The biology of Asperger's

Post Reply New Topic

[Sorry if this kind of topic was made before. I'll delete it once if there is, don't worry.]
I've been wondering about this for quite a while now. I know that there are some certain physical characteristics of Aspergers, like issues with motor skills and balance and, well, eye contact [I happen to have all of 'em]. Have you noticed anything else? Like a certain eye colour being dominant. This might be a rumour of some kind though I'm really curious about these stuff and what you guys have to say.

There is no association with eye colour.

Globally, you'd probably find disproportionate numbers of blue and green eyed people diagnosed, but that would be because mental health services are better in countries with more blue and green eyed people.

I do think there's a common, identifiable Aspergian facial expression: non-smiling, intense, thoughtful, stressed, preoccupied, but I believe that's a result of our neurology/psychology rather than anything biological or genetic.

I read somewhere that Aspergers is genetic and the same gene also causes slightly bent fingers and/or toes. My index and little fingers on both hands have a distinct curve to them and almost all of my toes are crooked.

The 'wiring' in our brains is supposed to be different but I'm not sure if that can be detected.

Is there any to the idea we generally look young for our age?

I have noticed through this site that a larger then normal population of young autistics have poor eyesight, maybe we are all just nearsighted from reading and staying inside too much.

I have the crooked fingers, extreme myopia and minor astigmatism in one eye, and I look extremely young for my age (though probably part of that is because I am a short female with what society considers a "good figure," and very long brown hair).

My father's side of the family is where the autism comes from. They have crooked fingers ("double-jointed") and the uncle that has the most Aspie traits has a pronounced primary tremor in his hands, as do I. I've noticed that in dyslexics also.

Everyone in my family has eyes ranging from pale green to dark blue except one hazel-eyed cousin.

We are also knock-kneed and share a distinctive gait.

The exec director of my local autism center said that 92% of the families she sees have German ancestry. This is true of my family, on both sides. My great-grandmother on my dad's side was nearly 100% German. My great-grandfather on my mom's side was as well. Both my parents seem slightly spectrum-y, as does my sister and three out of my six first cousins on my dad's side. However, I think that only myself and one uncle would get an actual diagnosis of Asperger's.

No it doesn't work that way. Autism is thought to be mainly genetic (but also with some environmental influences ,such as pre-natal insults). However , there are many , many genes each contributing a little to ASD and there might be different genes that can lead to ASD in different individuals, so there's definitely not an Asperger's gene (identifiable, one gene) that also causes slightly bent fingers and toes.

That idea has definitely occurred to me from time to time. I have tentatively attributed it to the idea that we do not get 'care-worn' in the same way that NTs do.

Our rat-race is different from the NTs' rat-race! And we always live in hope that tomorrow will be better (or, at the very least, that it's always worth trying something new - especially a new idea. In my experience, a major characteristic of ASD is an absence of fear about the unknown...)

I've read somewhere that larger eyes and wider mouths than most might be more common in people on the Autistic spectrum