Is aspergers hereditary?
graceksjp
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Since Im adopted I dont know if anyone in my family was on the spectrum, but I wondering if people who are, typically also have children who are?
My dad studied genes and how they're passed on for years (he's a reproductive biologist) and he said a lot of people dont agree on whether or not it is in fact hereditary and can be passed on directly. But I know there are a lot of people on this forum who have children/siblings. Just curious
My mother called earlier to say she's working on my yellow binder again (i swear i have the largest yellow binder int he family which isnt even fair since im the youngest and i dont even have a significant other!) and she's attempting to determine the risk of any of my potential biological children being 'like me'. Because apparently, she's "not doing that again" in which case she will have to move to one of her 'back up plans'. (this emoji does not roll his eyes hard enough to properly express how hard i am rolling my eyes) Honestly I kinda hope the answer is yes cause i dont really want to get pregnant ever
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Yes, but can also be caused by spontaneous mutation, and individual traits might not always be inherited together (a family may have a history of minor traits that may not be seen as autism unless one person has enough of them). In my own family, there are strong traits through both blood lines.
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Diagnosed autistic level 2, ODD, anxiety, dyspraxic, essential tremors, depression (Doubted), CAPD, hyper mobility syndrome
Suspected; PTSD (Treated, as my counselor did notice), possible PCOS, PMDD, Learning disabilities (Sure of it, unknown what they are), possibly something wrong with immune system (Sick about as much as I'm not) Possible EDS- hyper mobility type (Will be getting tested, suggested by doctor) dysautonomia
The short answer is YES. Aspergers, and autism are mainly inherited. Or that's concensus at the moment.
Except there is nothing that simple about about any aspect of autism and aspergers.
When autism was first discovered by Kanner back in the Sixties they assumed it was all "environmental" in the sense that it was a "neurosis", that could be cured by talk therapy, and that it was caused by bad parenting. Specifically the villain was moms withholding emotion, ergo the old "refrigerator mom" theory- now discredited and ridiculed.
Then they went the other way, and assumed that it was the opposite- all genetic and all inherited.
Recently the pendelum has swung a little bit back, but not all of the way. Its now considered mostly, but not entirely, genetic, or epigenetic. But parenting, and or other things (like chemicals) in the environment might contribute.
They have done twin studies, and its not 100 percent conclusive that its all inherited. But on the other hand they are finding genes in the human genome that seemed to be linked to autism spectrum disorders.
So if you just want a simplistic rule of thumb answer - then yes- if you were to go into your biological family tree you might find others with at least aspie traits if not actual aspergers (though aspies of even one generation back were rarely official diagnosed as such). And you probably would pass on some autistic traits if you had kids of your own.
It's not "inherited" in the Mendelian sense.
Neither in a dominant or a recessive sense.
It can be passed from parent to child. But then again, many Aspergian parents do not give birth to Aspergian children. And many Aspergian children have little or no autism in their families.
I don't believe people with Asperger's need "genetic counseling." I don't believe Asperger's people should be precluded, or should preclude themselves, from having children.
Neither in a dominant or a recessive sense.
It can be passed from parent to child. But then again, many Aspergian parents do not give birth to Aspergian children. And many Aspergian children have little or no autism in their families.
I don't believe people with Asperger's need "genetic counseling." I don't believe Asperger's people should be precluded, or should preclude themselves, from having children.
People shouldn't let a disability keep them from having kids, but it's complicated mostly because it isn't a singular genetic trait, it is a bunch of small ones. So some traits may be dominant and others recessive. And some may look different in different people. Plus some spontaneous mutations.
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Diagnosed autistic level 2, ODD, anxiety, dyspraxic, essential tremors, depression (Doubted), CAPD, hyper mobility syndrome
Suspected; PTSD (Treated, as my counselor did notice), possible PCOS, PMDD, Learning disabilities (Sure of it, unknown what they are), possibly something wrong with immune system (Sick about as much as I'm not) Possible EDS- hyper mobility type (Will be getting tested, suggested by doctor) dysautonomia
It is complicated.
Autism has many causes.
A kid I grew up with had severe autism and severe intellectual disability because of anoxia (a lack of oxygen to the brain at birth). This can be said to be an example of an "environmental" cause.
Many things which occur in the Neonatal portion of a person's life has great impact later on in that life.
It's not uncommon for it be hereditary, but that doesn't mean that all aspies have other aspie relatives. 40% seems to be an estimated number, although it could be higher seeing as many might not be diagnosed.
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Yes it is. A huge number of Aspie mums or dads here on WP seem to have a child on the spectrum, and if they have more than one child they all seem to be on the spectrum.
Both me and my brother are on the spectrum, although my parents are both NTs and so are their siblings and nieces and nephews.
Yes, autism is such a stubborn f**k, it spreads like wildfire. Unless you're in my family, then you only get it if you're an offspring of my parents.
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Female
My dad studied genes and how they're passed on for years (he's a reproductive biologist) and he said a lot of people dont agree on whether or not it is in fact hereditary and can be passed on directly. But I know there are a lot of people on this forum who have children/siblings. Just curious
My mother called earlier to say she's working on my yellow binder again (i swear i have the largest yellow binder int he family which isnt even fair since im the youngest and i dont even have a significant other!) and she's attempting to determine the risk of any of my potential biological children being 'like me'. Because apparently, she's "not doing that again" in which case she will have to move to one of her 'back up plans'. (this emoji does not roll his eyes hard enough to properly express how hard i am rolling my eyes) Honestly I kinda hope the answer is yes cause i dont really want to get pregnant ever
I don't know how much is hereditary and how much isn't.
I do know that whatever 'back up plans' your mum makes, the important decisions in your life should be made
by you. Since you are only 18 and don't want to get pregnant your probably going to be in agreement at the
moment but you should leave your options open as to the future when hopefully there will be more information.
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My dad studied genes and how they're passed on for years (he's a reproductive biologist) and he said a lot of people dont agree on whether or not it is in fact hereditary and can be passed on directly. But I know there are a lot of people on this forum who have children/siblings. Just curious
My mother called earlier to say she's working on my yellow binder again (i swear i have the largest yellow binder int he family which isnt even fair since im the youngest and i dont even have a significant other!) and she's attempting to determine the risk of any of my potential biological children being 'like me'. Because apparently, she's "not doing that again" in which case she will have to move to one of her 'back up plans'. (this emoji does not roll his eyes hard enough to properly express how hard i am rolling my eyes) Honestly I kinda hope the answer is yes cause i dont really want to get pregnant ever
Hi graceksjp,
Just don't worry about being pregnant, pregnancy is natural and great, having and raising an autistic child is not a risk it's just different than having and raising a neurotypical one. Autistic children are not is any way less valuable than neurotypical ones.
As anyone in the spectrum, at least one of your biological parents is on the spectrum. As anyone in the spectrum, any time you would have a child, this child has a chance in two to inherit your mutation (I am in the very most likely case, the one where you are an heterozygous carrier of the mutation), but (s)he won't be necessarily asperger, asperger syndrom is only a small part of the spectrum. In fact your child has a chance in two to be somewhere in the spectrum, if the father is neurotypical, and three chance in four if the father is as well on the spectrum.
Autism is a good case of mendelian inheritance, but like most genes there is no dolminance or recessivity, just co-dominance.
Best regards
I'm a twin (non-identical) with two other sisters and I'm the only autistic. My parents aren't autistic but they each have a few traits. They've gotten along in life really well.
My second cousin is Aspie. He is in high school and very smart. He'll go far in whatever he chooses to do.
So that's all the autism in my family.
InquisitveJay
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