Parents/ Grandparents into maths/ science/ engineering?

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My Father is a Chartered Accountant. My Grandfather is a Fitter-Turner (engineering). According to the Theories of Simon Baron-Cohen, Autistic people are more likely to have Parents and Grandparents involved in the fields of maths, engineering, and so forth.

Not to pick a bone with you but isn't that a bit Lamarckian of him? I mean, acquired skills like math and science being transmitted genetically to offspring?

I'v heard the same theory somewhere but it included physics.
My father worked at Groom Lake, and later fixed the computers at the Federal Reserve Banks. He also invented computer stuff and taught classes for Burroughs in Detroit. (I remember he had a beeper in like the late 60's, or EARLY 70's in case the banks computers went down)
My grandfather retired off of Edwards AFB making the models of the aircraft they tested in the wind tunnels. One uncle worked for NASA, one uncle was Post Commander in AZ of FT Huachuca. (I'v heard some WILD stories from my family over the years, it's the "Intelligence" post)
PS My father was DEFINATLY an "Aspie" and my mother proably, she was a voricaous reader and not sociable at all,worked at home doing "cake decorating", really creative and detail-oriented on everything she did. Not definate about her, but for sure on my father.

Last edited by reika on 04 Oct 2007, 2:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.

My father was a chemical engineer, and most likely an Aspie.

Both of my parents worked in an engineering job of some kind. However, I don't believe it had anything to do with my AS; they were very hard-core NTs. If anything, it's probably a recessive gene that skipped a generation or two. Also, I'm not sure what kind of jobs my grandparents held, since they were retired by the time I was born.

Last edited by Aspie1 on 04 Oct 2007, 1:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

Since when is the natural inclination toward mathematics and hard sciences a learned trait?


There are many, many engineers and mechanically-minded people in my family.

Mom is a biomedical engineer (well, was until she stopped working to pursue other interests), no clue about my dad (never met him). My uncle worked in a science lab for a while before he passed away.

My father runs a company that produces rechargeable batteries. He is also head of R & D so he pretty good with math and chemistry. Completely self educated.

On my dad's side of the family I have two great uncles who were engineers: one nuclear, and one electrical.

In my case it didn't happen - I don't know my father's family but my mother's parents born before the war when sending children to schools wasn't compulsory, were only simple peasants with no education and intellectual ambitions at all. They knew how to read and write but it's all. The only book which my grandma ever read was her prayerbook.They weren't types of intellectual at all, as same as my mother and two of her three siblings. One of my mother's brothers was always claimed to be highly intelligent man, some kind of genius; even being a schoolboy he was often told to be more intelligent and having bigger knowledge than many of his teachers.

I have several engineers and architechts on my dad's side of the family...i guess most notably my grandfather who was an engineer for Exxon....he was also pretty eccentric in a rigid, aspie-like way...had rigid routines and obsessions...had stock phrases he would use over and over again...etc...saved everything...would collect many of the same object...etc...His sister was an architecht, but way more outwardly NT...though she never married...insisted on doing everything the exact same way....was very meticulous and particular about everything...
My dad was a draftsman before he gave that up to sell pianos....his older brother has architectural and engineering skills....and runs his own business designing and installing fancy custom furniture and concrete sinks, countertops and whatnots....
My great-grandfather patented a concrete house.

I feel pretty dumb compared to my dad's side fo the family what with my sloppy lazy ADD-ness..

..But I mostly seem to take after my very AS-seeming mom...and I don't know of any engineers on her side of the family...Her dad worked at the ship channel, and I don't know what he did there...nor whether he had any AS characteristics. Her mom was pretty NT, as is/was the rest of her family.

My kid's father (and my hubby) is a chemical engineer.

His Dad is an engineer as well, and VERY routine-oriented.

My father was a civil engineer for Bechtel. Somewhat OCD, some anti-social behavior as a young father.

I think both the grandfathers are undiagnosed aspie-types, but I don't think my husband would qualify, oddly enough. He's just too social.

All are very interesting men. Wouldn't have them any other way.

Kris

My paternal grandfather was a Merchant Marine captain, my father was a tool & die maker, and I myself was an
electronics technician for over 20 years. My maternal grandfather owned a candy factory.

Yeah, I WISH math was just LEARNED. It isn't. And there are different levels of math ability. I would be happy if I had like the 2 highest level consistantly. I know I have the ability for the highest level, as there have been too many cases where I just KNEW the answer. BTW those are levels school doesn't even TRY to teach. The ability to be given say long strings of numbers, and do various operations.

As for science, it is based primarily on curiousity, logic, general knowledge. It DOES have a genetic component, but is more general and probably more common than math.

BTW My father minored in math, from what I understand, and majored in business. My mother is an accountant, and was an English teacher. My first real interest was electronics. Some of the things, that I did, I did by tests. Math formulas would have made it easier, but trying to get details on them was not easy. I was lucky I even knew ohms law.

Irulan,

Yeah, I had much the same problem as your parents, and I guess most on this board, including you. I wasn't able to really get the exposure to what I wanted. I lamented over that even when I was 6-7.

That may ESPECIALLY be bad in some poorer areas where they may not even know that such knowledge exists. It is like a movie here (the beverly hillbillies) where the "boy"(jehtro) was said to have graduated from OXFORD! It turns out it was like IN OXFORD *****ARKANSAS*****! They didn't know there was a REAL university that wouldn't even consider him to be worth their time. And THEY are based on a type of people that apparently really exist in the US!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly

They are isolated and see no point in learning new things, etc...

My son is 10 with, my dad got engineering/math degrees in college and ended up as the technical director in a milling machine company. My son and my dad have VERY similar intellects and can talk for hours and hours together

My father worked as an Electrical Engineer. My grandfather on my father's side was a physician.