To just remind you that autism is genetic?

No autism in my family or H’s family. DS2 has autism.
If it’s genetic I’d like to know which gene mutation is responsible for it.
It seems like a plague these days.

Both my children are group 1 or 2 -both in special school, no family history of ASD or LD. The fact there are two of them suggests a similar genetic issue and we are under genetics team at the NHS to try to identify.

Autism has always been here. It's not better or worse than it used to be.

It is SO clear you don't work with significant numbers of children U10 in any capacity.
Such a completely ridiculous statement.

I think we may be related 😂

I have twins. One is autistic, one isn’t. A friend of mine has the same. How does that work then?

I was 23 when I had my autistic son, my husband was 33. I always thought he got it from me up I was assessed a few years ago and turns out it's more likely my husband who has it but he won't get assessed. My youngest son has it also but I was 36 and my husband 46 when he was born

I'm sorry, I seen to have missed the time where the autistic community had a formal vote and agreed to be bound by the results. Does that mean I lose my special badge? There is no such thing as 'the majority of the autistic community'. It may be the majority of the people you interact with but we are a diverse group of people and no one has the right to dictate the language we use.

You do you. If distinguishing between 'risk' v 'chance' is important to you, then go ahead and ask and explain why. Just don't dictate to me what language I have to use.

For me, language is the easy thing that the NT world can use to say that they accept neurodiversity. I see it all the time at work - get the language right, talk about superpowers and being your authentic self, and somehow we're all good. That's why I really struggle to care about language. For me, and the world I operate in, there are bigger fish to fry.

Yes, he's still in school. He's seven. He lives in a big city and travels around all over with me (and DS4). Most of his obvious problems are sensory and are (relatively) easy to fix by avoiding sensory triggers. I have similar sensory issues and, thus, part of the ease is that the places he doesn't want to go, I don't want to go either.

He's never going to be the life-and-soul of the party, but being a super extrovert with the charisma of Bill Clinton isn't the normal human condition.

DS4 does have the charisma of Bill Clinton, despite being diagnosed autistic. He has five friends, including a best friend, and attracts excited football chanting of his name whenever he goes into nursery. Again, massive sensory issues...

I think there's a cluster of 'stuff' that gets merged into autism diagnoses. It's not even clear it's down to the same neurological mechanisms...

Is your son still in school? Because if you have true understanding about autism you’ll know that issues at school is only start of a lifetime of struggling. My eldest was exactly the same, ok until he start primary. Not because of the work structure expected but because neurotypical children start to emerge from the ‘selfish toddler/preschooler’ stage into social beings. And this is where the disability of autism starts to emerge, where the delays even in children with seemingly low needs will become apparent. In small spaces, and certainly safe spaces like home, of course people with autism will be more comfortable being themselves. School and the world beyond is an exhausting place beyond that and a lot of support is needed.

I'm autistic too. I was mostly talking about risk v chance. The other bit is about respecting what the majority of the community prefers, not dictating to individuals how they describe themselves.
And yes, I will go there because it's important.

Only one diagnosed in our family but we could easily be the poster family for autism. I used to go to a lot off autism seminars and talks and support groups and the thread running through with most people I talked to who were advocating for children or siblings was they were nearly sure they/ other family members were autistic, just to a lesser extent (and always explained away as kooky/odd). It always drove me a bit crazy when some of the people said about how they couldn’t/ didn’t relate to whoever had autism as I could almost see it in them too. I can honestly say that if they ever proved without doubt that autism is not hereditary in a huge number of cases I’d be floored!!!!

The problem is that it's not 'a thing'. It's lots of things. And, in some cases, it can match the model of social disability.

I have no problems with my older DS at home. He had no problems at an (outdoor) nursery. The minute he got to school, his support needs were so high that he's now got an EHCP. It's like 'if he'd been born in the 12th century and we were living/working in a forest in a rural area, would he even be disabled?' It all feels weirdly contextual...

Who’s ’these people’ exactly? Do you know what autism is? Seriously, anyone who thinks like this really needs say what they think autism is and detail why is not ‘that big a deal’ in their minds. It’s not a differential in personality or comparable to sexuality or a fucking allergy.

What annoys me is people consider this an 'illness' and like there is something wrong with these people. And there simply isn't.

It's not an illness but it is, in some cases, a severe disability.

I think people get muddled with disability and illness.
It bugs me when people say autism is a superpower, or that it’s not a disability. I think that really minimises what it can be like, particularly if you don’t have a structure that works for you.

They don't. If you look at the government's latest autism need report, 90% of children with an autism diagnosis under the age of 10 registered with a GP don't have learning disabilities.

This rises to 34% in adults above 30/35 (I forget which) because the vast majority of adults without learning disabilities never got diagnosed as kids.

All the historical research has been done on the children who are now adults - hence, all the stats claiming most autistic people have learning disabilities.

This is where all the debates about 'profound autism' come from. Parents of autistic kids with very severe learning disabilities are now vastly outnumbered by the parents of children who are 'just autistic', and they're trying to create a new 'type/category' of autism to avoid their needs being ignored.

When the goady threads and posts about autism appear, it is worth remembering that mumsnet fairly recently said they had an autism troll.

I once knew a very old man who had been a chemist at Rolls Royce (aeroplane engines not the cars) and he often talked of it being a hotbed for odd men, he included himself in this, who were monumentally clever but needed to be looked after outside of work.

He lived with his sister all his life. She married, had children, but looked after her brother all his life. Looking back he was undoubtedly autistic.

What is ridiculous is that you have no idea what I am referring to, but just jumped to your own conclusions. I wasn't talking about autism per se, I was confirming what RatHole said about pharma companies and suppression of research in general. For what it's worth we have clear genetic links to autism in our family, but I also think there's other factors, so do jog on with your outrage.

yes, it's a bucket diagnosis and people tend to lump learning disabilities in with 'autism' - possibly because autistics tend to have 'spiky' cognitive profiles and people traditionally don't bother to work out if someone who can't use 'mouth words' (i.e. speak) is otherwise cognitively able.
isn’t it more likely that it’s because the majority of people with autism also have learning disabilities?

That's not really the question the other poster was asking...

@WorriedMama12 yes, it's a bucket diagnosis and people tend to lump learning disabilities in with 'autism' - possibly because autistics tend to have 'spiky' cognitive profiles and people traditionally don't bother to work out if someone who can't use 'mouth words' (i.e. speak) is otherwise cognitively able.

Also, there are a lot of people in the autism community who are trying to keep together a coalition of families containing members with severe learning disabilities and families with 'familial autism', by talking airily about varying levels of support, and - yes - there are people with such massive 'spikes' that they have wildly-varying support needs. But most people posting on Twitter/X have an above-average functional IQ in at least one area, even if they need a support worker to help them cope with the noise/lights in the supermarket.

That said, all of us can agree that people, whatever they're able to do, deserve respect, love, dignity, and a fulfilling life. It frustrates me that some autism activists try to pretend my DS are the same as a DS who needs 24/7 care - and it does come down to learning disabilities (or not). That doesn't mean I think autistic people needing 24/7 care deserve to be neglected or abused :(

We have 5 in our family so there's obviously a genetic link. I know a few people with more than one autistic child. I was lucky my DC were diagnosed when the NHS was properly funded. We didn't have to wait long for a diagnosis and support was put in place before they started school.

What annoys me is people consider this an 'illness' and like there is something wrong with these people. And there simply isn't.

Overall, humanity is total shit in dealing with different people than the norm, be it autism, allergies, sexuality ... whoever is different is being explored as a speciment that needs analysing and fixing.

Let's not go there please. A large proportion of people commenting on this thread are autistic/have autism. People can describe themselves however they want, and there is by no means a unified position within the autistic community on whether is should be 'has autism' or 'is autistic'.

I'm autistic/have autism, and personally have far bigger concerns than language.

[Edited because I reread and had slightly misunderstood your post]

Ridiculous. I have 2 x diagnosis as do my 3 dc. Their cousins have x2 diagnosis and their grandfather, great aunt and great grandfather would have been diagnosed I’m sure. None of us live in the same area and had very few meds growing up.