Is Autism Inherited

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If one or both of your parents have Autism or Asperger's Syndrome does that mean it will be passed on any children through the genes?

Yes. No. Maybe.

No one knows for sure, but a lot of Aspies report having one or both parents with Aspish traits.

While it's pretty obvious that autism/AS has a strong genetic component, no one knows exactly how it works. Parents who have autism/AS themselves, or who have autism/AS in their family, are obviously more likely to have autistic children, but no one can figure out the exact probability at this time.

My father's family is so full of weird people with AS traits that it can't be a coincidence. That's my two cents.

Likewise... chronic problems of a psychological nature abound in all branches of my family.

Just like any genetic trait, the chances do increase when both parents have the gene. However, remember, recessive genes only have a 1 in 4 chance each time you become pregnant with a child. With some genetic disorders, the chances are lower because a lot of genes need to be involved, so it is 1 in 4 for each gene. You would need all 4 genes responsible for autism to line up just right. The chances are not none, but they are not definitive either.

I saw a statistic today
Let's see... it said...
If you or your partner are autistic, there is an 8-10% chance of your chilld being autistic.

I'm beginning to realise that my dad has some Aspie traits, but I can't see any in my mum. That said, apart from being female, I am like a mini-me for my dad so maybe there is a genetic link.

I don't think in my case it runs in the family at all...

Well I was diagnosed as "hyperactive" in 1969, my Son as Autistic in in 1999 and as part of tat assessment process I had to ask my own Father several questions all of which pointed to him being on the Spectrum.

Peace

Tog

I've traced it in my family back into at least 1880. If some causes are not at least partly genetic, I'd say there's some sort of genetic trigger that something in the environment pushes. Hard to say, they can't pin it down. I have my suspicions that there are a number of causes, and all we are seeing is the result.

The problem is that "autism" was not added to the DSM (as a separate category) until 1980; and Asperger's was not added until 1994. Prior to 1980, at least under the DSM, you were either diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia (if you were a child) or with schizoid personality disorder (if you were an adult).

In 1980 (the DSM-III), they first acknowledged that they had made a mistake. Children with Kanner's syndrome (classical autism) were not necessarily schizophrenics.

I myself was a victim of this problem. By today's standards, I should have been diagnosed with AS and comorbid OCD. Instead, I was diagnosed with childhood schizophrenia and was treated by the psychiatric establishment as if I were "psychotic" (including being given a series of eletroconvulsive therapies).

Studies have shown that ASDs are (or at least can be) inherited. However, because no one was officially diagnosed as "autistic" (in the U.S.) prior to 1980, it can be difficult to trace back (to do "genograms," in the technical jargon).

Anecdotally, my father is, I believe, an Aspie. We also believe that my great uncle (my paternal grandmother's brother) was autistic.

Last edited by nominalist on 20 Oct 2007, 1:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.

No one knows for sure. A lot of people here have at least one relitive with AS tendancies, but no real genetic link has been made yet.

Perhaps you mistyped that, Nominalist. I've got an uncle diagnosed as "Austistic" in commitment papers from the 1950s, and he was most definitely in the USA at the time. : )

Hi, Nan,

No. I went back and read through the DSM-I, the DSM-II, the DSM-III, and the DSM-IV:

http://www.psychiatryonline.com/DSMPDF/dsm-i.pdf
http://www.psychiatryonline.com/DSMPDF/dsm-ii.pdf
http://www.psychiatryonline.com/DSMPDF/dsm-iii.pdf
http://www.psychiatryonline.com/DSMPDF/dsm-iv.pdf

Autism is only mentioned in connection with childhood schizophrenia and schizoid personality disorder in DSM-I and DSM-II. For the first time, in the DSM-III, the APA acknowledges that there is a difference between "infantile" autism (Kanner's syndrome) and schizophrenia. The DSM-IV is the first to mention Asperger's.

If the person was diagnosed as autistic, it was not an official DSM diagnosis.

It will increase your chance of having it if one of your parents has it. But I don't htink it HAS to be in your family to get it since neither of my parents - or any family members i know - is on the spectrum, or even has any kind of mental problems.