I have Asperger's but my family had no cases of autism

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Hello everyone of this forum! I'm very confused about my Autism, specifically my Asperger because until today I don't understand because only I have this. It is true that Autism has a specific genetic load and generally occurs more in men than women but the weirdest is that no one in my mother's family had Autism/Asperger's cases and neither did my father's family, which is confusing why I have Autism in two relatively NT families. The only thing I do know is that my maternal grandfather is probably a carrier of bipolar disorder, but I think that shouldn't be the case that I'm practically the only "special" in my family. What could this be? A choice of destination?

That's the case in my family, too. It's true that if a parent has autism it's likelier to pass on to the kids as well, but it's not always the case and many NT couples get an autistic child as well.

Autism can also hop over a generation or two. Even if your parents are clearly not autistic, what about your grandparents? Could at least one of eight be? Or their parents? Also, milder forms of autism often go undiagnosed, especially on women, so someone in your immediate family very well could still be autistic.

I know a person who has it and doesn't have anyone else in their family diagnosed with it. They were born 3 weeks early and had jaundice both of which can increase the chance of having autism.

Fireblossom this is weird but I tried to search about Autism in my family but I found nothing, both of them. I think maybe on the part of the father a little bit because recently I discovered that I had a cousin maybe of the third degree who had a severe form of Autism, but the funny thing was just him, no one else. My grandparents both paternal and maternal clearly NT's, perhaps great-grandparents?

My family are nearly all dead, and lived before anyone would have got a diagnosis. I never knew my grandparents, or anyone else of their generation, but I had one uncle who I'm sure must have had it. Apart from that, I can see some characteristics that I have in my late father, and one much older brother, but I doubt it would be anywhere near enough to get a diagnosis, or even be recognised by anyone else. I think I see it only because I have been diagnosed and think it must be unusual for an NT. My other much older brother, who I have no doubt is NT, has often commented on there being something odd about the family. I suspect that there has been mild autism in my father's side of the family, but not enough for it to be recognised. Maybe it's also a cultural and generation thing, where the time and way they lived didn't make it obvious, or cause much of a problem, but modern life makes it harder to cope with.

I'm the only person in my family (on both my mom's side and my dad's side) who has Autism as far as we know. I have two Autistic cousins but they were both adopted so they aren't blood relatives of mine.

Many things happens with families but when you know you have Autism but can't figure out who your predecessor is is very bad

Both my parents are NT, although my dad has quite below average intelligence, although not low enough to be classed as different or disabled neurologically, just probably struggled a bit with reading and writing in school. My brother has depression issues and I think he has BPD but he thinks it's Asperger's (but I won't go all into the reasons as to why I know he isn't on the autism spectrum).

My mum's sister (my aunt) has some Asperger's traits and is getting assessed, but her daughter doesn't seem to be on the spectrum. It's not fair that my NT parents an Aspie/ADHD daughter and an emotionally insecure son but my possible Aspie aunt made an NT daughter.

Life is not fair.

There's no cases in my family that I know of . My stepdaughter has said my father has quite a lot of similar traits to me . If he's on the spectrum he's very high functioning and has done a great job of masking . I doubt though you'd get to the age of 89 without definite signs showing , however good you are at masking .

my mum is an nt extrovert and I wasnt close to my dad but I know he wasnt on spectrum
my two sisters are nt as well
my son is nt

but i was born prematurely cos of pregnancy complications

Now I remembered too! It may be that I have Asperger's because I was probably born premature but not very much, only at 8 months because my mother told me that I wanted to be born fast due to the kicks I gave her in the womb! lol

My parents both have some traits of autism but would probably not qualify for a diagnosis. My brother has fewer traits but has some of the beneficial ones. As far as I know, I'm the only one in my extended family who has full-on autism. And I was not born prematurely and did not have any problems with or at birth.

Autism frequently happens as a result of a "de novo mutation", meaning they happen by chance with nothing inherited .

https://www.genomicseducation.hee.nhs.u ... o-variant/

How is possible the Autism be a mutation caused by nothing? Is that because the Autism is caused by external agents?

As far as I know, I wasn't born prematurely, but my parents were quite old. Dad was 53 and Mum 41. I suppose that could be a reason it affects me more than other family members. I didn't start to work out I may have it until I was about 55, and was diagnosed at 63.

Most parents with autism here on WP seem to have at least one child with autism, so it seems like it is to do with genes.

I wasn't born premature either. I was actually born a week AFTER my due date.