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menintights
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12 Sep 2010, 6:53 am

Me and one of my brothers were close when we were younger and were a lot alike. He didn't make much eye contact, had no facial expressions, talked little (to people other than me), and (based on something I remember someone has said about him) didn't always understand social cues and couldn't understand sarcasm. He became more social in college and has seemingly become normal, but after snooping around his room the other day, I've come to realize he's still struggling with certain things that a lot of people here struggle with, which makes me think he may have Asperger's syndrome.

I don't remember reading any post by an Aspie about a sibling who's also an Aspie, so my question is: is it typical for two kids from the same family to both be Aspies, or is it only in my family?



CockneyRebel
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12 Sep 2010, 6:57 am

My kid sister is as NT as they come.


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12 Sep 2010, 6:59 am

All of my immediate family appear to be on the spectrum.


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OddFiction
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12 Sep 2010, 7:03 am

I believe there are statistics showing that siblings of an Aspie are likely to be Aspie too.
I can't think of the links at the moment, but there is a definite percentile link (so they say) with twins, especially identical (& fratrnal to a lesser extent).



happymusic
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12 Sep 2010, 7:33 am

My brother is not NT, but I don't know what's up with him. He might be on the spectrum. I'm quite sure my dad is, his dad was, and that my great-grandmother was. My uncle might be, too, I don't know. There's some difficult, sad psychological stuff going on with lots of people in my family.



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12 Sep 2010, 8:33 am

My sister, cousin, mother, 2 uncles and grandmother all appear to exhibit some form of autistic behaviour, although my sister and I are the only ones who have been diagnosed.


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12 Sep 2010, 8:48 am

My dad has 'obsessive' special interests that he likes to talk about (but apart from that, he's a complete stereotypical NT male). His nephew has Asperger's, and a few other people in my dad's family have traits.
On my mother's side of the family, her father has Asperger's (undiagnosed), her brother has classic autism, and two of her nieces appear to be on the spectrum somewhere.


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leejosepho
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12 Sep 2010, 8:58 am

Moog wrote:
All of my immediate family appear to be on the spectrum.

While not as much for some as for others, I would say about the same ... and I suspect it came along from my father.


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Asp-Z
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12 Sep 2010, 11:12 am

Asperger's is a genetic condition, that's been proven.



Callista
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12 Sep 2010, 11:25 am

Yup. Autism definitely runs in the family. I'm pretty sure my littlest sister is an Aspie, though she's never been evaluated. I informed her of my diagnosis and explained to her that autism is genetic, so that when she's out on her own she can check into it if possible. I just hope she'll have enough daily-life skills to survive independent life. She doesn't seem to have nearly as much executive dysfunction as I did when I was her age, so that's an encouraging sign.


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the_curmudge
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12 Sep 2010, 1:03 pm

I have no siblings, but my parents were/are both very odd. My father was an alcoholic batterer, and it's taken me many years to see him as less a monster than a dreadfully unhappy person whose actions destroyed what little love he had in his life. I suspect my mother is an Aspie, as she hates to be touched, has trouble with light social relationships, refuses to accept any kind of change and is extremely obsessive about---wait for it--weeds. Her mother had the same, though weed-free personality.

There was no warmth in our family: hugs were a duty saved for birthdays and Christmas.



menintights
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12 Sep 2010, 9:02 pm

Let me rephrase my question to the best way that I meant it: If two siblings who were raised the same way do have Asperger's syndrome, is it due to a genetic component or more of a modeling effect?



rmctagg09
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12 Sep 2010, 9:13 pm

My sister can be a bit odd, but she doesn't think she has Asperger's. If anything my parents and paternal grandmother would be far better candidates for BAP status.



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12 Sep 2010, 9:38 pm

I would say it was a genetic effect, as someone else posted the genetic component has been proven.
I have AS, and I have 3 sons on the autism spectrum. When I look at many of my relatives I can see strong AS tendencies.



buryuntime
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12 Sep 2010, 9:56 pm

Both parents appear to be spectrum-y (probably BAP), 50% of their offspring wound up with an ASD diagnosis. What a confounding coincidence.



ruveyn
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12 Sep 2010, 10:19 pm

I married an NT. Most of my children are NTs. One may show some Aspie tendencies.

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