How many autistic children do you have?

[2beor]

Hi, I hope this does not offend anyone. I have 3 children. A large gap between the first and the second two. I really would like to have another child but I am scared about how having a high needs child could impact the children I have. My older child has ADHD and I suspect maybe somewhere on the spectrum. One of my younger DC has been diagnosed autistic , he is in an autism class and is doing really well. He does need a lot of support when out and about , at home and in school he gets on with things with not too much stress.
My question is how many children do you have and how many have been diagnosed autistic? Are they your youngest child?
I know logically I should not have another child. But if deciding to have kids was based on logic I'd probably never have any.

I have boys 5&6 who both have autism, and I also have 2 girls 3&1 who haven’t
although my youngest girly could be potentially showing signs but I won’t know for a little bit yet as could just be a phase, I’m not sure

I only have one child full stop. However the genetic link for ASD/ADHD tends to be pretty strong IMO. My brother was recently diagnosed and pretty much all of the other neurodiverse families I know either have multiple neurodiverse kids or wider family members with either ASD or ADHD.

I think the genetic link is strong. I’m autistic and 3 of my 4 children have a diagnosis. However, they all present very very differently.

Dd1 - has very high care needs. Is able to speak and understand people but doesn’t want to (do rarely does) and has PDA which affects all areas of her life pretty profoundly. She’s never going to live independently in any way. She has 2:1 care. At the moment, we are working on encouraging her to leave the house which she just won’t do atm.

Dd3 - was first diagnosed with ADHD at 6, the autism diagnosis came later at 9. She’s very laid back, placid and day-dreamy. She has a lot of special interests. She doesn’t communicate very well and doesn’t like having conversations. She struggled academically (more from the ADHD than anything) but is brilliant at horse riding and seems to have a connection with animals, generally. She’s very kind, not jealous, will do anything for anyone but is socially vulnerable.

Dd4 - like dd1 has PDA. She’s intense, emotional and obsessive. She’s also a very intelligent and able child. She incredibly anxious and has ARFID. To other people, she comes across as controlling which is something she does because of her intense anxiety. She’s a very loving and interesting little girl but I do worry constantly about her MH.

I have 2 kids, DD 12 is NT. DS is 9 and ND, currently NV. Complete bolt out of the blue. No one in either family is ND. It was something that never crossed my mind before DS.

2 DC. DC1 is diagnosed as having ADHD but has never been assessed for anything else. DC2 is diagnosed as having ASD, ADHD and ARFiD.

I have 3 DCs. My youngest two have autism. Big age gap between them
DD2:was diagnosed when she was 10 but she manages fairly well day to day and is quite independent in many ways.
DS was only officially diagnosed this April. He has very complex needs and always has done. Even though he is only 5 we already know he isn't going to be able to live independently. Requires supervision from the moment he wakes until the moment he sleeps.
Obviously love them all to bits but it's hard.