Does Race influence Asperger's/Autism likelihood?

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AwdiKei
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03 May 2015, 6:44 pm

Does anyone have any info on this?
Is HFA more common than LFA in some races?
What are the races of the Autistics and Aspies that you have met?
Please distinguish between HFA and LFA.


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Sweetleaf
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03 May 2015, 6:53 pm

I am not sure, but I know there are some conditions that people of certain races are more likely to be at risk for, than others. So it is certainly possible but not sure, it would be interesting to see if there have been any studies on that though.

I am diagnosed as aspergers/HFA, and I have Native American and Northern European decent...and have not really met a lot of people on the spectrum in person.


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WelcomeToHolland
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03 May 2015, 8:00 pm

It might, but I think this is very hard, if not impossible to know right now, because autism awareness varies a lot in different parts of the world. The Amish community has a famously "low" rate of autism, which anti-vaxxers will site as evidence that vaccines cause autism (because they don't vaccinate much)- but of course an alternative explanation for that is that they are just less likely to seek a diagnosis for it. Autism didn't exist in my native country until the 2000s!! ! You can bet that the Asperger's rate is REALLY low, if exists at all. My native country is currently at war, so I don't see this changing for a while (bigger fish to fry). But that doesn't mean there are really no people with Asperger's there, obviously.

I've met autistic children of many different ethnicities. I can't pinpoint a pattern there.


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XJ220RACER
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03 May 2015, 8:35 pm

Unfortunately there is a lot of political correctness surrounding this topic that says that since there are autistics of every race, that there can't be such a link, but let me tell you that most people on here will mention Northern Europe.

I'm mostly Swedish and other Scandinavian. All of the people on the Swedish side of my family, my mom's mom's side, have had glaring autistic traits, including my grandma herself. My grandma was the first one to suggest I was autistic when I was a toddler because even at such an early age I reminded her so much of her brothers, who were diagnosed with bipolar and schizophrenia back in their day - but really would've been more fit for an Asperger diagnosis, had it been around back then. Other than that, I am Polish, Czech, Irish, and English. My dad (Irish/English) had a weird childhood (from what little I know) and once told me that he thinks he meets a lot of the criteria for AS, but unfortunately I don't talk to him any more, so I guess I don't have a way of knowing.

The only cultures I have any real, immersed, familiarity with are Scandinavia and England - having traveled there, having made a number of friends from there, etc. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what it is, maybe my interest in those places or the fact that I "perk up" (get more confident) when I meet someone from there, but I have had way more luck in making serious, deep, human connections in the few months that I went there than I have in 21 years of living here in the US. I don't feel rejected when I go there and start mingling, like I feel in my own society. I would certainly emigrate to one of the Scandinavian countries or England, if I ever get the chance.

It certainly seems as if those cultures are way better to someone with higher functioning AS than the US or maybe other countries in other parts of Europe (France, Spain, etc) Especially Scandinavian culture seems to be a large-scale case of mild AS - people there tend to be more shy, creatively-oriented, punctual, very skilled at a certain hobby/interest, more sensitive to their physical environments, and requiring of more personal space. A lot of people who go to the Nordic countries with the wrong expectations will misunderstand all of that and because their small talk doesn't take them far, they'll just assume that people there have rude and snobbish, or worse, intentions lurking behind a shy/aloof persona. Interesting how this misunderstanding, which I hear all the time, reminds me of misunderstanding of individuals with AS.

The connection with Northern Europe makes even more sense in light of the Neanderthal theory.


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AwdiKei
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03 May 2015, 8:54 pm

Yeah, I am trying to collect data to support or disprove the Neanderthal Theory.
I tried to make a poll about anatomical features that are linked to neanderthal DNA but got no responses.
The key traits that might indicated higher-than-average NDNA are:
Incisor shoveling coupled with Carabelli Cusp,
eye sockets that reach their greatest height at the outer sides,
and Bizygomatic breadth greater than forehead width.
There are many more, but these are the simplest.


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Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 117 of 200.
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 95 of 200.
You seem to have both neurodiverse and neurotypical traits.


RoadRatt
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03 May 2015, 9:00 pm

I am part English, Cherokee Indian, Seminole Indian, with a few other things mixed in but I have no idea what they are.

I can tell you this, no one in my family ever mentioned anything about Neanderthal ancestry! :lol:

Edit: I'm Aspergers/HFA


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Last edited by RoadRatt on 03 May 2015, 9:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

AwdiKei
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03 May 2015, 9:01 pm

I'm not sure how to go about asking about this or if anyone would ever supply this info, though.


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Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 117 of 200.
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 95 of 200.
You seem to have both neurodiverse and neurotypical traits.


AwdiKei
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03 May 2015, 9:08 pm

The fact that two members here are heavily Amerindian is enough to disprove the idea that ASD is a 'black(low NDNA) thing', because NA's are the most Neanderthal race on the planet. And if you are NA at all you probably have the aforementioned features.


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Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 117 of 200.
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 95 of 200.
You seem to have both neurodiverse and neurotypical traits.


AwdiKei
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03 May 2015, 9:12 pm

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/caveman-politics/201504/do-you-have-the-personality-neanderthal


_________________
Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 117 of 200.
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 95 of 200.
You seem to have both neurodiverse and neurotypical traits.