[kittie313]

And I probably butchered the spelling of that LOL Sorry if I did!

Anyway, is autism/aspberger's genetic? I have a friend who's dh has asppberger's, and their 2 dc (5yo dd and 4yo ds) are very challenging and a LOT like their dad. I asked her if they had the kids evaluated, and she said not yet but that she suspects they might be too.

 

[ShaggyDaddy]

Despite overwhelming evidence that it is genetic, many people cling to an idea that it is somehow caused by environmental factors. The reality is that there are most likely cases that are both, cases that are one or the other, etc. It depends on the individual.

My son is a 3rd generation Autistic(well, 3 generations that I know of) as in, he is autistic, I am autistic, my dad is autistic.

So little is known about Autism that the only replies you will get will be speculation like mine.

 

[guestmama9916]

DH had 2 mentally challenged/autistic children with his xw. He now has a seemingly normal DD with me. His xw is mentally delayed and suffers from schizophrenia. When trying to decide if I wanted to make a baby with DH, we went to genetic counseling and did alot of reading. Some of what I read said that schizophrenic mothers will often have austic children. So there does seem to be a genetic link at times. Also, don't forget about the man who donated his sperm to a sperm bank and had like 6 autistic children with several different women that was in the news recently. Like the pp said, so little is known about it that one can only speculate. The only true genetic disorder that is linked to autism that I know of is Fragile X syndrome.

 

[HarperRose]

Yeah, what they said.

I have it, my oldest has it, my 2nd child is in process of evals for it, my cousin has it, I believe his mom has it, and possibly my grandfather on my mom & aunt's side.

Then there are kids who develop issues after their shots. I, personally, think they must have had a genetic predisposition for it and the crap in the shots sent them over the edge, so to speak.

My mom thinks it's shots.

My kids, dh, and I think Asperger's is just another state of being.

 

[Village Mama]

In our case there seems to be some sort of link. I am a pretty clearcut case of an undiagnosed aspie as are both of my boys. My hubby has some traits but wouldnt fit the criteria in lots of ways... just enough that he understood me completely!lol The really odd thing is that we met his birth father for the first time this year ( partner was adopted at birth) and he is as textbook as it comes. I thought that it all came from my side of the family as my dad shows some autistic behaviors and there have been some patterns through on his side... My mom who passed away when I was little( and so did all of her family in a short period of time, so I don't know much about them) had some interesting links to autistic like behaviors . And my mom was my days perfect mate and all! Maybe she was odd like me too!( my dad always commented that my stimming behaviors or things like plugging my ears when I am overwhelmed were things that my mom used to do)
Most of us are considered to be perfectly functional from the outside... but a lot odd and hard to relate to. Interesting the old nature/ nurture debate.

 

[K-Girl]

I will go ahead and just say yes it is genetic--or at least that there is a genetic component. My oldest son has AS and we recently participated in a study on autism and genetics. The whole thing was very interesting. I am sure that most current studies would say that there is most definitely a genetic component that is coupled with environmental factors, or whatever. There is something called the "autistic phenotype" that refers to autistic tendencies as well as other "neurological" issues such as depression, anxiety, etc. that tend to run in families of autistic individuals.

Of course, there may be other situations where it is not..

 

[Sasharna]

'nother undiagnosed aspie here!

I am the product of generations of engineers, if that tells you anything.

My DS was one of those kids who appeared to "regress" after receiving the MMR vaccine. I do not care what the CDC says--I saw it with my own eyes.

Based on the copious amount of reading I've done, I believe that autistic behavior happens for a variety of reasons. Some of it is due to inherited personality characteristics. Other times it can be caused by a physical illness, allergy, or sensitivity. Very often there are multiple causes for an individual case. There is also evidence that adults with very mild symptoms (typical nerds or those on the borderline of AS) are more likely to have severely autistic children than the average individual. So even though there are different degrees of autism, it still seems like those various types are related somehow.

 

[ShadowLark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sasharna 'nother undiagnosed aspie here! I am the product of generations of engineers, if that tells you anything. My DS was one of those kids who appeared to "regress" after receiving the MMR vaccine. I do not care what the CDC says--I saw it with my own eyes. Based on the copious amount of reading I've done, I believe that autistic behavior happens for a variety of reasons. Some of it is due to inherited personality characteristics. Other times it can be caused by a physical illness, allergy, or sensitivity. Very often there are multiple causes for an individual case. There is also evidence that adults with very mild symptoms (typical nerds or those on the borderline of AS) are more likely to have severely autistic children than the average individual. So even though there are different degrees of autism, it still seems like those various types are related somehow.

How old was he when he got the shot? And how do you distinguish the normal regression at around 18 months old (so between 12 and 18 months, approximately) in some forms of Autism from the Autism sparked by something like vaxing?
I'm in the "it's genetic" camp. I'm also strongly pro vax, so be warned!

I'd love it if we all had real answers for a change. Wouldn't it be great if they could figure out WHICH genes to look at to tell once and for all with a simple blood test what's going on?

 

[Jennifer Z]

We are thinking "genetic" at our house too. Dh and several family members, on both sides, definatly "dust the spectrum". Almost everybody falls into these groups: Computer nerd, Engineer, Professional Musician, or a Mathmatics-related field. (accounting, ect). The nerd gene is strong in our family.

 

[phrogger]

There are no concrete answers to autism. However there are a few things we do know for sure.

Children of autistic parents or children of parents with other types of neurological issues are at a much higher risk of either being born with autism, or having an environmental factor that triggers the later onset of autism (such as vaccines, and I do completely believe that MANY children have had their autism triggered by vaccines).

I also know that parts who both are on the ASD anywhere on the spectrum, are more likely to have children with severe autism rather then say aspergers or HFA (high functioning autism).

You might hear it called the Sillicone Valley Syndrom. Parents who are both they typical nerdy engineer (aspergers) are meeting, having children and producing children with more key factors of autism. Thus making the kids on the lower end of the spectrum with possible co dignosises such as mental retardation etc.

My step son is a child that I believe 100% had his autism triggered by his vaccines. He was a completely normally developing child until he was 15 months old. I have read all his medical records and from 15 months where he was seen as a child who was advanged for his age and doing very well, to at 18 months the Dr. had "grave" concerns about his regression and apparent cognative ability which was estimated to be at a 6 month old level. Grave was his Dr's words.

My step son has all the typical genetic componants that cause him to be at risk. Paternal grandmother and aunt who are bi polar. His mothers family's history isn't well known, but there are many neurological problems on my husbands side of the family. This of course causes me to have concerns with the child that I am pregnant with, but we will avoid enviromental factors when we can and we will start a strict behavior plan if we start to see any problems early on.

With that said, I work as a behavior assistant with autistic kids and there isn't a single student I have had who has autism and is unvaccinated, not a single one. Each and every single parent, other then the parents of children who have autism and MR or another co diagnosis like downs syndrom etc. saw the changes around 18 months. It isn't typical for a developing child to regress at the age of 18 months to a 6month level.

So to answer your question, yes, there is genetics involved.

 

[williamsmommy2002]

Well it's in the genes over here. Both my kids are on the spectrum, i'm fairly close behind. My brother is most likely on the spectrum as is my bil. Also you can probably add in my dad and grandfather at the very least. About half of my father's side of the family have psych dx's. Some are bipolar but some are just very spectrumy.

My youngest is unvax'ed and my brother and oldest ds have very few vax'es(we stopped at 2 months).

 

[Kristine233]

Yes

 

[Labyrinth]

My thought is that it is genetic. I think a lot of times people confuse genetic with hereditary... which isn't always the case. Although some cases of autism do appear to be hereditary, others appear to be random mutations. One thing I find interesting is that the fathers age at conception seems to correlate to the risk of the child developing an ASD.

My thought is that autism is genetic, and there may be environmental factors which increase severity. But those environmental factors could be just about anything, and although I strongly empathize with people who feel their child's ASD was triggered by vaccinations I have found no research to convince me of that (no flames, please). There really has to be more research on the causes of autism, as well as the educational and therapeutic approaches which benefit these kids.

I also think autism spectrum disorders are under diagnosed, and that there are many people with subclinical symptoms of ASD's. I had a best friend in grade school who was a text book case of aspergers syndrome in girls, yet she was never diagnosed despite the fact her brother was. I also had sensory issues, although I doubt I would have ever qualified for an ASD label. One of my baby brothers (18 years younger than me) is diagnosed with PDD-NOS though.

 

[Lollybrat]

I strongly believe that there is a genetic factor in many cases. I believe that my son was born with his autism. While he is the only one in the family with an ASD diagnosis, I can see many "shadow traits" in members of both sides of the family.

 

[Multimomma]

I don't believe that there is an all or nothing answer. I think it must be partially genetics in our case, as my dad and FIL were/are both fairly aspie, and the women tend to have autoimmune problems (anyone read about the rubella vaccine and women who don't retain immunity? That's us)

However, something had to have pushed my kids from slightly aspie to full-blown autism, and I do believe vaccines had something to do with it. I am blessed (I guess) in that my oldest two DID have severe reactions, so it's not a theory...seizures, 108º fevers and immediate regression within days of vax are pretty obvious. I also have the benefit of having a large family (control group) of kids who have not been vaccinated. DH and I have five younger children who have not been vaccinated, and who are quirky but not full-blown like the older two. We also have a large extended family on dh's side, (36 first cousins, none vaccinated) some of whom are quirky but not one who is autistic. If it was genetic, the odds of having so many children NOT affected, is unbelievable.

Oh, and I really don't believe in the whole silicon valley theory...working as an advocate in the schools I've met too many parents who were not genius and had children with autism. Sorry, mean sounding but true.

 

[Miss Information]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Multimomma the women tend to have autoimmune problems (anyone read about the rubella vaccine and women who don't retain immunity? That's us)

Sorry this is way OT, but what about the rubella vaccine and not retaining immunity and autoimmune problems? I lost my rubella immunity between my second and third pregnancies and I haven't gotten re-immunized. I also have women in my family with autoimmune problems too, so this has me concerned.

 

[Dandy]

This is of course just my own experience (re: whether or not it could be genetic). When the specialist evaluating my son looked at us and said "well, you didn't think this was NORMAL behavior, did you?" (Yes, she said that.) We just stared back. A lot of his odd little behaviors are behaviors we had as children.

My son has Asperger's and did not receive the MMR in any form. In our case, we are truly opposed, ethically and spiritually, to the ingredients in that vaccine and several other vaccines.

 

[Multimomma]

Okay, so I changed the way I worded that...it was mean and not ok. But typically I have heard it interpreted as 'of course your kids have autism, look how smart YOU guys are', and then on and on about Einstein, Gates, etc (who never had dxes, btw) THe idea being that smartxsmart=autistic kids. I'm not even that smart

In my experience, I know two people with aspergers who were able to work in tech careers. The others, are jobless or work food industry. Maybe it's just where we are...

And my children's reactions were not to MMR either, but DTP and DTaP

 

[christinelin]

My personal experience and my reading of the evidence says yes, it's genetic. I also, personally believe that environmental factors might play a role in autism for some kids.

Even though he wasn't diagnosed until 5 years, I can see the (subtle) signs of Aspergers in videos of my son at 1 year. Hindsight is 20/20. And I know that his nursing problems at birth were likely hypotonia that is part of the ASD. In his case, I feel confident that it was there at birth. I suspect that he has two grandparents that if not diagnosable, are sure close.

 

[Multimomma]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss Information Sorry this is way OT, but what about the rubella vaccine and not retaining immunity and autoimmune problems? I lost my rubella immunity between my second and third pregnancies and I haven't gotten re-immunized. I also have women in my family with autoimmune problems too, so this has me concerned.

http://www.garynull.com/Documents/autism99b.htm