Genetic Origins of Autism

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I'm sorry - I'm sure this must be a FAQ, but I have no idea how to research it, and what the basic resources are.

So I'd really appreciate it if someone more "in the loop" than I am could point me to the basic resources.

I would like some numbers. In percentage terms - how likely is it that my autism is genetic? And if its not genetic, are there any other likely suspects?

Assuming genetic - what are the likely pathways? e.g IIRC diabetes does a zig zag path through the sexes as it moves down the generations. Autism?

I've identified the parent who ticks all my autism boxes. But I know damn well that if I tell her this, she will go into full "denial" mode.

So I'd like some numbers, and pointers to basic resources.

Thx.

That's a problem - autism is still too poorly defined to provide trustworthy numbers. There is still no consensus on how prevalent it is, for on the high-functioning end no clear-cut line has ever been defined. As historically autism has been defined by deficits, not characteristic variations, someone capable of living a successful life is unlikely to get any diagnosis, thus comorbids causing worse functioning may be mistaken for the autism core.

Conclusion: The humanity has no clear answer for your question. If you are interested for the sake of knowledge, just keep updated with published research. If you are considering having a child and would like to calculate the risk, focus rather on questions: how to bring up a well-functioning autistic child and how to parent a child when you are autistic yourself.

LOL... er, nope.
I was hoping for numbers to back me up when I tell the "in denial" parent that they are very likely to be autistic.
Purely a personal, b*tch, type thing...

You should join a DNA service and upload your raw DNA files to codegen, which lists variants associated with autism.

https://codegen.eu/

Oddly enough, the one variant which almost everyone with Aspergers commented on was the one that is supposed to lower the risk of autism. It's possible that classic Autism appears in early development but is stopped by this gene, which then comes out as high functioning Aspergers rather than more severe ASD, which would explain why it's listed as lowering risk for autism but almost everyone who has it has Aspergers.

If you do decide to look yourself, look under Psych or type in Autism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritabil ... in_studies

Fairly broad range

But it indicates broad autism phenotype to be almost purely hederitary and autism symptoms severity to be affected by some non-hederitary factors.

Twin studies.

Google "Twin Studies and autism". That should give you some actual numbers on inheritability of autism.

Besides that there isn't much.

Be fore warned that actually very little is known yet about DNA and autism. Only now as we speak are they beginning to find certain gene loci that correlate with autism. We know that autism is not, for the most part, caused by bad parenting. So by default its kind of assumed to be genetic, or epigenetic. But twin studies are a good start.

Let me get this straight ... you have "diagnosed" someone else as being autistic, and you're hoping that we will provide the evidence for you to back up your claim because you don't know enough about autism's causes. And you're doing this out of personal b*tchiness.

Am I right so far?

Autism is "vaguely heritable." That's the way I would look at it.

Certainly, it is not "genetic" in the "Mendelian" sense. Like Sickle Cell Anemia is.

There is not merely one cause of autism, unlike Down Syndrome, which is caused by an extra chromosome in the 21st pair of chromosomes (Trisomy 21). Down Syndrome is not directly inherited, either. It occurs spontaneously; somewhat more frequently among, especially, mothers who are relatively advanced in age.

Absolutely true about the twin studies; frequently, though, one twin is less severely affected than the other.

One can inherit autistic traits from their family; one, however, can be autistic even with totally "NT" parents and family.

I would purport that there is not one "autism"---but many autisms with many causes, genetic and nongenetic.

Autism is defined on it's symptoms, not it's cause(s). As with many other traits, it doesn't have to be caused by the same gene variants in each person.

I suspect that there actually is a difference between Aspergers and High Functioning Autism. Or at least, there are multiple causes for whatever it is that's described by those two terms.

Many thx for the replies. Obviously I didn't get what I want, but I'm grateful to those who have taken the time to inform me why this is so.

Thank you.

I'm an Aspie but no one in my family or extended family show many autism traits. Either there is no genetic link for autism in my case or there was a mixup at the hospital when I was born as my mom used to say when I would have meltdowns.

Do you have a source for that diabetes claim? I couldn't find anything to collaborate it, and if it is true then it doesn't use simple genetics.

As others have said, we don't know enough about autism. With some rare exceptions, it isn't caused by a single gene or genes - rather, there are many genes which are associated with an increased risk.

The OP is like William the Conqueror asking about retirement homes in Florida in AD 1066 when it was centuries before the American continents had even been discovered (much less the state of Florida being mapped yet).

Maybe a hundred years after your dead they will have clear answers- what is and what is not autism, and what genes cause it under what circumstances -which combo of genes environment and upbringing -and exact stats.

But not now.

Nope. Which is why I hoped to cover myself with "IIRC"...

Thinking about it - and with you being unable to verify it - it is entirely possible it is but a bit of anecdotal nonsense that was put into my head 50 yrs ago. And then stuck.

What 'heritability" is, and isn't:

https://scientiasalon.wordpress.com/201 ... n-studies/

^ Thanks, B19, that was a fascinating article. The basketball example, I had read elsewhere, but without the clear explanation of the locality of heritability measures or the Norm of Reaction concept. Very eye opening.