Is autism genetic or what?

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I believe it's basically genetic but I also think that environment can affect how much it
develops on the spectrum.
I have memories as a child when I was around 7 of being aware that my method of thinking had changed somehow.In my case I think there was a combination of watching too much TV,moving to a different area and losing touch with friends,together with the fact that my
parents displayed at least some traits of AS

I would say a strong genetic predisposition, but:

What about a person sort of wobbling on the autistic/NT border,

Who gets thumped by an environmental issue of: difficult pregnancy or birth, heavy metal exposure, head trauma, abuse. . .

and who falls off the NT spectrum and into ours?

Excellent points... Now put a spectrum on degree of "difficult birth", "degree of HM exposure". and spectrum of mild to significant "brain trauma"... and we're starting to get close... Hah!

I read an obscure study while stumbling through the web regarding genes that "Turn on" "Turn off"... (wish I could find it again). Anybody care to share? Might explain: regression/recovery...

Suppose Darwin discovered "Adaptability" the switching mechanizms that "Swicth" dependant on our environement? As in oops: genenitic code now says to turn off external stimuli.. begining to ramble.... bye...

Although I find that I must venture out there, into the cruel real world, I live on WP. I am vastly impressed by the denizens of this most right planet.

If I may proffer a guess - I would say that we aspies are the only ones who can "specify" (NOT diagnose: it is not a disease) AS, and develop plans to live with it. No way can NTs, no matter how caring or educated get it.

I would think it is also hard to tell if you don't know much about your family history, of course. My family has generation after generation of people with plenty of traits for autism, but NONE OF THEM ever went and got checked out. So if you ask in our family-everyone has always been that way, no one sees anything abnormal, and no one has ever checked into anything like this... and if you bring it up, no one wants to hear about it either, lol. I know very little of my dad's side of the family, but I could walk around pointing things out in my mom's side of the family if I really wanted to.

I always thought my mom was just... mean, lol. But as I look closer at her and talk more (which is odd we've been talking a LOT more lately), I'm noticing a lot more about her I never bothered to pay attention to. It's no wonder none of them think there's anything there-they are all like me in one way or another. So I keep having to remind myself if I'd never looked into it, I would NEVER have noticed anything odd about our family and would just have continued thinking they were all just... strange, lol.

Yeah, CUTE!

I, and it looks more and more like my father, have some AS symptoms. Neither of us was really bad enough to think hard about a psychiatric diagnosis. Neither of us were diagnosed. My father is ALSO way to old to have been.

Steve

No guess... more like a BINGO!! ! I feel the same way. Though I can't hold back my own curiousity.

I think I said this before on a different post about one of my last counseling sessions awhile ago: Counselor said "Well, what are you going to do about it now that you know all about it?" Educate others I imagine -- I'm proffer to say!

Last post... I got to go eat...

Beammeup