Is Aspergers genetic or not?

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I think it is even though I was told by our family doctor, and people from support groups that it wasnt.

My cousin has Aspergers, (she married a man with Aspergers) but no-one knew until their son was born and diagnosed with it and then Martine and her husband were also diagnosed with it. My nana and Martine's nana were twin sisters.

My son has only recently been diagnosed with it (he has just turned 20).

Is it just coincidence that so many family members have it?

Oh yeah, they say autism is largely genetic.

There's definitely a hereditary element. My Dad has it and I think my Mum has it too although she may be sub-clinical. Neither of them are diagnosed but it's obvious, especially as my Dad still can't make eye-contact even after 55 years!

I like this article out of Wired which kinda explains it quite well.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers.html

Sam x

I believe it's genetic. I heard if you have a brother or sister or a parent or relative with something, there is a chance your kid will have it too. Sometimes it can be very slim but if it's caused by tragic or head injury or lack of oxygen to the brain, it cannot be inherited.

I have an aunt who is a schizo but my mom told me it be very slim for me to get it too because the right things have to match up for me to get it. With my aunt it was the rape, then getting pregnant, forced to have an abortion, getting more confused in church about abortions, having her first child and then having post partum and PTSD from her abortion, then being drugged by her husband to keep her calm and that all led her to schizophrenia.

However I have relatives with ADHD or dyslexia, diabetes, aspie traits (my parents have some too) and my dad has very little dyslexia in him because he said he occasionally gets numbers or letters backwards. I also have an aunt with a learning disability and my mom said she might have had AS as well. So there is a chance my kid might have ADHD or dyslexia or AS or just the traits or even get diabetes later in life. My kid might even have another type of learning disability. However he or she can't inherit the problems my husband has because lot of them is caused by brain damage he had at birth. Also glasses run in my family so my kid might end up with them too later in life.

My mom is very ASish....

On my dads side, among all the architects, engineers and inventors there are many traits. My paternal grandfather was very ASish and OCD...His brother was even more extreme....

Based on family histories, etc... I think it IS genetic.

Definetly genetic because my best friend has it and so does her father, brother and grandmother. its a family thing.

My wife who is a high school special education administrator, who has seen LOTS of aspie kids and their parents, is fond of saying "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".

There is more and more research demonstrating a strong genetic component to AS and other ASDs. For example:

My family tree is a thundering herd of diagnosed and undiagnosed Aspies. In fact, my original skepticism about immunizations, which has since been borne out by studies, was based on the fact that my relatives who grew up way before the shots were available were just as weird as the rest of us. So it was obvious to me that it was genetic. I am sure that there are sometimes other factors, but I think it's a dominant gene.

When I told my mother that my younger son, and I as well, had been diagnosed, her immediate reaction was, "well, you know you got it from my side of the family". She sent me a newspaper clipping from the San Jose Mercury-News about the surprising number of Aspie kids in the Silicon Valley. Nowhere in the article did it mention that if you're going to gather together a large population of engineer/programmer/electronic geek types in one place, you're guaranteed to get kids that are just like them!

Yes.

You were destined; genetic code. Can occur with genetic 'rearrangement,' somewhat like a mutation, but it's within your genome (Autism Spectrum Disorders).

...And no, your mother is not a refrigerator, contrary to wayward pop-psychology.

Geepers, the way ya'all are talkin, I fear Obama will have us all sterilized!

Frankly, I'm of the opinion we're the next in human evolution.

I know i may be wrong, but I suspect most autistic kids would be fine if their family didn't try to change and control them so much from the start. I know I'm being mean, but if my son were born in my sister's family, he wouldn't be talking today, I'm sure of it. Her aspie son is so messed up right now, and it shouldn't have happened. They ridiculed him as a child. Our son, on the other hand was loved and allowed to do what he wanted. He didnt' interact with other kids, and didn't talk, but he didn't mind if another kid joined him in the playground for a bit either.(they never lasted long, because he kept playing the same game over and over again)

We gently prodded him to name objects or say things, but when he couldn't, it was ok. He was never forced and was always in a supportive environment. He now says that trying to talk was like trying to lift a super heavy weight that he couldn't lift. I don't know what got him to speak though - actually, I do know. He had questions. He was curious and wanted to know things, heck everything! It forced words out of him. He couldn't get answers without asking. That's what got him talking. Knowing the importance of an education got him to study. It's all coming from him, not from us! We just provide support to his needs.

I know other VERY loving parents, but they're so blind to how they prod and push their kids, and the reaction they get is their kids want to hide or act up violently. Yet, if you saw it, it's all coming from the pushing of the parent/parents.

One thing I know, My son is one of the most intelligent kids I've ever met and the only ones that come close are also aspie/autistic.

I know there are different levels of Autism, but my son flapped and couldn't talk, now he no longer flaps, and speaks relatively well (lisps and gets tenses wrong, grammar isn't up to par) but he is doing dang well!

I wish we could stop thinking of it as a "disorder" and instead teach people to understand and be tollerant. Then they can grow as they should and make the human race better by spreading those genes!! ! LOL

Ok, I probably said some stuff that goes too far, please forgive me, I don't want to insult anyone or anyone's family. It's just what I've seen since we've started this journey, and it's what both my husband and I have concluded. We're not perfect! I get annoyed with all my kids, I yell when they make a mess... LOL, all is otherwise normal here too!

Define change or control? Are you against treatment?


I find it very selfish when parents don't help their autistic kids. Just because they can't afford intensive therapy for their child doesn't mean they can't do the work on their own to help their child and I do not see it as changing who they are or not accepting them. In fact lot of parents work with their autistic kids so they can grow up and be independent and live a normal life as possible by the time they are adults. Where would I be if my mom and dad decided to not work with me or bother getting me treatment? My mom says I would be worse off and not be where I am now and I would not be sitting here in my own apartment married and pregnant with our first child. I probably wouldn't be working either or be able to take care of myself. My mom guesses I would have probably had behavior problems and be violent and she once said I'd be like a Nell if they listened to the doctors.


If you aren't against autism treatment, then ignore this. Sounds like you son was lucky to succeed on his own by talking on his own but he just did it late. I heard some autistics learn to talk on their own but not all of them so that's why they get taught how. In fact some do want to talk and I remember reading about Temple Grandin and she said how she couldn't get words out of her mouth so all she could do was scream. She did want to talk and she learned eventually. I don't remember the frustrations at all when I couldn't talk. My mom said I was a frustrated baby and toddler but I was happy with them because they understood me.

Oh no, not at all. We've tried many things, some helped, some didn't. Can't think of anything weirder than using the brush for sensory issues. I think it helped at the time. He doesn't seem to have much trouble with sensory issues anymore?

Nah, I know I'm generalizing, but I don't like seeing autistic kids pushed to the point of becoming irritable and stressed. It makes things worse, but parents tend to do this. As an example, a friend has a child with autism who is barely able to speak, and if you talk to them, the parent will try to encourage their child to say something back, rather than just letting them be... Ms. Ingie said hello to you, can you say hi back? It's not nice not to say hi back, come on, say hi to Ms. Ingie... etc... Until the child is very stressed. But the parent thinks they're helping the child. But the child ends up freaking out from the stress. and I feel bad 'cause I don't want to say "don't do that to your kid, it's stressing him" 'cause it's too ... mean? Not my business? So, I'm kinda expressing that frustration here, where I hope to be anonymous (ducks)

As far as getting our son help, oh man, we've been fighting the fight for over 10 years now. But even then, I have to give him the credit. He is such a good boy, studies hard, trys to please, is self motivated, but at the same time, we let him have all the "down" time he wants. We pay for tutoring in math and reading/writing (we beg our parents for help financially, so I must give credit to my mom and in-laws for making many things possible) And I know it's not as bad for us as it is with some of our friends. Still, I see a parenting difference that I think actually works better?? Not that we're perfect, I know I'm not!

Having said that, I also posted a contrary sounding comment on another thread about discipline. I definitely did discipline my son if he did something wrong (rarely, but he did do things wrong a few times, LOL) These were short quick instances, and yes, he could and sometimes did have meltdowns due to discipline. Then we’d have to give him support and love etc… and calm him down. Tell him he was a good boy, that we just want him to understand he can't do that, that it is a bad thing to do. I know everyone else has been there…