Before I had a child I asked the psychiatrist who diagnosed me if I'd pass it to my kids and he said it isn't likely. Uh....okay.

It's possibly skipped a generation in my family: My father's parents appear to have more aspie-like traits than my father, while I have more aspie-traits than the lot of them!

From the research I've seen so far, they do believe they found the genetic component - or at least one of them and that while that gene may be passed down to each generation, it may not be 'turned on'. They are speculating what turns those genes on or leaves them off - chemical, environmental, hormonal, a combination... they just don't know yet.

So, it does tend to run in families - it may just be another recessive gene that lurks in the gene pool until - surprise...

The only other obvious autistic in my family is my late grandmother on my dad's side. People just generally thought she was eccentric and even manic-depressive (which is what they called bipolar back then).

I am absolutely certain that my grandfather is autistic, and that my father was.

I don't think autism is solely genetic. Because it's a difference in the way the brain works, I think it can also happen in the womb (though conditions in the womb can be affected by genetics, IIRC). Furthermore, genetic traits can be recessive, and they can be mutations. Even if neither of your parents have an extra X chromosome, you may end up with one.

I do not know my extended families to know if anyone else has it but my parents did not have it. I have it and 1 out of 2 my sons have it. There are some hereditary elements to it but it's not the full story.

I am not a scientist, but I think anything that is genetic is capable of skipping a generation. I believe, in the case of ASD, that is what happened in my family.

My kids have autism with my oldest more autistic than my 2nd. My husband got through school without any assistance and was considered eccentric. My oldest got many traits from him but a lot of traits from me as well. I do not have autism but I have social anxiety, sensory issues, and many mental health issues. She got traits from both of us and is more autistic than my husband. His mother is probably on the spectrum too.