Aspergers/Autism in relation to genetics?

Post Reply New Topic

I know there is much controversy on what causes Autism, but assuming genetics play a role in it, I have a question for all who are willing to participate. How many of you that have AS/Autism also have a parent who has it? (Or vice versa) I was just wondering how common it is for it to run in the family (you may also include if you have a close relative who has it.) If you would like to add what you think it is caused by (genetics, vaccines, environment, etc.) that would also be interesting. Thank you for helping, I've been so curious! :]

I am pretty sure my grandfather was on the spectrum. I also think my nephew is on the spectrum. There could be other relations as well, but those are the closest to me. Neither had/have an official diagnosis. I definitely will not be surprised if my nephew someday gets one though.

Oops. everything in the middle generation is switched. Red should be green and green red.

[img][800:1280]http://i56.tinypic.com/2hqgjuh.jpg[/img]

I'm the first in my extended family to be on the spectrum. My dad has anxiety and my mom has some minor traits (would fall into the broader autistic spectrum).

Autism-Genetics studies previous thread <

Gentic Link Between Autism and Other Disorders previous thread <


Other Autism in Your Family? previous thread <


Is AS Genetic? previous thread <


Genetic or Not? previous thread <

several of many

My mom is NT but she has severe anxiety. Her mom is extremely AS like in the way she is stubborn and doesn't enjoy people's company, but this is due to hormone issues. My mom's dad is a regular NT.

My dad has a few AS traits, and would be classified as BAP. That being said, he is very good at pretending to be an NT. I wish I was half as good as him at small talk and other things like that. His parent's are absolutely crazy. I don't know anything about them because I've never met them before, and from what I've heard, I don't ever want to.

My younger sister is NT like my mom. She's very social and outgoing, as with all of my cousins (that I know of).

My Dad is a suspected aspie - though if he is an aspie he's compensated really well. His social skills are pretty good, but he seems to think consciously about social skills a lot more than most NTs. He used to be pretty weird as a kid. He's also musically and spatially gifted, and has echolalic tendencies, such as unconsciously copying accents.

My Mom may have NLD - her social skills are fine, but her spatial skills are really poor. She's incredibly verbal and literate, and taught herself to read at the age of 4.

My Dad's brother almost certainly had dyslexia - he was barely literate even as an adult. Once, his teacher made him write a spelling word a hundred times, then covered the model and made him write it again, and he still misspelt it. We also suspect he was a psychopath, because he was constantly getting into fights, breaking rules and manipulating people. As an adult, he was a career criminal who sexually abused his children. His motto was 'It's easier to get forgiveness than permission'.

Several of my Dad's cousins have suspected ADHD, dyslexia and/or dysgraphia.

But I'm the only one I know of with an actual diagnosis - PDD NOS.

My father probably was an Aspie and my mother was ... well I just can't say for sure, but she certainly wasn't a NT type. Manic depressive for sure, but more than that too I suspect.

So from what I gather from all your awesome replies, there is no direct correlation between those on the spectrum with having children on the spectrum. Although there may be some related from other mental disorders. I was asking because my boyfriend has AS, and I got very curious about how he got it, or if he would pass it down. Thank you for helping me get a clearer picture of how. I still wish someone could figure out for sure why once and for all, instead of having all these floating theories. Maybe it will always be a mystery...

And thank you purchase for your lovely detailed pedigree chart

...

My mother has AS. My youngest brother Autism and Tourettes.

My father was probably autistic because he had a speech delay and was a computer scientist. My mother is definitely diagnosable as Asperger syndrome or autism (not sure; the difference would be childhood history); but she doesn't believe in psychologists.

Of their three kids, one is autistic (me), one is NT (middle sister), and one has strong autistic traits and may or may not need a diagnosis (the littlest one).

Incidentally, my mom doesn't believe in vaccinations, and raised us all on organic, natural food. I was even on GF/CF for a few years. Still autistic. Sorry, Mom, but it's wired in...

Oh, yeah, and Mom has tendencies toward depression and anxiety, both of which she passed on to me, but not to my sisters. Lucky me. But then again, our NT middle sister got the allergies, digestive problems, and underweight build; and as far as that goes, I think I'd rather be autistic!

i suspect both my parents are on a spectrum, though which one i don't think i'll ever be able to figure out which one.
My mom is on a spectrum the likes of which simply can not be described, and seem to have changed slightly over time, even in the last 6 years.

my youngest brother diagnosed myself and his olderbrother (5 years younger than i am) as "Not normal" and the first time we even talked about his was last week. in fact, he goes so far to say he's the only "normal person" in the family, though he has only met my older half brother once.

so for the genetic argument, whatever both my parents had ended up in myself and my younger brother, my sister seems normal enough to run off to college and get engaged, abet to a foreigner, but my brother seems to think he's the only one out of 4 that's normal. and he doesn't even consider it a good thing oddly enough.

oh yeah, and like most, my mom insists we are all normal.

My parents both exhibit a number of traits, especially my father, which is also the reason that they did not attach any meaning to my childhood behaviours: it wasn't significantly different from the way my father was.

I'm pretty sure that I'm the only autistic person in the family. Likely the only one, including those many distant relatives, with official psychiatric diagnoses even.

Not sure about the few toddlers and small children I'm distantly related with or those who I assume will have babies in the not-so-far future though. After all, I ended up being autistic, so who knows if it will happen again.

Of course, someone long-dead might have had it, but I have no definite clues to work on so that's merely guesswork.

Other families I know with autistic children or adults have more than one relative on the spectrum or with autistic traits.

Doing a quick run down in my head to be sure, but yeah, that's right, everyone I happened to get to know so far has a child or a parent with an ASD or with broader autism phenotype.