Autistic traits due to nuture

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I'm currently pondering on the possible consequences of a parent with ASD raising a NT child. Do you think it is possible, or have you even some experience yourself, that an NT individual can present ASD traits due to their nurture and upbringing by a parent with ASD?

Hello

I don't know but I think it's more likely they will just both get frustrated, but there is a long thread on the parents section that was about being NT bought up by ASD parents so that might help you. I began to read first post and could see it was negative so did not continue so if you are an ASD with NT children remember people are more inclined to feel strongly and post if they had negative/traumatic experience. If you find it's more balenced let me know, I might give it another go.

Being Aspie bought up by NT (but weird) parents didn't make me NT at all, despite not being diagnosed until recently. I think parents soon learn that all their children are different to them and to each other anyway. So I don't think it would make them more ASD if they're NT. On the other hand since NT's seem to pick things up more from those around them maybe they will copy ASD behaviour.

I would wait to see if ASPartOfMe jumps in here with his opinion, he's one of the most knowledgeable people here in regards to diagnosis, therapy, anything on the psychology/science front of autism.

As far as I've read (which again is a pittance compared to AS), autism is a physical brain wiring, nurture will not give a child an autism spectrum disorder. Back in the '60's one of the beliefs among psychological professionals was that autism was the result of having a cold/frigid mother, MRI scans in the 80's/90's revealed that the autistic brain 'lights up' differently than a neurotypical brain, rendering the 'frigid mother' hypothesis moot. At least that's my understanding. That said, if you've got autism and have some 'weird' habits your child may pick those habits up through learned behavior, but it won't make them autistic, they'll just have some weird habits. That's nothing to be too worried about, all kinds of children have weird habits as they're growing up, and your child will most likely grow out of them.

You can't change the way one's brain is wired, you can't change one's prime reactions (or lack of them) to social cues. The kids pick up parents' behaviors so they can learn something and maybe not learn something else - but it's not deep.
My NT daughter learns social skills from our extended family and other kids in her kintergarden. She is praised by her teachers for being "so gifted while still a normal, playful child". I sometimes can't deal with her energy and easy excitement but then I'm sure it's up to her to learn to deal with who she is. I don't think she would lack anything important in the long run.

Thanks for all your replies. I'm not so much concerned that autistic parents will turn NT children autistic as such. I guess it is more about learned behaviour. A bird that cannot sing, cannot teach it's chicks how to sing either?! However i have some reassurance in your responses and I'll be sure to check out that thread in the parents section.

I think a parent who has frequent meltdowns may easily traumatize an otherwise typically developing infant.Symptoms of trauma are similar to asd's.

My own early childhood symptoms:

Nature:
- shy, solitary
- sensory overload
- restricted interests
- difficulty understanding social rules

Nurture:
- neglect due to mom's depression (forced me to accept emotional isolation)
- wrongfully accused & punished (made me feel gaslighted, confused, paranoid)

So I think the sum total of 'who we are' can be a combination of both. I think in a perfect scenario I might have simply been a BAP (Broad Autism Phenotype), but life circumstances made my symptoms worse.

I read about the Girl in the Window before... her mother had significantly low IQ and probably some mental issues. It wasn't that bad for her older brothers, because when their father lived, the life of thee whole family was kind of normal, but when the mother became the sole parent, she couldn't do. Very sad story.

And my own idea about all this is - a child should have more than one adult to interact with.

Yet my son's ASD manifests differently than mine. No two cases are the same, but you would expect with the nurture theory a few more similarities.

'Most if not all NT's have some autistic traits.'

Can you explain this a bit more please? For example, do NTs experience sensory overload, limited or lower understanding of social interactions and inflexible and rigid routines and rituals (often irrational and unusual and that result in meltdowns if in any way broken or disrupted)? My experience would be that if they did, they are in fact autistic.

My experience, though granted it is only my own, has been that NTs and autistic people share 'common' traits, for example routine, but the tolerance and reaction to a change or breakdown in routine is the defining difference.

Shyness for example is not an autisitic trait, it is a common trait amongst all. The underlining causes though are the defining difference.