Odds of passing Asperger on to children are?

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pgd
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22 Sep 2010, 3:07 pm

If one person with known Asperger marries a NT person, what are the odds a child will have Asperger?

About 25%? or what?

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If two persons, both have Asperger, what are the odds a child will have Asperger?

About 50%? or what?

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Inheritance of certain traits in pea plants

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel



Moog
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22 Sep 2010, 3:08 pm

incalculable?


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Ambivalence
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22 Sep 2010, 3:16 pm

We don't know, because we don't understand the nature of the genetic link.

I don't know much about inheritance, but my guess would be that if it depends on several different factors coming together (rather than one "yes, you have it, no you don't" thing), which seems likely, there's no way to calculate just from knowing that one person is an aspie and t'other ain't. Like Moog said, incalculable.


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Severus
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22 Sep 2010, 3:36 pm

I am a professional human geneticist and I admit can't give a reliable estimate. For all I know, there are so far 4 unlinked genetic loci associated with Asperger's and two more which seem to be associated with X-linked Asperger's syndrome, but I don't think that there is a lab or clinic in the world who would claim that they offer prenatal diagnosis or at least risk assessment.
For all I know, in about 30 % of all families with a family member with ASD, there are more than one than one which are affected by the disorder, but this might not be true for all ethnic and racial groups.
Overall, the risk of having a child with Asperger's is higher if you have one or more children already who have either Asperger's or autism, or if you have another blood relative with these disorders, especially parents or siblings. How much higher, however, no-one can tell at the moment. Incalculable, as other members already said.
Note: Don't try to apply Mendel's laws to inheritance of complex traits as ASD, pgd. They won't work as they are only good enough for simple traits that are associated with a specific gene and are not influenced by other genes and/or the environment. Even in monogenic diseases (that is, one mutated gene causes a specific disease, e.g haemophilia, beta-thalassemia, etc.), the clinical course can differ depending on the nature of the mutations causing it (despite the fact that they affect the same gene) and the influence of other genes.



Last edited by Severus on 22 Sep 2010, 3:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Todesking
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22 Sep 2010, 3:44 pm

There was a tv show that showe twrents who both appeared to be NT they had 7 children three NT and four with some form of Autism. They planned on having an eigth child so they will have an equal number of nt children to autistic children so that they will have someone who will take care of the autistic children when they die. They hope the nts will each only have to take care of one autistic sibiling each.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAR1m8G19QM&p=97F0BA72A0293658&playnext=1&index=1[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8qhYdtoeqM&p=97F0BA72A0293658&index=3[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3ls5M0dXjs&p=97F0BA72A0293658&index=4[/youtube]


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StuartN
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22 Sep 2010, 3:56 pm

The NIH Autism Factsheet says "Twin and family studies strongly suggest that some people have a genetic predisposition to autism. Identical twin studies show that if one twin is affected, there is a 90 percent chance the other twin will be affected. There are a number of studies in progress to determine the specific genetic factors associated with the development of ASD. In families with one child with ASD, the risk of having a second child with the disorder is approximately 5 percent, or one in 20. This is greater than the risk for the general population. Researchers are looking for clues about which genes contribute to this increased susceptibility. In some cases, parents and other relatives of a child with ASD show mild impairments in social and communicative skills or engage in repetitive behaviors. Evidence also suggests that some emotional disorders, such as manic depression, occur more frequently than average in the families of people with ASD." http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/auti ... autism.htm

I vaguely recall a figure of 37% as the probability of an ASD child in marriages where either parent has an ASD, I think somewhere in Tony Attwood's book, which would have a reference (except I don't have the book here now).



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22 Sep 2010, 4:19 pm

One of friend in special education was a twin. He had signs of aspergers he was sound sensitive, did not make eye contact, and he had a hard time speaking with people he did not know. His twin is NT and was a member of several after school clubs and sports teams. They were identical but as different as night and day.

Hey this is my 1,000 post. :D


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sartresue
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22 Sep 2010, 5:55 pm

Pass the genes topic

In my case, zero. My three bio offspring are NT.


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