Heredity of AS

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Hi! I am a woman of 37 years living in Sweden. I have suspected for a while that I have AS and my son got his diagnosis a month ago. How likely is it for me to have AS when my son does? Is it proven in studies to be hereditery from parent to child or is this close passing of the syndrome more uncommon in families so that maybe just a grandfather or an uncle somwhere has AS. I hope you understand what I mean. Most people with AS seem to have NT parents so maybe I am just sensitive to AS as my son just got his diagnosis.

hi Zelma and welcome.
You are right, it's hereditary, from the mother or the father usually as far as I know.

Here are some positive traits

Thank you for that list, computerlove! That just put me in a better mood.

Yes, I agree that it's hereditary. Lots of people in my family have AS-like characteristics, although I would not attempt to judge who is and is not an aspie.

That is an awesome list.

My mom is very AS-ish...
She always blames the mercury in her fillings though...or vaccinations or stuff like that...
I don't talk much with her about aspergers...

My paternal grandfather had very AS and OCD traits and was an engineer by trade.
HIS brother...was somewhat lower on the spectrum...if if not that...his traits more severely affected his life...

I am the mom of an Aspie. I believe I am also an Aspie although I have never been diagnosed as such. My grandfather had so many of the Aspie qualities ( graduated from USC and Harvard and set up NATO), his brother (a Nuclear physicist), nephew (an MIT prfessor) and several other family members also have many, many of the qualities one would associate with Aspies.

I do strongly beleiev there are hereditary links. My sons Neuro also asked us who else in the family has like tendancies.

That's how my husband and I work. We are both Aspies who had huge trouble wading through all the subtext and subtlety in relationships with NTs. We always felt (and usually correctly) like we were doing it wrong, or not meeting expectations we couldn't even name. Together, we click. We never have to worry the other is lying or hiding things. We say what we feel. If I get a haircut and want a compliment, I announce that I got a haircut. If he needs me to leave him alone for awhile, he tells me. Neither is bothered by the other's social backwardness, flat affect, or child-like natures. Nor do I have to worry about flubbing social conventions in my own home anymore. If I stand up in the middle of a conversation and announce I have to poop, or something else I may say without thinking first, he doesn't turn all red and immediately make apologies for me. We love the same TV shows, we both hate crowded places, and we have 12 floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled in triple rows with the masses of books about whatever obsession-of-the-day we've been researching. (Mostly quantuum physics at this juncture.) AND, not only do I get to use my whole vocabulary, I can share with him all those crazy, random thoughts that may make NTs want to lock me away. (Like the mental images certain words and music cause. "Platitudes" has always made me think of a platypus leading a church group.) We also don't have to pretend at home that religion ever has made the foggiest sense to either of us, despite exhaustive research.

And, he doesn't mind when I spit out ALL my thoughts is a lump like this. Filtering information when I answer is not my strong suit.

Gilly

I don't think they've calculated the odds of inheriting AS yet.

[quote="computerlove
Gilly: do you have a sister? [/quote]

Lol, I have two sisters, both NTs that didn't understand a bit of this. Though being an Aspie girl, once you get through the childhood awkwardness, makes one a hot, hot commodity if you date in the right circles. Gender-skewed disorders aren't half bad for all of us.

Gilly

My parents certainly have something they are by no means NT, my mom is NT, but my father is 100% aspie, shows more signes then I do, especally when dealing with people. Hell he is a nuclear engineer not that that proves anything but his office is super organized and I see aspiness in him everytime I see him, it seems to come from his side of the family and if I knew my family better I certainly would be looking for others similar to me and my father.

Thank you for answering!

I do think I have AS, but the more I read about it the more it seems like most aspies are sorrounded with NT in their families with som odd AS figure somewhere a bit ouy of the closest family.
I have for example been told that my facial expression is to "neutral" around others which make others a bit insecure around me. This has lead to me always thinking about smiling and looking surprised, angry etc. in the right places in conversation with others.
And I always take it litterary what people say, very annoying to me, because I always answer back just a couple of seconds before my brain has processed what they meant, so I have to change my reply to seem as I was making a joke, and return to what my answer should have been. Very tirering.