can aspergers come from general crazyness genetically?

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so im aspie, both my parents are NT. so i shouldnt have it right? anyway....

my dads normal, but afew of his siblings are COMPLETELY nuts.

like my auntie. she broke a curtain, so she calls the repair guy. repair guy comes in, but she is ready with a meat hammer, and takes a swing at him! they lost contact with my uncle, because he sleeps on strangers gravestones 0.o

but my dads normal, although his brain is kinda f****d from 30 years of heavy drinking.

so is the crazyness that runs in his family responsible for my AS?

edit: my parents are probably better off socially than most nt people. my dads always the life of the party, so definitely no AS

anyone?

I suppose it's possible that AS can jump a generation (as can anything genetic). Neither my Mother or my Father were tall yet I'm 6ft 2in. My Grandfather on my Mother's side was also well over 6ft.

However..........

My knowledge of genetics is very limited, I may be wrong here.

Vanilla_Slice

Nope.

I am no expert but have done a ton of research since ds was finally diagnosed. It can appear that a child might have it and then the parents don't but a grandparent does. Also other members in the family may appear "crazy" but may have it --they did not have any treatment so they may have strange ways of coping. Some people may appear to be normal but be borderline and not diagnosed. Usually it is traced down the father's side. My son has it but his dad is borderline--appears very normal to others but I pick up on things. DH dad is very aloof and to me is strange and dh uncle is very strange to me. Now I know I understand.

Also other genetic disorgers appear to skip a generation and that is because that a parent may not show signs but can pass the disorder to a child and that child has the symptoms of it.

Anything genetic can be pretty queer in how it jumps from generation to generation.

Just as having blond hair and blue eyes are recessive genetic traits and only tend to emerge when both parents have the genes and they pair up in the child just right, AS might have a genetic causality that's not a dominant trait, so yeah, one parent might have it, both parents might have it, neither parent might have it, but it doesn't mean the DNA gene isn't there.

Yeh, pandd's right. Your parents don't have to have an ASD for you to have one. Autism is genetic, but that doesn't make it completely a matter of inheritance. New mutations can play into it; so you might have one or two of those. Plus, it's not as easy as the inheritance patterns you see in eye color, or even height; there are probably dozens of genes that have to do with autism, not just one or two, and the combinations interact in different ways depending on which you have, and how they get activated, and how they activate or deactivate each other. So, it's possible for a couple to have some of the genetics for autism, but not have a single autistic trait because of how they express themselves; and then to pass some of those genes on to offspring, who thanks to their particular combination of genes does have autism, especially if there's a critical mutation or two in there. (Don't let "mutation" scare you; we all have them. On average, we've got about six to ten new mutations apiece, most of which are irrelevant because they're in redundant or non-critical areas of DNA, or covered up by a working gene in the matched copy from your other parent.)

I've seen a few studies that show that autism seems to pop up more in families with generally weird brains; there's a small but significant correlation with a family history of schizophrenia, and a rather large one for ADHD and learning disabilities. The same families also show higher rates of talent and giftedness. Maybe it has to do with how much your personal DNA is willing to let your brain development diverge from normal. In terms of natural selection, this "risky" tendency to let the brain development of some individuals go outside the bounds of typical development can be rather useful to a species, because when it goes right, such individuals "pay for" the higher rate of mental and cognitive disability by making advancements that contribute to everyone's survival. The human brain seems to have the highest diversity from individual to individual of any human organ; maybe that's why we're so adaptable and resilient, as a species--we can change our brains to fit the situation.

Yeah, your parents don't have to have it for you to have it. It has to start somewhere along the line. Maybe my kids might have it (I won't have kids). I dunno.

There's no proof that it's definitely genetic anyway. It can be caused by a mixture of both environmental and genetic factors.

Yeah, there's actually lots of proof that it's genetic (think twin studies)... If environment has anything to do with it, it'll be because environment affects how the genes are expressed.

Link--
LBRB on Autism genetics

There isn't solid proof. As the National Autistic Society states...a conclusion hasn't been reached as to the causes and no-one really knows for definite.

I don't want to get into an argument but no-one in your family has to have it.

It's not a black and whilte thing, either have Asperger's (or autism) or don't and are NT. There are degrees and variations.

And, while it's clearly partly genetic, it's not a simple genetic thing. Environment does play a role -- probably more so with some traits than others. Ones own choices even play a role.

But, even just genetically, it's not a simple having a certain gene means having Asperger's. It's the combinations of genes. You have a set of genes that neither of your parents do. You are unique.

DW mentioned in another post that they believe now that there are something like 26 genes involved with having Asperger's . It would explain why there are so many common co-morbids. As for my son, his father has been labeled as a manipulative sociopath by two therapists that I know of and I have ADHD. I am not on the spectrum, on the opposite end of my son, I am overly sensitive to other's emotions and social cues. However my sister showed several signs of having Asperger's when I look back on some behaviors.

One tiny bug bite would cause her to scratch until she bled. She could not tell when she was creeping someone out by giving them too much attention, even at age 21. But because no one we knew had heard of it she is still undiagnosed and she's joined some sort of cult.

Your father's drinking could be compared with OCD (obsession/addiction), they have also done some studies showing there are some common genes between Schizophrenia and AS. Not a lot of common genes mind you, but take it for what you will... Getting the right combination of genes could be what is needed to cause it. None of my other children (all with my second husband) show any signs of being on the spectrum, but several people in my X's family are very similar to my X in behaviors. It could be that I had just enough genetic influence to make my oldest AS instead of a Sociopath. Given the choice between the two I'd gladly take my son over my X ;p

Mental Disorders In Parents Linked To Autism In Children, Study Shows:
http://autism.about.com/b/2008/05/05/au ... ection.htm

Autism and Familial Major Mood Disorder: Are They Related? :
http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/c ... l/16/2/199

So true. I have, on my father's side, at least three generations of strangeness, including a brother and sister and my father's aunt who are either Aspie or very good imitations. Nature or nurture? My family could go eithefr way, but general oddity we got.

You know, just because your parents don't have diagnoses doesn't necessarily mean that neither one has an ASD. Remember, Asperger's Syndrome wasn't even a diagnosis until 1991, and wasn't a diagnosis in the US until 1994. Even today, there are a fair number of psychiatrists and psychologists who don't know anything about it.

Just throwing that out there - a lot of these discussions tend to lack any sort of historical awareness...

i have 2 nephews that are autistic and an uncle that is schizophrenic.