Question about Asd

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Hi, l really have all the symptoms of As, although my dad screamed at us alot as a kid, and i'm just wondering if theres anyway to tell if its biologic or if its from upbringing?

That's a good question because a lot of the traits seem to overlap with abuse. According to a book by Oliver Sacks, people used to think autism and AS were caused by neglectful or abusive upbringings. They have obviously since changed that sentiment - however if it is close enough to appear that way to others, there is some truth to the overlapping symptoms.

First of all, AS can't be caused by abuse, if that was what you were thinking. That used to be the thinking, but as I wrote above, that thinking has changed. It's almost certainly genetic, and the almost is there only to allow the function of all science as a masterpiece always in the works and never finished.

A person can have both symptoms of abuse and have AS, and from what I hear people with AS are often abused because they are more 'difficult' to bring up than NT children (depending on the parents and their way of thinking obviously.)

I myself suffered abuse as a child at home from an alcoholic mother and at school from the other children. I suspect the children bullied me because of the AS, but my mother probably didn't - it was all the alcohol talking. A lot of symptoms do seem to overlap because many children in abusive situations don't properly develop their social skills. Some symptoms that I notice are more from abuse and less from AS are things like stealing, cutting school, dangerous behaviors, excessive drug use, sexual promiscuity. Basically it's a long list of behaviors that spell out "reckless." If you have a lot of symptoms and not these reckless behaviors, AS might be your best bet. If you have these reckless behaviors and don't really have too much else in common with aspies, then abuse is the main cause. And again, like I said, you could have both - and not every symptom of every disease fits every person.

That's my two cents. I am not a psychologist. Just interested.

Someone can be born and raised in a loving home and still have AS, yes. But would an NT who grew up in an abusive home also, perhaps, end up with the same end results as someone with AS?

Obvious not all NTs from dysfunctional homes cease being NTs, but could abuse create Aspie-like symptoms in an otherwise neurotypical?

And for the OP: it's also possible that your father, whose genes you share, also had AS or was borderline autistic and part of his abusiveness or nuttiness may have been a manifestation of his brand of AS and not being able to deal. Which means you wouldn't necessarily act the same way, hopefully learning from his mistakes, but still having the same biology which caused him to be what he was.

They can have many similar traits, I think, but difference is - they can go to psychologist and after some time they will be almost normal NT.
AS can go to psychologist for whole life and he will never get rid of those traits.

Undiagnosed parents can also be pretty abusive to you because they're not aware of how their behaviour affects other people. So not only do they pass over their genes to you, you get abused too.

Me, I got autism and neglect from one parent and ADHD and constant blame, ridicule and punishments every time she was just angry from the other.

I got some love and support too, from one of them.

I personally think it's genetics.

Yeah I can vouch for that...
I do think it's a gene built process as to whether a child has an ASD or not... only it could take some a long time to notice if they don't show much difference to the perception of an NT.

it is genetic in my current opinion

With objectivity, Asperger's Syndrome is a genetic condition that occurs in utero &/or soon after - we are genetically programmed.

But I do believe that we are subject to our upbringing and how we're treated. Certainly, there are Aspies who are, and were always, loved. For instance, on our own Wrong Planet Parent's Forum, we have some awesome parents whose kids are on the spectrum - they're well adjusted and treated well. There are some really well-adjusted Aspies from supportive families who thrive with their diagnosis.

Instead, I think the question is how does bad upbringing affect AS? Well, it makes it much harder and more complicated. From what I've learned from the Wrong Planet, no one suffers from Autism/AS. Instead, we suffer from how we are perceived, and mis-perceived, by others. We suffer from the consequential mistreatment. We suffer from being excluded. From being bullied and teased. Aspie kids are prone to bullies and struggle due to our sensitivities. I've had problems with trauma, diagnosed, because I was cruelly abused by a neuropsych professional. I suffer from being shy and not speaking.

So, instead I think we suffer from the effects of being mistreated as it uniquely manifests in us as Aspies. Bad parenting does not 'cause' Asperger's, certainly! Instead, it exacerbates symptoms that are latent.