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Anyone have an autistic child?
shardian:
--- Quote from: pinballjim on December 05, 2007, 09:41:49 am ---At risk of taking this off-topic...
I'm curious, has there been any link showing that autism is hereditary?
As politely as I can put this, I'm seldom surprised when someone tells me they have an autistic child I haven't met yet. It leads me to wonder whether this is something that is passed on, or if the parents are going through such a series of battles that they put up this odd defensive-mode 24/7?
--- End quote ---
There is no concrete study on a hereditary cause of autism. Of course, there isn't a concrete study on anything being a cause of autism. I also doubt there will ever be a sure cause of autism diagnosed. It's more like a "perfect storm" condition. There are genetic, development, stimulatory, environmental, and chemical factors that can possibly have a role in causing autism. This also explains why the severity and "symptoms" of autism vary so greatly.
Having said that, looking at a person, judging them, and saying because they are stupid their kid has autism is pretty crappy.
Autism is not a "stupid person/imbred person having babies" condition. You can toss that theory right out the window.
ChadTower:
--- Quote from: shardian on December 05, 2007, 09:53:46 am ---Autism is not a "stupid person/imbred person having babies" condition. You can toss that theory right out the window.
--- End quote ---
There are quite a few top experts at the moment talking about selective breeding being a leading cause of the "sudden surge" of autism in certain areas of the US. Others are saying there is less of a surge as much as there is an increase in recognition and diagnosis while still acknowledging that there has been a noticeable increase in certain locations... locations which all happen to be technology hotbeds like San Diego, Massachusetts, and Dallas. "Engineering types" with either latent genes or perhaps light autistic tendencies matching up with each other and the child inheriting either a matching set of autism genes or perhaps simply an evolution style "more" of the trait.
ChadTower:
I'm not sure where sharidan is coming from on that, really. Every autism professional I've dealt with says all leading theories call it inherited. Every book I've read says the same thing. Every family I've worked with demonstrates it to one degree or another. There are some background conjectures about things like exposure to lead/mercury from vaccines, paint, public water sources, etc but they are all seen as possible contributory factors at best in terms of autism itself from everything I've ever seen.
CheffoJeffo:
There is almost definitely a genetic component (or two or three), but it is certainly not entirely hereditary. At most, there is a genetic trigger set off by environemental issues.
We've been part of an ongoing genetic study on autism (we're an excellent family to study -- we have girl/boy twins ... the girl has autism, the boy doesn't ... and a younger son with autism who presents VERY differently than our daughter ... has been a very valuable process and provided us with access to professionals that we wouldn't otherwise get to see). and there have been some interesting correlations uncovered (so much so that the extended families have all submitted DNA samples to the study).
But the truth is that nobody really knows yet.
My personal belief is that there is a genetic component that is "unleashed" due to environmental issues. We do know how to treat many of the environmental issues (although we don't really know 'why' and the studies so far are not anywhere near as rigourous as we need them to be).
There was a study in the UK a few years back that showed a strong correlation between the occurence of autism within a family and technically-minded professions (which accurately describes my half of our family tree ... we're all scientists, mathematicians or technical folks). IIRC, the study showed that families with folks with technically-minded jobs (accountant, physicist, statistician, mathematician) experienced 4x the occurences of autism that typical families did.
As far as "seldom surprised" ... I dunno ... I see shades of the spectrum in everybody ... I definitely see it in some posters here.
It is very important to understand that what most people think of as autism is almost certainly not an accurate or inclusive representation of autism (we've all seen Rainman and that ain't it), so drawing any conclusions is problematic at best.
Autism can, and does, present VERY differently in different children (my youngest is completely social and the exact opposite of Rainman).
ChadTower:
I'm right there with you on people just not "getting" autism. It is a heavy, heavy word that makes people think the kid should be sitting in a corner rocking back and forth wearing a helmet and yelling random sounds at the wall. Even with very high functioning Asperger's kids I have worked with, the second someone hears that they are "autistic", the adult's perception of that child is forever altered and suddenly that "slightly different but good and normal" kid is "handicapped".
I think there are a lot of families out there hiding the fact that they have high functioning Apserger's (and similar) kids because of the monster stigma attached to the word autistic and the lack of knowledge of the general population. That revelation is just too heavy on the kid and you can't put that back in the jar.
Cheffo, BTW, you're right - your family layout is like a geneticist's perfect case study.
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