Older parents and autism/aspergers

[JamSandle]

To think there is a link between older parentage and autism/aspergers, and if so, should we be doing more to educate and prepare parents for this?

Obviously an increasing number of parents are having their children later in life. Should we be doing more to make them aware of potential risk factors for themselves and their children as part of family planning?

Yes, there have been studies but nothing proven. That's the point.

@Redbushteaforme ofc many conditions present differently, but in an ideal world it should be the parents’ decision whether to proceed with a pregnancy where the child might be autistic, knowing the worst case scenario.

DS is also highly intelligent, but his severe sensory needs mean he has never toileted normally. I used to sew him into a onesie every night and it still ended up on the walls and bed about 50% of the time. I spent years cleaning up shit and doing shit-covered washing, every day. DS is violent, disobedient, was kicked out of mainstream in Reception for violence. He has no friends and is heading for a life on benefits because he cannot even dress himself despite having a memory like an elephant.

Your DD sounds wonderful and she’s a perfect example for the pom-pom shaking enthusiasm for all types of neurodiversity that is the current zeitgeist, but it does not remotely fit my reality. You’d have to be lobotomised to take the risk of a child like DS and sign up for the sewing/shitting/sewing roundabout I was on for 3 years. As a believer in abortion on demand, I want women to have that choice.

@MintJulia

The genetic component hasn't been 'proven' either

Neither has evolution, or the Big Bang theory

In science there is not often 'proof' in a traditional sense

I would be interested in looking into the link there. I am the only autistic person on either side of my family but was born very prematurely so have often wondered if those things are linked.

Huh? The studies show a direct correlation between age and autism, that in itself is the proof... How exactly could they prove this in any other way?

That was my understanding.

It's likely Queen Victoria's gene for hemophilia, which apparently was a rare form, was caused by spontaneous mutation due to her father's age - 50.

I don't think age is a huge factor here - the link I posted above suggest as little as 1-5% of cases - but could be of possible research interest to help track down the genes involved.

Down risk increases with mother age doesn't mean young parents can't have a child with Down's. So if parents were young and have strong family history of autism/aspergers then it's obviously not going to be de novo mutations with their children.

Interesting that article says :However, a comprehensive analysis found that for a woman over age 35, the chance of having a child with autism is lower than for younger women.

But doesn't go into why this could be the case.

Yes, of course women should have choices and be able to make well-informed choices. The point I was trying to make was that not all autistic children have the same degree of problems, and being aware of that that should surely be part of the decision-making process for women.

Mostly genetic. There will be cases where no one else in family is diagnosed, but there are a lot of people with ASD traits who don’t even realise it or recognise it in others

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26709141/

This is fairly good peer reviewed evidence.

@Paddingtonthebear So true! There was no history of autism in my family before my son was diagnosed. We are a VERY autistic family though! We just didn't know what we were looking for before that, we were a normal eccentric British family full of loners and scientists!

I am autistic. My child is autistic. Laughing at the idea we warrant 'risk factors'.

The issue at hand isn’t are older parents more likely to have a child on the spectrum. There is clear evidence that is the case. The question is that correlation or causation. I suspect correlation. My reason for this suspicion is the geographic groupings. There just isn’t enough information to know with certainly yet.

@Ponderingwindow I think you may have experienced a community like my own, many high functioning autistic adults drawn together by 2 industries

The city I’m in grew rapidly at the times the industry’s expanded and many staff settled in 2 expanding middle class suburbs. One is a university area and was further added to by lecturers living in the community

over the decades I’ve observed my own DC growing up here, the children are drawn to each other and the adults often observe their likeness.

it’s been my experience that the children receive diagnosis first and then parents pursue their own afterwards and finally understand family behaviour patterns for what they are

As a nurse looking on it’s been quite fascinating to observe, most husbands are like my own quiet, shy and late to relationships which is perhaps why most are slightly older as parents, it is however less obvious from the outside looking in as parental birth age is no different to non autistic parents in our middle class suburb who generally have children between 30-40

I do feel this research had failed to recognise that this is very much a chicken and egg situation however, where genetics are without a doubt involved are the children born to older parents because they are autistic or because they are within the section of society that has children at that age

There are increased risk factors for lots of conditions associated with older parents. No idea if autism is one of them, but I don't see why that one would be singled out for warnings over any other.

I was 36 when my severely autistic son was born he does have an underlying chromosome deletion .

I'm autistic. My dad was 44 when I was born and although the term was obviously not applicable in the 50's in my judgement he was too. His father however was only 25 or so when he was born and I have no way of knowing his personal traits. Make of that what you will.

@babyyodaxmas Interesting, thanks! I do have twins, one is ND, one NT!

As far as I was aware, there isn't one "cause" of autism. It's not yet fully understood and I don't think it's simple.

There is a genetic component - but some seem to have taken this to mean that if a child is autistic, one or both of the parents "must" be too. Yes, maybe many are - but also a lot won't be, and I don't mean those unaware, or in denial.

It's something of a personal irritation - I have an autistic DD and shortly after diagnosis we signed up for some local family SN support, thinking they'd suggest new strategies and ways to help and support her. The support worker spent more time trying to find out of DH or I were autistic (neither of us display any of the traits, both well-known or wider - and yes, we've read into it - both score v low on initial "screening" questionnaires, though there are some traits in wider family), than actually suggesting anything that could help us or her. How does late Uncle So-and-So having traits, none of which were the same as hers, help her and us now? We had few strategies suggested, little advice. Other than "maybe she doesn't want friends" (she does). I've also noticed a clear shift in the way professionals address us, more patronising almost. Which isn't appropriate even if we were autistic.

Don't even get me started on "x is rude = autistic"
"y is a bit quiet = autistic" "z has a quirky niche hobby = autistic"
"w is blunt and uncompromising = autistic" - it's not a byword for other people's at-times unfavourable character traits.

And a couple of minor "traits" can often be just that - traits. Like people who are tidy claiming to be "OCD" - it's seemingly harmless, but armchair diagnoses and glib remarks can often minimise the real struggles people go through.

There are well-documented health risks associated with later parenthood, and increased likelihood of many other conditions, not just autism, but most older parents choose to take on those risks in the knowledge that things will mostly be OK, and age isn't the only factor.

Yeah but stating the obvious, a mother aged 40 or over could be 40, or 41. "mid 40s " is 44/45/46. And those couple of years at that age makes a massive difference.

You'd need to disentangle maternal age from paternal age. But this research is complex. Multiple factors at play.

Most over-40 births are to women of 40, 41 and 42. Only a small % are to women in their mid 40s.
twitter.com/Anne_red_head/status/1567864627970691072

That you haven't told us how old your daughter is?

It’s genetic, and the sooner that is fully and conclusively agreed , the better.

There is a link between older dad's (ie 40s+) and autism in children but equally I have autism and my parents were both in their early 30 when I was born. Plus my brother believes he may be autistic and my parents were in their late 20s when he was born.

The slight skew in paternal age (and I can’t remember when I last saw the actual stats for this, so speaking generally) could easily be accounted for by social factors related to underlying genetics. So they’re hard to give weight to.

I want unborn children to be protected in law to allow them to be born