Does anyone here have autistic siblings as well?

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I posted earlier regarding my son who was just diagnosed with mild to moderate ASD. I’ve been researching recurrence rates in siblings and they say it’s about 20% per sibling. I’m a bit worried because I’m currently 6-7 months pregnant with another boy (higher ASD risk) and at the time I became pregnant I wasn’t fully aware that my son was on the spectrum. So I was wondering if it was common in people’s families here to have more than one sibling on the spectrum.

I'm the only Spectrumite in my family.

My brother is squarely on the NT Spectrum.

My brother didn't go for an assessment but I can pretty much guarantee he's "Aspergers" (I'm ASD2).

We both have combined-type ADHD as well.

I can certainly understand your concerns. I might be concerned, too.

It's certainly no guarantee that your next child will be on the Spectrum.

I wish this wasn't a crapshoot----but it sort of is.

It might be more difficult raising a child on the Spectrum----but it is possible that this child might be able to do great things owing to being on the Spectrum (certainly not ascribing "superpowers" to Spectrumites). Have you heard of, or read up on, Temple Grandin? She is not a stereotypical savant; she invented many useful items which, for one, provided a way to humanely vaccinate farm animals.

There is a slight sense that I might have been able to do "great things" had my mother left me alone, and "allowed" me to be autistic. I don't know, really. It was a rough childhood for me because my mother was frustrated, didn't want me to embarrass her, and there was no concept of autism having relatively positive traits back in the 1960s.

No siblings but extended family.

My siblings do have a few autistic traits. For example, my brother is more noise sensitive than me.

Me and my brother both have autism.

My brother and one of my 1st cousins are ND but not Autistic, I have a 2nd cousin who is diagnosed Autistic, and a 3rd cousin who my mom and I suspect may be Autistic based on what her mom (my mom’s 2nd cousin) has told us about her.

Your baby is going to be an amazing, sweet, delightful, wonderful person. My little brother has asperger's, and I wouldn't trade him for anything.

It seems that some NT siblings can "catch" the sibling's autism. They start off as NT then when they hit adolescence they become quite emotionally troubled and show some signs of PPD-NOS-type traits of autism. That's my experience anyway.

My brother started off NT; all through childhood he had normal social development and had lots of friends and didn't have any autism symptoms, until about age 16 or 17, then he started getting depressed, had frequent bouts of withdrawal, and was odd in some other ways. Now he's in his 30s and has got himself a diagnosis of Asperger's, although I still don't think his problems is autism, I think it's more mental health problems like a depressive disorder.
But I think that he is NT but had "caught" some Aspie-like traits because of me, but not actually be on the spectrum.

He’s probably not autistic. One has to show autistic traits in toddlerhood, preschool at the latest, in order to be diagnosed as autistic.

Who knows? Maybe his autistic traits as a young child were so subtle that they weren’t noticed back then.

Please don't think I'm presumptuous enough to "doubt his diagnosis" or whatever.

Autism is considered something you are "born" with, though. Not something that you acquire later in life.

By the way, I don't believe autism, on its own, is necessarily something which indicates something is "wrong" with somebody.

There is no single person in my immediate family I feel confident in saying is not on the spectrum, though none of them has a formal Dx

Mom: Very particular eater, needs to spend hours a day alone in a quiet room reading, very annoyed by sounds

Dad: Has trouble understanding other people's emotions, very active, loves to climb. Has perfect pitch and loves music.

Sibling one: Detail-oriented, loves to organize books and people's schedules at work, but tends to have a chaotically disorganized house. has about 5 favorite meals she makes herself for dinner. Has perfect pitch.

Sibling two: Anxiety-prone person, good at statistics, was really good in theater as a kid. Also loves music.

My sister is also diagnosed. She's my only other full sibling. We'll see what happens with my half sister. I have a cousin recently diagnosed and while her brother doesn't have it, he has sensory processing disorder and their elder half sister, mum and dad have ADHD.

I know some Autistic parents who have both ASD and NT children.

I know some NT parents with ASD children, and no apparent family history.

I tend to believe there's usually a genetic link for ASD but the OP's second baby might not be on the spectrum at all.

Exactly. It's a very random thing. That's what can be so troubling about it....

both my older and younger brothers have autism, i have suspected my dad does as well but its just a theory.