How many ND people are in your family?

[ofwarren]

I have ASD, as does my eldest son and my middle child has just been put on the waiting list for assessment.
We know there is a hereditary link to neurodivergent conditions and it made me think. There are 3 others in my family who are diagnosed, 1 is my brother, the others my cousins and there are a lot of people who I reckon would get a diagnosis if they went for assessment.

Are there many neurodivergent people in your family?

I have a nephew with possible adhd, but no ND blood relatives.

DS diagnosed with adhd (inattentive type), ever since then DH thinks he might be the same. He went to a therapist and they did some tests - her view was he didn't come out clearly as ND in any one area, but she thinks he is in some way!

Oldest has also been wondering about ADHD, as had I. But we both agree it's not to any degree that needs intervention - very bright and organised but can be surprisingly careless about some things and very 'talented' in the breaking of valuable hardware!

I think my dad is definitely ND but only realised it in more recent years. I also have at least 3 cousins that I think are ND

@kobacat1981

I think my dad is definitely ND but only realised it in more recent years. I also have at least 3 cousins that I think are ND

I think my Dad is too. Very obvious behaviours.

DH and DS are NT.

So is my sister, but her husband is ND.

I have ADHD. My maternal uncle has been diagnosed with the same. I strongly suspect my brother also has it. Dad was NT, but I think the condition runs through my maternal line with my mother, my grandmother & great great grandmother as the most obviously affected. Great grandmother was NT, but her brother showed similar ND traits from memory.

I've a feeling people are going to miss that this is on the ND MNers board...

It's just me in my family, although highly likely it's from the maternal side, several men had strong traits. They managed because life was far more simple then.

I'd be fascinated to get everyone in both DH's & my immediate family assessed. It wouldn't surprise me if everyone was ND! As it is, only one of my DC has an ASD diagnosis currently. Others have dyslexia but haven't been assessed for anything else due to ASD not being recognised so much when they were young. Some we're collecting evidence for & others are aware of their likely diagnosis but have chosen not to pursue it for now. The oldest generation all seem blissfully unaware & insist that "everyone's like that." They're really not!

In my family being NT makes you the odd one out... Of my siblings/parents 5 out of 6 have ASD. Probably one has ADHD too. Just one NT person in the crowd.

Having said that, only one of my DC diagnosed as is neurodivergent. I think the others are NT.

ExH has ADHD, as do his brothers (probably, but they are undiagnosed) and his Dad is very atypical but also a total git so it's hard to see what's just obnoxious choices and what's ND behaviour.

I am awaiting assessment for ADHD.
My eldest son has ASD.

My mother is dyslexic. My sister is dyslexic and dyspraxic. My eldest nephew almost certainly has ASD. My youngest nephew has ADHD and a while host of other issues.

My husband (for now at least) is being assessed for ASD.

Neurodiversity is typical in my world. Even at work, the majority of my team are ND in some way.

@PitchImperfect

I'd be fascinated to get everyone in both DH's & my immediate family assessed. It wouldn't surprise me if everyone was ND! As it is, only one of my DC has an ASD diagnosis currently. Others have dyslexia but haven't been assessed for anything else due to ASD not being recognised so much when they were young. Some we're collecting evidence for & others are aware of their likely diagnosis but have chosen not to pursue it for now. The oldest generation all seem blissfully unaware & insist that "everyone's like that." They're really not!

I wouldn't be surprised with my family either. My mum has huge food aversions, can't talk on the phone and says really inappropriate things at times. She is very similar to my mum.
My other brother whos never been tested has done the online tests and scores highly.

Me. My dd. Her dd. My son in law. My brother. My df. My late dm was. My son in law's late df. My late uncle, df's older brother but not sure about the two younger brothers and sister. My female cousin, daughter of one of the other brothers. We're a bit of a nest of autistics, with adhd, ocd also. Someone asked to study us but we turned them down. Too busy adjusting to life with lifelong disabilities - rather than thinking of ourselves as awkward sods and the rest of the world as incomprehensible fools - at that point.

We are all members of the Autism club

I am sure my dad was ND, probably ASD. We were so similar. I also think my mum might have ADHD, but that's not so clear, just a lot of the things I have now discovered are linked to my ADHD are the traits we have in common. I wouldn't think she has ASD though, so it's less obvious. I don't think my sister would be ND, which might explain why she finds the rest of us hard work, poor thing. I wouldn't place any bets on that, though, it's so hard to know if someone gets really good at masking.

Is very strong in the female side of my family. Since my diagnosis, it's been obvious that my mum and sisters are nd. 3 out of 4 of my children are obviously nd although only one diagnosed so far. My brothers seem unaffected.

Big family and not one is NT on my side. I suspect my DH is ND given our DC diagnosis.

I’m waiting for assessment. In my wider family there’s a female cousin diagnosed, a male cousin who is waiting for assessment and both of his children are diagnosed too. Its entirely possible one or two of my other cousins have neuro divergences too, but haven’t been assessed.

me, two dc diagnosed
ex autistic traits but not opting to go for diagnosis.
dad definitely autistic but not diagnosed.

my mum is probably hypermobile (given her flexibility and other comorbidities and my diagnosis) maybe she is autistic. I really need to think about htat.

Well it was only one until recently, my daughter! Now me too, and my other child is being assessed shortly.

I actually suspect there are more, the more I learn about it all, but unlikely anyone else would consider any sort of assessment. I've also noticed traits and difficulties in several of my friends who are far as I know are NT.

I suppose it must be common, seeing more and more neurodiversity as you become more and more educated about it.

DH is autistic.
I am ADD.
DS1 is ADD
DS2 is autistic and ADD.

We muddle along. None of us 'get' NT people very easily, so we enjoy not having to.

Ds1 has adhd, ds2 is autistic, I'm autistic and adhd, dh is possibly autistic, fil was probably autistic and my df may have been as well, dh's nephew is autistic as well.

My late grandfather almost certainly was. Then there's me (the first adult to receive an ASD diagnosis), my teenaged nephew and my cousin's daughter, who both have ASD diagnoses, too. We are, however, a 'high-functioning' family.

I have my suspicions about my mother, but she would never agree to be tested.

There must be so many neurodivergent people in the world. Does anyone know the predicted stats of how many they think there probably are?
I wouldn't be surprised if its 1 in 3 or something like that.
There are far many of us than people think.

We might turn out to be the majority...

I think there are more diagnosable than diagnosed in my wider family.

We could say to people "What's wrong with you? Stop making all that eye contact!" We could have special rooms with bright lights, garish colours and things moving, for the NT minority, while the rest of us had quiet places to soothe our active minds. Food would never touch other food on a plate, and textures would bear warnings - 'Spinach - warning, green and slimy!' 'Waterproof fabric, don't touch, will set your teeth on edge!'