Only Autie in family?

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Anyone else on here, the only person in their family who is on the spectrum? I know I'm the only person in my entire family to have an asd diagnosis... my younger brother might be on the spectrum (not sure since we don't talk), or might just be a misfit/ juvenile delinquent due to crappy parenting. Is anyone else on here the only person in their entire family to have a diagnosis (whether self or formal)? I think it's really strange for me because I think ASD is genetic, right? So wouldn't someone else have it too? I'd ask my parents if they they think they're on the spectrum but they are both deceased-- however, I think they were both model nt's.

All my family, stretching back at least 4 generations, are NT

Except me.

My grandnephew and his sibling, my grandniece.

But don't go by me, I am only screened.

As far as I know, yes. (I might not know if one of my cousins had a diagnosis because I don't see all of my extended family very often, but I don't think any of them do.)

Milder traits or related symptoms/issues can be found on both sides of my family, though -- both in my parents and some of my extended family.



I'm not an expert but it doesn't seem that strange to me....

You don't inherit an exact copy of either parents' DNA. Mutations occur naturally during cell division, gametes (sperm and eggs) each contain only a half set of your parents chromosomes, and not all the genes you inherit are actually expressed.

Inheritance of genetic conditions isn't a straightforward thing where if one/both of your parents have it you're guaranteed to have it, too (some genetic conditions do have 100% heritability, but not all of them) -- even when a mutation in just one gene is responsible. With something like autism, which may be caused by many genes (in a single person), I'm guessing that heritability could be very complex.

I'm not sure. I do know, however, that my maternal grandfather's family has had to deal with mental illness.

Yeah, I'm the only one in the fam. Lucky me. Some members including extended family are probably part of the BAP, but yeah nothing significant.

I'm the only person in my family diagnosed which hardly bothers me. I don't know of any other aspies in my extended family, but after I got diagnosed my mother wants to believe that my grandfather, who I'm told I am extremely similar to even bearing a slight physical resemblence to him, had it

Same here. There are no other members of my family going back several generations that are on, or even showed signs of being on the spectrum. Not only am I the only autie in the family. I am the only one who was an intellectual and became an engineer. All the other where working class blue collar NT's. I was soo different, that my family even called me a black sheep.

I'm the only one. There's a possibility that my cousin has mild aspergers. Which might explain why he has always been so good at relating to me. And I kinda suspect my dad might have a bit of aspie too. But I am the only one in my extended family that has it for sure.

I am the only one diagnosed in my whole entire family. I might have relatives who may have AS such as my deceased grandmother and maybe my deceased great uncle and perhaps my uncle and cousin and aunt and my dad has bad social skills. Sometimes I wish I wasn't the only one because I feel so alone.

I think generations can be skipped. A recessive trait can appear when there's no one else with that trait around. I think the genetics of autism is still not clear but something like that must be happening.

My parents are surely non-autistic but most of my father's siblings seem(ed) autistic. Actually it seems my father is the only non-autistic out of all his siblings but somehow he passed it on to me.

Yep, I'm the only Aspie in my family, and it's always got to me. I have a cousin who has mild learning difficulties, but she hasn't got AS. She was always better at making friends at school, and she didn't have any sensory issues or behavioural issues like I had.

And my grandmother is not NT as she has Alzheimer's, but she was born NT and was NT for most of her life, even though she was rather shy.

My brother is NT but has chronic depression, but is not on the spectrum. His depression and mood disorder is probably my fault anyway, as I was so difficult to bring up as a child and I took up all the attention. So that's probably why he hasn't turned out a very well-adjusted adult.

All my dad's side of the family are all mentally stable NTs. Both my parents are NTs. But apparently some distant relatives on my mum's side have mild ASD or ADHD, but I don't really know them. There's no trace of severe Autism though.

I remember when my youngest cousin was born, and I thought ''I wonder if he might turn out on the spectrum? Then I won't be the only one.'' But he's 13 now and shows no sign of ASD.

Only one with a diagnosis. Probably an uncle on the spectrum. Also the majority of my familiy would probably fit in the Broader autism phenotype-

There is a strong possibility my sister is an Aspie herself, but I am the only Aspie in my family with a diagnosis.

I'm sorry, that must be very hard for you. I have one older cousin with Asperger's. He's not as high-functioning as I am, but I think that's because his parents coddled him too much. Mine forced me into normalcy, which in the end benefited me. I also have a much older cousin who is severely mentally disabled. I have several cousins with ADHD. Like 4+ at least. But honestly it doesn't make much difference. In the end all that mattered was how my parents treated me and how they were able to help me. They never talked to the parents of my cousins with learning disabilities to get advice. There was no support system, but no judgement either. So I don't think it makes much of a difference whether you're the only one or not.

No one in my family has many ASD symptoms.