Having A Girlfriend With Autism Brother

[misterNiceGuy]

hello..i have a grilfriend and she has a sister and a brother but her brother suffers from autism.. and i wanted to know if someday i have a child of her would our child be touched with this ? im not informed about these problems,sorry if im wrong.

[EDDIE51]

You can not say unless you know if the autism is genetic and if it is hereditary . All I can say is it is not impossible.

[Buenchico]

Autism clearly has some genetic roots but there may be environment causes as well.

I'm on the autism spectrum and (although he was never formally diagnosed as such) my father clearly was as well and his brother is too. However, to the best of my knowledge, my father's sister wasn't on the autism spectrum, so a link isn't always automatic.

If your girlfriend isn't on the autism spectrum herself (and it's not always easy to spot!), then she might not carry the gene for it.

Incidentally, I object to your use of the word 'suffer' in your question. I don't 'suffer' from autism; I revel in it! It gives me a clarity of vision, devoid of the stupid emotions that clutter up other people's brains.

[misterNiceGuy]

i am sorry @buenchico. idont speak english very good and sometimes i dont know how to express. thank you for your opinon

[pixie374]

I agree with buenchico. My sister and I have 3 autistic children between us. All boys. But with or without her brother having it, there's always a chance. No guarantees either way.

[ummmm]

According to the autistic experts where I use to work we are all on the spectrum.

Divebuddy - how do parents get themselves tested? To be diagnosed isn't as simple as a blood test!

[Peter Pedant]

There is a wiki article on this very subject

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_autism

about whether autism has a genetic cause
but if your English is not good you will find it quite hard to understand

[ummmm]

How patronising!!

[ummmm]

Never heard of it Divebuddy and I worked with autistic kids. I'll ask my niece, she still works with autistic kids.

[DTCwordfan]

all I know about this is my (highly intelligent) daughter's best friend from when my daughter was 6 has been 2 years older, and with an autistic twin brother, not heavily so but still significant.

Try explaining the sensitivities involved, the emotional ones particularly, even to a bright girl....it's not easy. However, as we all came to realise, quickly so, a very loving character and once he got past the initial emotional and understanding barrier, how they have come to appreciate what each has to offer.......

Hang in there, it can be highly rewarding......

[Peter Pedant]

// How patronising!!//

not really - the article doesnt give a aunt-niece chance above normal that is 1 in 88 but it appears to be around 10% uplift which would be a chance of 1 in 80.

I dont want to be patronising ummm but what is your estimate of the increased chances if there is another member of the family with the label/diagnosis ? Your experts you worked with will have talked a lot about Bayesian statistics ....

[fiction-factory]

...and to support PP further on this, the OP did say " idont speak english very good "

[Mamyalynne]

I have four Grandchildren all on the spectrum , and despite the difficulties (there have been plenty) we are thrilled they came to us.

The joy, wit and at times sheer genius I have been lucky to be a part of is wonderful - I do appreciate not everyone has such a positive time as the spectrum is so diverse.

One specialist who has dealt with three of them is a strong believer in the genetic side of things, it is indeed a wide area.

[ummmm]

Dive...my sons autistic. Mainstream but diagnosed and tests were never mentioned to me.

I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that my grand father was autistic. His routines bordered on the ridiculous. For instance.....my nan was a great cook but he would only eat KFC or Chinese for his evening meal and the same thing every single time.

He was a publican and I can't remember his routine ever differing (I lived with them)

[pixie374]

I think..... divebuddy is talking about tests for fragile X. I don't know why anyone would attempt to test purely for autism.

[ummmm]

FF...I'm not going to comment on that as it will be insulting to PP.

[DTCwordfan]

I hate to say it but the term autism is, to me, as misunderstood as dementia.....

[pixie374]

All mental health is....