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.

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!!!!

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.

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.

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...

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.

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

I think we may be related 😂

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.

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.

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.

Some of it is also the range of normal human diversity juxtaposed against the demands modern society places.

300 years ago if you needed it really fucking calm and quiet and didn't talk to anyone/hated people you went off to be a shepherd. For millennia clothing was seam free and loose fitting. People only washed once a week anyway. Food was plain, carby & repetitive. There was far less stimulation and plenty of people didn't have to go to school etc.

Our current social model is trying to squeeze us into an ever narrower range of acceptable boxes.

I'm

@londonwriter Your "group 3" is probably people who didn't need adjustments in a simpler past, living in smaller groups, less noise, fewer demands, a predictable stable lifestyle.

That's your experience with your daughter. Other people have different experiences, including my cousin who lived with us my entire childhood.

A plague ? It's not catching, it's not life threatening and as much as I don't try to get het up on word play. That wording implies that it's spreadable, and or everywhere and really common.

ND in all its forms has always been around, it's just spoken about socially more with less stigma

As a previous poster put there is a massive difference between groups 1, 2 and 3 and that is based on need or support levels. ND has a whole spectrum of different diagnosis under its umbrella, and it's that it's an umbrella.

There probably a vast number of people who sit in camp three who in history would have been just classed as eccentric. But they struggle more now in a world that sensory wise like someone's playing loud music 24hr a day whilst a massive amount of social "rules" that are there but never spoken about or even explained. Back in the day life was simpler, it wasn't information overload.
That said just because someone is ND doesn't automatically assume they have learning difficulties. Not all people with learning difficulties are ND and via versa

You may find also find that if you are NT and your child is ND - that your child may grow up to find some of the things you do as a NT difficult to handle.

I personally find children in camp 1 and 2 much easier to deal with (as a person in camp 3) than NT people.

@robotgun it's not that simple - it's due to a massive range of factors. Autism is also very wide ranging, there is never going to be a single gene - it's a description of a range of signs and symptoms which exhibit in an individual.

If you google "autism aetiology" meta analysis on a site called pub med you'll get lots. It's a developmental disorder, so partially environmental - some factors are or are not modifiable.

Every time the "more autism" thing's brought up, there's one thing that gets missed - yes, it's largely (but not necessarily exclusively) genetic, and because society is finally figuring out (slowly) that we actually have value...put delicately, autistic people are getting more involved in the gene pool.

As we move more to an information-based economy, the high-paying jobs tend towards areas where some autistic traits become strengths that NTs often find harder to match, hence autistic folk being over-represented in areas like programming and electronics design (stereotypical examples, but you get the idea). The end result of that is that, suddenly, we're relatively high-value - as opposed to 40-50 years ago, when we'd have been consigned to "special school" and kept out of mainstream society, or 100+ years ago branded the village idiot - and our social differences become somewhat forgiven for the added value we can sometimes bring.

It’s not true to say “you are autistic or you’re not”. The process to diagnose autism is very fallible and highly subjective. My daughter was diagnosed first with autism, then a few years later we were told it was a misdiagnosis and she was diagnosed with adhd. Now a couple of years after that, a third doctor (and each doctor had the right credentials) has diagnosed generalised anxiety disorder. So which does she have?

I have ASD and ADHD.
Both my daughters do . Eldest Grandson Aspergers and dyspraxia.
2nd Grandson ADHD.
3rd and 4th Grandson ASD.
Yes we have all been diagnosed..myself and daughters later in life.
Eldest Grandson was 6 diagnosed. ( we knew the signs by then)
Other three age 3.
We are all different and have out own traits.
We all have some physical disabilities too.
Especially with our feet ( 3 of us have to have insoles made).
We are all functioning and intelligent.
Looking back l honestly think my Father had ASD.
Definitely genetic.

My opinion only …. When “they” figure it out there will be dozens of types of “autism” with gene/chromosome identifiers. Perhaps some with multiple types making more complex condition.

But again. “Autism” is a very vague & general term, hopefully some new labels in future to help. Like “ASD type 52a” and there can be more support because more is known about specific types.

Sidebar ~ friend w autistic daughter says no-one in family has it. We all ask her - what about your dad? Scientist, came home from work had very same routine w food, where he sat, everything very predictable, didn’t socialize. She insists No, my dad was just so smart and he couldn’t talk to anyone because he was so much smarter. Just wanted quiet when he got home. She doesn’t see what we all saw. He raised a family, worked, his kids all successful, I’d say he was happy and made a life he was happy with.

Her daughter so much better as young adult, and has learned how to “be” & found her place in education & work. her early years at school were v hard.

Also premature births and preeclampsia are both strongly associated with Autism, both of which would have been likely to result in infant deaths decades ago, so there literally are more children with ASD these days.

Common misconception here. Early birth and autism are not linked and preeclampsia is all about the mother not the child.

Yes. I think you’re right. It’s also that the diagnostic criteria focus on ‘is this child typically developing’ and not ‘is this child disabled’?

Our DS4 was referred to occupational therapy by his nursery due to sensory issues. I was worried because DS7 is autistic and had so many issues when he got to school, so I sent DS4 to a neurodevelopmental assessment on my DH’s health insurance ‘just incase’. My DS4 now has an autism diagnosis with the suggestion he could pick up an ADHD one later.

No professional has questioned his autism diagnosis, because he ‘does all the autisms’. He has full body stereotypies, speaks in a patchwork of echolalia and terrible grammar, etc. However, the assessment process doesn’t actually check his social communication ability beyond ‘does he make ‘enough normal’ eye contact?’ And ‘is his speech similar on a granular level to a typically developing child?’

This is how my extrovert DS4, who has loads of friends and the charisma of a TV shopping channel presenter, is nonetheless diagnosably autistic. On paper, he appears ‘severely disabled’ because he is literally a tickbox of ‘all the autisms’: 15 pages of all the ways his behaviour suggests atypical development. In practice, he hates sirens, hand driers and children crying loudly, can’t sit still and that’s… about it, really. He’s so extrovert that he managed to make a friend during his school reception taster - I think most of the NT kids didn’t manage that!!

We had his council OT assessment yesterday and almost every single adjustment is to help our DS4 sit still in class - something he wouldn’t have needed to do as, say, a shepherd. The comment we get most about DS4 is not ‘he’s socially awkward’, it’s ’wow, he’s very busy/wriggly, isn’t he? He must keep you on your toes (nervous laugh)’

There’s no way DS4 would have got a diagnosis even 20 years ago. Not because DS4 doesn’t need support - he will need a fat pencil, ear defenders, movement breaks, sensory putty and a wriggle cushion for school - but because he has no resemblance to the social stereotype of (male) autism. He’s just a very fidgety, noisy-adverse DS who hates saying ‘good morning’ to adults (he’s fine exchanging enthusiastic fart noises with other kids)!!!

I think there are an increasing number of kids getting autism diagnoses who are like my DS4. Kids who need adjustments to perform well in school (e.g. a desk at the quiet end of the classroom) who would have struggled unnoticed, or been punished for fidgeting/being a bit weird, a few years ago. This isn’t an ‘autism epidemic’ caused by chemicals/vaccines/SSRIs/older parents/premature birth - it’s a trend of better identifying and labelling kids who need the extra help because their brains work slightly different from average.

Those are quotation marks, not inverted commas...

I have a child with ASD. And the most unhelpful thing I've ever heard, soon after his diagnosis, was from (an otherwise kind) friend who remarked it was because I let him have the MMR vaccine. She herself took care to avoid the MMR for her two DC. When some years later her eldest was also diagnosed with ASD, I did not mention this. But I admit to muttering quietly to myself at home!

I don't know what causes autism. It does seem clear that doctors are quicker to spot it and to name it these days, so that's not more cases, just more diagnosis. It does seem possible that "assortative mating" could have something to do with rising actual cases. And yes, now my DC has it, I recognise some other possible cases in older generations of my family... though the science you cite, OP, also makes it clear that it is not solely genetic. Few genetic diseases are: it turns out Alzheimer's also runs in my family, but most of us still don't get it. These are not simple one-cause problems.

What my fellow parents need to keep reminding themselves is this: in no way could I have known in advance or prevented ASD in my child. This is not my fault.