To just remind you that autism is genetic?

[robotgun]

Research tells us that 60 to 90% of the risk for autism comes from your genome. Maternal and paternal age are also a significant factor. Also genetic variants exist that cause autism-like behaviours and go undiagnosed because we don't routinely run genetic tests on our children. We also don't routinely institutionalise children that are different to their peers.

There's 'more' autism because people are having babies at older ages. And we are better at spotting autism.

It isn't heavy metals, microplastics, or the MMR.

Sorry, but it seems like every day I open this app and there's a new post saying 'What's going on with all this autism around, eh?' and a slew of replies blaming environmental factors that have no science behind them whatsoever. Or, worse, blaming mothers for reproducing too late in life or eating tuna in pregnancy or taking prescribed meds.

If you see enough of these threads every day you could well start to believe the nonsense that people write, much like people that read the Daily Mail every day start to believe that Meghan Markle is the devil.

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

Many of my autistic siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles would have been institutionalised, and indeed a few were (before diagnosis was widespread), and later went on to get married.

Amen op.

I think in previous generation if you were rich and ND you would have been considered eccentric, downtown abbeys the grandmother springs to mind or locked away in a posh house never to be seen or recognised by anyone in wider society.

If you were poor you would have probably ended up in mental facility or died.

I personally don't think there more ND around, I think there's more visibility of ND traits due to it not be considered shameful being ND . So society doesn't require as much masking as it is as whole it's more accepting of ND.

Whenever I hear the words eccentric used to describe an older person it now translates to potentially undiagnosed ND from someone who probably has no interest in getting a label.

Peoples needs don't change with a label- the behaviours that have been knocking around for years just understanding and visibility has grown. People now have access to more information that triggers the thought "oh wait I thought that was just me having some weird foibles - that's ND ? But wait there are other people with the same foibles"

And usually it's NT people who point out the behaviours as "not normal" where as the ND person is just existing as they always have. While some NT people are aghast at the thought people might be ok with being ND and worse those ND people aren't showing shame and get their knickers in a twist about it. Bit like NT kids picking on ND for being weird but in adult form.

I say this as a middle aged late diagnosed female with ASD - with my daughter's diagnosis prompting the doctors to go .. you know there's a genetic component right shall we do a few test with you 😵‍💫 low and behold

I can't tell you how much of a head fuck it is for someone to come along and tell you btw you have asd when you have spent a good chunk of your life thinking you just sucked at life. My traits didn't appear with my diagnosis, I just managed/ masked them to fit into society.

Highly functional ND doesn't equal 🟰 life's easier for the person with ND.
It means it's easier for NT people to cope with the ND persons traits and that person to pass as NT

I don't have any problem when I leave my ND house and family. It's usually when I encounter NT people who are hell bent on suggesting ND means the persons defective in some way . Some people tend to think that because the world is geared towards NT so anything that doesn't fit into that "mould" is wrong.

I'm married, house owner, have two children and good circle of friends (all whom un surprising ND) and on a 6 figure salary and have been since I was 30
And I got there by being lucky enough to be surrounded by family teachers who worked with my ND not against it.

I said what I said 🤷‍♀️

Yup!

there is more to it than genetics but people are keen to go that way. Prematurity often brings intraventricular haemorrhaging in the brain, amongst similar. The brain needs to find different pathways and then… guess what

All due respect, I am autistic as are my children and many of my family.

I didn’t once suggest that what I eat would help everyone. It could help some though.

What I eat helps me, and helps some of my friends to live our lives in a much easier, less stressful way. It didn’t my son, but was worth a trial - he has no limiting issues with food so it didn’t hurt him to try it.

What I object to is the blanket shut down on any suggestions that certain things might ease the difficulties. The assumption that easing symptoms is the same as suggesting a cure.

I don’t believe there is a cure for autism, it is what it is. However in my experience I have come to strongly believe that we can find things that make life more bearable - and why wouldn’t we do that if we could? My daughter has a carefully structured exercise routine that helps her to manage her mental health - that might help some but not others.

The response in many autism community spaces is overwhelmingly negative, which I don’t understand. Surely we all have a responsibility to ourselves to try to live the best lives we can in the varying ways that we can find, without being told that we don’t want autistic people to exist, which is ridiculous as I am autistic! If any autistic people have found ways that have helped them I always love to hear it, because maybe it will work for one of my children, or my friends, or even me. I would never suggest to them that they’re being offensive in any way.

We don't, other than my sister having a speech impediment when younger (and my niece to a lesser extent.) I wouldn't be surprised if my boyfriend is ND either.
I never had support at school, despite struggling with writing and maths, because I was bright and could read really well. I was also precocious and was comfortable talking to adults. I don't have a super high IQ, but I'm good at remembering things. I also manage alright socially. If little one is like me and his nanny he'll be alright. 😊

I really agree with this.

It's amazing how you can spot the NT on this thread implying that op has a hidden meaning or agenda for her post.

When that's literally spouted as a "ND bad trait" saying exactly what you mean with no hidden agenda .

How that's the trait that's considered bad is quite beyond me.... but heck I probably miss the point right 😅

Its something i warn people about as an adult with AuDHD.

late diagnosis and use of medication as an adult, is going to suddenly hand your Autism the rudder, and you will be at sea with your Autism in charge and it doesn't know how to steer the boat.

I ended up giving up my adhd meds, my brain is quieter on them but my autism was suddenly catapulted front and center, and my mood and sensory regulation abilities went totally out the window.

Autism runs through dhs family but went unknown before this latest generation where the majority of his nieces/nephews and our children have been diagnosed with either autism, adhd or both. When you look at the other generations it seems obvious now knowing what we know but they were all oblivious until their own children started getting diagnosed.

Oh and they all pretty much exclusively started having children in their 20s so age wasn't a factor there.

Also has anyone watched sweet tooth series and their brains made the link between how the hybrids/kids are treated as the problem and prevailers of all things bad and cause of the sickness when actually the problem wasn't them.

Sorry weird tangent. Personally I don't want to cure my ASD my life in someways seems less complicated than my NT counter parts tbh.

BS? Really?
People having real improvements and you’re calling it BS?

I have moved away from parts of the autism community because of shit like this, along with many others.

The absolute denial that we can take some responsibility for our own experiences and outcomes. There seems to be a real attachment to victimhood and not having any control over our own lives in too many groups, which is really unhealthy for us and for our children.

Yes autism is largely genetic/heritable, but there is a huge head in sand affect that there is anything we can do to improve our lives. I get that there are parents out there going to extremes and giving their children bleach enemas, electric shock therapy etc, but tweaking a diet is not on this level and shouldn’t be written off as such. It’s alienating to an awful lot of people who know that it works for them.

Calling another poster’s experience BS - I mean, wtf! Who are you to dismiss a benign method that is working for lots of people, whether you want it to or not!

This is something I’m seriously concerned about in perusing an adult adhd diagnosis. I fully suspect autism in deeply buried under there (teenage me these days would have been diagnosed with both but I’ve learned to socially mask greatly since), but ADHD is fully at the wheel. It’s becoming increasingly detrimental to my life though, my brain is fried and I can no longer focus enough to do anything I used to enjoy, like reading.

It's not BS.

When you have both, and you're unmedicated, you learn how to survive, you teach yourself how to cope with the mood ups and down, the sensory processing overloads, how to manage and mask.

When you medicate the ADHD, you're literally changing your brain chemistry, and providing a thing your brain has lacked, and suddenly the things you have self taught to regulate no longer work, and you have to relearn.

I was on ADHD meds for a few months, and honestly.. didn't know who i was, it was awful.

It's a well known and well spoken about phenomenon amongst the late ADHD diagnosed AuDHD adult community.

It is still worth trying the meds :)

The slow release stuff like Elvanse didn't work for me, i'm now on the short life/quick release ones that i can take as/when i need the focus for something, they wear off quite quickly, so i'm not negatively affected.. my autism gets to hand my ADHD back the wheel after a few hours, lol.

@mickybarrysmum

thank you for that synopsis of the issues with discussing autism.

i get so frustrated when so many people discuss it as a flaw because my world is not one of co-morbidities. Im surrounded by autistic people absolutely thriving.

can you link to some statistics that support your claims in OP?

The NHS AQ-10 test was mentioned in another thread today. Out of curiosity, I did it, and with my score, it would be recommended that I be considered for referral to have a specialist diagnostic assessment.

I'm honestly not surprised by this. I won't be taking it further, as I'm so used to being who I am and don't feel the need.

My DN has BPD, and she believes that her DM & DG, (my DS & DM), have autism. Who knows🤷🏻‍♀️

If your kid has it should you perhaps both get tested as well then?

There is also the fact, for those who didn't know.. that never mind ASD.

ADHD is more highly heritable. To the point that some clinics that diagnose children, will then also test the parents, because its extremely likely one or both also has it. (usually the mother believe it or not)

My Mother is obviously autistic.
Both my brother and i have AuDHD, both my kids do, and both of his do.

I’d live to meet this clinic where they test parents! You can’t even get kids tested in the NHS.

It's more an american thing, pioneered by Dr Russel Barkley who is one of the leading experts on ADHD :)

It's something that is slowly started to be picked up by other clinics, most private, because as you say.. NHS sucks.

I know when my son went through his, the questions i was asked by his Dr also covered some of my history, and his Dr told me that he strongly believed over our appointment that i was also Autistic and ADHD.

I have since been diagnosed with both as an adult.

This!
If there are environmental factors (which the OP seems to suggest - 60% - 90% ‘in your genes’ still leaves as high as 40% environmental) then we should surely try to understand what they are?? Not to blame parents of course, but to update current advice.

Also, not RTFT but does epigenetics come in to play here? Certain babies may have a higher predisposition towards autism but something environmental could ‘switch’ those genes on??

@Foxxo
I know when my son went through his, the questions i was asked by his Dr also covered some of my history, and his Dr told me that he strongly believed over our appointment that i was also Autistic and ADHD.

Didn't you ask him how he knew - I am adhd and possibly autistic and I've tried all my life to fit in and still at my great age do not know what it is I am doing differently from the rest.

I don't know. I actually thought it still wasn't proved what caused autism. I have 2 autistic children. One I had at 28, the other at 39. I suppose I could have caused DS to be autistic but no family history so where did DDs autism "come from"?

Yes. But even with them the comments you make infer that there are more people with autism, not just more people diagnosed with autism.

The conclusions my (potentially autistic) brain makes based on your comments:

Maternal and paternal age are also a significant factor / There's 'more' autism because people are having babies at older ages.
We know that parents are statistically older now than they used to be. Which means more babies are born to older people. If this is a factor in autism diagnosis (and I don’t think the factor is older parents are better at spotting medical needs) then there are likely to be more autistic babies than there used to be.

We also don't routinely institutionalise children that are different to their peers.
This implies by ‘allowing’ autistic people to have babies, their genetics mean that there are more autistic babies born than if we institutionalised autistic people. As we no longer do this, more autistic babies are born. I otherwise have no idea how this sentence is possibly relevant to people saying that autism is more prevalent nowadays.

Important caveat: this is of course right and fine and autism isn’t a death sentence and we shouldn’t curtail reproductive rights of anyone to prevent births of autistic children.

And we are better at spotting autism.
This is true. And the rest of your posts seem to imply this is what your OP meant.

My daughter is 4 and has autism, I accept it's probably genetic although neither me or her father are diagnosed as neurodivergent, not to say neither of us are though I suppose.

I've always thought her traumatic birth could have been a contributing factor. Or maybe that was just the way she was always meant to be. Whatever the cause it dosnt matter. My daughter is amazing just the way she is.