what do u think CAUSES autism
In my only family there is evidence of AS for five generations, the two before mine and the two after mine, and in the fifth generation (my grandchildren) there are one set of fraternal male twins. Both are AS though they manifest it in different ways. One is quite extroverted, very gifted in maths, science and athletic ability, and highly competitive and independent; the other is introverted with average scholastic ability, profoundly interested in the natural world, a gentle soul who does his best in everything and needs a lot of emotional support and reassurance. (Their parents are my NT daughter and my AS son-in-law), but as genes are inherited as well from grandparents, and of the 4 grandparents, 2 of us ,( the paternal grandfather and myself, the maternal grandmother) are on the spectrum, so I would say that in our family AS arises from genetics rather than any mutation after conception.
However given the explosion of new genetic knowledge in the past 15 years, I would think that the next ten years will see some extraordinary progress in building on the work to date in this field.
The mutation after conception theory is more compelling in the case of those families in whom no-one has AS and then it suddenly appears in one child. I look forward to more knowledge developing in this body of research.
^^ identical twin differences explained well here by B19. Absolutely fascinating reading about your family B19. How do you feel diagnosis and support has changed over the generations?
This is fascinating. I wonder WHAT might cause the DNA to mutate?
In my only family there is evidence of AS for five generations, the two before mine and the two after mine, and in the fifth generation (my grandchildren) there are one set of fraternal male twins. Both are AS though they manifest it in different ways. One is quite extroverted, very gifted in maths, science and athletic ability, and highly competitive and independent; the other is introverted with average scholastic ability, profoundly interested in the natural world, a gentle soul who does his best in everything and needs a lot of emotional support and reassurance. (Their parents are my NT daughter and my AS son-in-law), but as genes are inherited as well from grandparents, and of the 4 grandparents, 2 of us ,( the paternal grandfather and myself, the maternal grandmother) are on the spectrum, so I would say that in our family AS arises from genetics rather than any mutation after conception.
However given the explosion of new genetic knowledge in the past 15 years, I would think that the next ten years will see some extraordinary progress in building on the work to date in this field.
The mutation after conception theory is more compelling in the case of those families in whom no-one has AS and then it suddenly appears in one child. I look forward to more knowledge developing in this body of research.
^^ identical twin differences explained well here by B19. Absolutely fascinating reading about your family B19. How do you feel diagnosis and support has changed over the generations?
This is fascinating. I wonder WHAT might cause the DNA to mutate?
I don't know but I would assume either environmental factors in utero that only affect one twin, or de novo somatic mutations.
_________________
"I will file you under "L" for people I love most. "
In my only family there is evidence of AS for five generations, the two before mine and the two after mine, and in the fifth generation (my grandchildren) there are one set of fraternal male twins. Both are AS though they manifest it in different ways. One is quite extroverted, very gifted in maths, science and athletic ability, and highly competitive and independent; the other is introverted with average scholastic ability, profoundly interested in the natural world, a gentle soul who does his best in everything and needs a lot of emotional support and reassurance. (Their parents are my NT daughter and my AS son-in-law), but as genes are inherited as well from grandparents, and of the 4 grandparents, 2 of us ,( the paternal grandfather and myself, the maternal grandmother) are on the spectrum, so I would say that in our family AS arises from genetics rather than any mutation after conception.
However given the explosion of new genetic knowledge in the past 15 years, I would think that the next ten years will see some extraordinary progress in building on the work to date in this field.
The mutation after conception theory is more compelling in the case of those families in whom no-one has AS and then it suddenly appears in one child. I look forward to more knowledge developing in this body of research.
^^ identical twin differences explained well here by B19. Absolutely fascinating reading about your family B19. How do you feel diagnosis and support has changed over the generations?
This is fascinating. I wonder WHAT might cause the DNA to mutate?
I don't know but I would assume either environmental factors in utero that only affect one twin, or de novo somatic mutations.
"De novo somatic mutations"
So, appearing in the child but not in either parent (de novo)... and somatic perhaps meaning affecting the nervous system and voluntary movement? Pls clarify if you meant something different. Anyway really interesting.
There are lots of genetic mutations that play a significant role in autism.
However since none of them appear ONLY in autistic people or are shared by ALL autistic people, they can't really be described as the direct cause of autism. It would make more sense to say that they can strongly contribute to the development of autism in a person...
...e.g. possibly by creating an environment where it's far more likely to be triggered?
Last edited by katy_rome on 08 Mar 2018, 10:00 am, edited 2 times in total.
Yay! I'm a mutant. No wonder I relate so well to the X-Men.
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There are people from another planet who are doing research. They zap babies at random when they are born---about 1 out of 66 babies. The material that is zapped is imbued with many different sorts of autism. Various parts of chromosomes are deleted or added via the zapped material.
They seek to research whether non-sociality in a social Earth animal could make them defenseless in the face of an attack by these alien folk.
Interesting.
Elaborate?
All the autistics I’ve ever known who have had major struggles in life have all had parents who didn’t help them, didn’t believe in them and either ignored them or made too much of a fuss of how badly affected they were, and either way ruined their self esteem.
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I've left WP.
Well let's face it, it's often not just parents but often a bunch of others too (teachers, grandparents, psychologists.. and so on). I'm not saying there aren't good people out there doing there best... it's just that I think society is a real mess when it comes to treating kids - or ANYONE dependent - with any real decency or respect.
And though I know it's controversial I think there are indeed a lot of cases, where kids are on the spectrum but without major other e.g. physical or psychological challenges, the parents can literally make the difference between being diagnosable autistic and not.
Any other thoughts on this, anyone?
I believe parents can play a role in how any child relates to the world. But I don't believe they are a significant "common denominator" in whether or not someone is diagnosed with autism.
Parents can be a pain in the butt sometimes. But let's not blame everything on the parents.
Maybe I should mention at this point that I'm the parent of a boy who was diagnosed autistic 3 years ago
I kind of agree in that don't believe in the entire concept of blame. I think it's totally counterproductive without exception. We should instead look at causes and solutions.
SO.... I would not say the parenting makes the difference WHETHER a kid is autistic or not. But I strongly believe it could make the difference whether they are DIAGNOSABLE as autistic. But then we come back into the land of how we currently define 'autism'.
Last edited by katy_rome on 08 Mar 2018, 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Parents can be a pain in the butt sometimes. But let's not blame everything on the parents.
^^ Exactly this. And to be honest, some people do very well in difficult circumstances. They are able to transcend those circumstances. We naturally assume that they would have done even better without adversity but I am not sure that is true. Often it is the struggle that shapes us.
^^ Regarding the other question de novo or somatic mutations (acquired mutations).
signing off this thread, good luck with your research!
_________________
"I will file you under "L" for people I love most. "
Last edited by elsapelsa on 08 Mar 2018, 12:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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