Autism heritability: not what you think it means?

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My opinion - coming from a family with prevalent Aspergerian traits:
1. There is some / there are some purely genetic factors that put a person on the "broader spectrum" (ASD + BAP);
2. There are plentiful genetic and environmental factors that influence "severity" both below and above the threshold for diagosis. Any influence to overall mental and physical health can have impact on autism symptoms once the person is on the "broader spectrum".

This may be true for my family and false for cases of severe autism "out of the blue". It's likely that autism spectrum is just a set of symptoms that may be present with more than one possible underlying conditions.

My stepdaughter has said my father has quite a few similar traits to my self . I wonder whether that might explain why he passed the written exam for the A stream of the diplomatic service , but failed the oral exam . A case of being clever enough , but not possessing the level of diplomacy skills required perhaps .

Apart from my dad, and the speculative comment above , I know of no other people in my family who might fit the bill for being on the spectrum . That extends to what I've heard about grandparents and great-grandparents .

It's very different in my family where various traits characteristic for the spectrum are prevalent in both my mother's and my father's side, though only the youngest generation - current schoolchildren - get official diagnoses.
When I learned about my AS and its heritability, my first thought was: that would explain my uncle!

There is plenty of "neurosis" in my family----but no autism.

On my brother's wife's side, one of her sisters has two children who have classic, high-functioning autism (not the Asperger's type, though both have normal intelligence).

My father's side of the family seems to have been autistic as far back as we can go. They had classic signs. My brother and I are very much like them.

My mother's side is definitely neurodiverse, but in many different ways.

I'm sure that in my case, autism was genetic. Being raised by an entirely neurodiverse family contributed as well, because children mirror what they see.

On my mother's paternal side , going back a century or more , there was a son who used to sit and nod his
head all day side to side and would periodically 'chew' on the brass
around the fireplace. Also he used to threaten to slit his throat..using
the backside of the blade to demonstrate.