Is aspergers genetic?

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Both my parents have AS traits, (mum more OCD though) my showing a greater number of them. He enjoys history, processe financial information quickly, and has no close friends. People find his face pleasant though. My mum was 32 when she gave birth to me, my dad was 35. Later marriages are common here, and many educated people here have their first kid in their late twenties, early thirties. Yet their kids are normal.

My mother was 20 when she gave birth to me.

When I told my parents about my diagnosis, my mom pointed out that a (distant) cousin of mine has Aspergers, which I'm not sure if I knew beforehand. As well, in the few days after I told her, and she started reading about the behaviours online, she did the (typical, from what I understand) reflection on her relatives and figured that her father and some other of her more relatives from way back had displayed traits throughout their lives. My dad's first cousin is also autistic (not Aspergers). Even though I don't have the biggest extended family , these examples are few and far between so I'd hesitate to say that it runs in my family to any extent.

Still, as Min said, my own AS is defintely a factor in my not wanting to have kids of my own. though I'd come to that decision before I found out about my own condition, it's another nail in the coffin. I could just imagine seeing my own child spending all his/her time alone because they couldn't relate to their classmates, or spending hours happily alphabetizing things around their room or the house, both of which I did growing up, and my heart would break with guilt.

This is a discussion I tried to generate myself by posting an article supporting why I don't believe Asperger's is genetic. Unforutnately that thread got sidetracked and rather than start it over again with another thread I'd like to post my article here. I have rewritten it so that it explains my points better and so that it's not quite so emotionally driven.

http://hubpages.com/hub/If-Aspergers-Is ... -Card-Debt

To bring attention to the major reason I don't belive it is because Asperger's is not one major thing. It's a number of smaller symptoms. Even if you inherited a few of those symptoms, there are still symptoms that can be explained by the environment you were brought up in.

Not making eye contact for example. There are lots of conditions that site lack of eye contact as a symptom and not all of those are genetic in nature. Crack babies for example have a hard time making eye contact.

But until they are ready to come right out with concrete evidence, I feel the genetics argument is just theory.

it's definitely genetic and/or epigenetic IMHO, Why certain genes are expressed in manners that provide us with advantages or disadvantages is the big question.
For example there is a woman at work that displays a lot of aspie traits, she takes things too literally at times, says and does thing that are less than appropriate at times, loses track of the big picture and buries herself in details and has some mild stimming behaviours, yet she is socially astute, very extroverted and successful; her son is the same way but introverted and much less socially astute, so why she's the way she is and he isn't ?

That is supposed to be less emotional? Well it's still excessively emotional. Reading it I get the impression it was written by someone who is very angry, frustrated and resentful about their diagnosis and willing to go to any lengths to convince themselves that this diagnosis is meaningless. You do realise that if no one thought AS was genetic, your experience being diagnosed would not have improved but rather would have also included even more strident attempts to us psychological or psychiatric intervention to "normalize" you? None of the things you have complained about that occurred subsequent to your diagnosis would have been any different if the day before you were diagnosed it had been proven that AS is not genetic. In fact I suggest you would have received more attention and more intervention on the basis that "if it is learned, then it can be unlearned, and by golly gosh, come hell or high water, we will teach you".

Both of my parents have aspergers, as do I. It's their genetics, but it's not their fault, and it's not God's fault. There's no one at fault. I was meant to be this way, and so were my parents. I've come to understand what makes me different, and I appreciate it. Overtime I've learned how to work around many of the problematic issues caused by my aspergers, and when I do get stuck and start to freak out, Cannabis helps to make it all stop. I'm getting off topic a little, but yeah, don't blame God, don't blame anyone.

Where is the proof that autism is genetic?

I have come across other aspies that have no autistic traits that run in their family.
If just one person with autism was found with no traits what so ever running through their family tree, then doesn’t that knock the theory of genetics being the cause of autism on the head?

No, not at all. Nobody is arguing (or at least shouldn't be) that autism is 100% genetic. However, there is a genetic component to it. The unresolved issue is just how much that influences things.

For example, schizophrenia has a high genetic component, but it is not 100% (there have been twin pairs where only one had schizophrenia, for example). Does that mean that genetics is not a factor? Of course not.

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Last edited by qsPyro on 11 Aug 2012, 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

I believe that it does have a lot to do with genes. I think it's a certain combination of genes kind of thing.

I agree with you. It's not so bad though.

kind of interesting!

Thank 'God' someone is talking sense, and to the op, THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH. It is mind boggling to me that so many people so easily buy the autism is genetic theory. You do touch on some kind of explanation for this in your article, and I think I could add some more points about that, but will not do so now. I am going to eventually begin to present a theory of autism here that does make actual sense,and the discussion I engage in here, if any further, will be a prerequisite to that..

IS autism genetic? Many (but thankfully not all) people writing on WP seem to be saying that scientists and psychologists think it is. Actually most everything I have read on the internet suggests that most professionals think there is a genetic factor but that environment plays into it in a certain way, and the way they generally word it seems to kind of put equal emphasis in each direction, though I am not even sure I even agree with the latter. Also, by environment playing into it they are not talking about what is called epigenetics, though that too could be some kind of factor.

What is the function of understanding what autism really is? To understand what autism is can help people to have a much happier life. The suffering so many people who are autistic is experiencing is profound. I have been through horrible suffering myself, but I have been very lucky in that I received a lot of direction from the time I was twenty, and was able to find my way out through very hard Work. I do want want anyone else to suffer in the way I have and will do anything I can to help people who are suffering in this way be happy..

To think/feel autism is entirely genetic is imo not only not true, but also keeps people stuck in a fixed position, unable to find the way out. Again, this is not to imply that genetics do not factor in, but this is in some ways a moot point as genetics factor into what any person is experiencing, obviously..

I intend to start a thread to present my own theory, but am willing to discuss this subject a little here to sort of lay some of the groundwork for doing that in the future. Again, what is really quite amazingly to me is how easily so many people accept the genetics theory and fight, imo often quite illogically, so fervently to defend it. Obviously there is some kind of vested psychological interest behind doing so.

And again, most professional do not buy this genetics only premise.
If a an individual psychologist or even a group of psychologists gives such an idea in the way they present their diagnosis to a person, imo this doesn't mean jack sh*t. You would have to look at into the perverse psychology of psychologists and examine the inner dynamics of their so called professionalism in order to better understand some of the factors playing into this kind of diagnosis and some other diagnoses, also..

my father and brother show aspie traits, and i'm sure i'm somewhere on the spectrum. i keep reading about people who have autism in their family and are aspies themselves, or have more than one family member on the spectrum.
but it's not so bad! concentrate on the positive things: our higher than average inteligence, our love for animals and music. we're unique. we're awsome aspies.
and you kid may or may not inherite it. my sister and mother are nts.

Yes, concentrate on the positive things, I agree...however you seem to be implying that because other people in your family are on the spectrum, as you put it, they have inherited it. Actually there is no proof of that. That genetic factors may have played into it makes sense, but this is not the same as inheriting certain behavior patterns.

For example, most people never consider how dysfunctional family patterns can play into what they are experiencing and how certain people who are sensitive can be profoundly affected by this. I hear a lot of people on wp blaming their families for treating them very badly (and am in no way discounting that, and it happened to me, too), but I rarely if even ever hear these same people connecting this kind of sometimes even horrific treatment with their own autism. That is kind of odd, if you think about it. There is generally a disconnect between the two, whereas I think it would be obvious common sense to look for some kind of a connection there and try to investigate from that angle. But, oh yes, they have the 100 % discounted and politically incorrect refrigerator mother theory (which I do not even buy into much of myself) to fall back on as a really lame reason to never look at their own autism from a psychological angle. That I can actually understand, as it might be too painful. And this is not speculation but speaking from my own personal experience. I too, for a brief period of time, actually bought into the genetics entirely explanation until I began to think actively about it.

You are obviously well meaning, and I appreciate that, but you do not seem to grasp the negative significance of certain people thinking and feeling they are the way they are because they have an inherited condition. Some, will still work on themselves and not get stuck in that kind of idea set, so it is not so bad, but many others begin to use it as an excuse and build up a big false story around it and connect with others who are doing that to support and build upon such a story. Imo it is not a healthy tendency.

From this one message of yours I have read I do not see you as being one of these people,,,you seem to have in some way bought into what I consider to be a story, but it is pretty easy to buy into it, and it does not seem to be affecting you in a negative way. What I am writing here is in general and not directed to you.....