Asahd2 Posted 09.29.08 | A doctor tried to say that because my son has Autism that someone else must have it to because it is hereditary. I think that's nonsense. Nobody else has it in my entire over 500 person extended family. What do you think? |
oceanmachine19 Posted 11.23.09 | Your doctor was incorrect as you thought. The genetic "recipe" for autism is a hidden genome within everybody on Earth. The hard part about diagnosing autism is that mild cases of it could be thought of as ADD or ADHD. |
DandNMom Posted 11.29.09 | In our case, my husband's niece and nephew have each been diagnosed as autistic (although each one has a completely different spectrum of characteristics). There seems to be conflicting information about whether/not autism is hereditary, but most sources tend to suggest there is at least some inherited genetic component. We are closely watching our two children as they grow, being sensitive to any signs that could point to autism. Whether or not they're at higher risk because of our family connection, I want to be on the ball!
The main point is to focus on what you can do for your child--how you can help him to reach his fullest potential. Worrying about how he came to have autism in the first place just isn't worth your time! |
hashbrown64 Posted 02.01.10 | To my knowledge, autism generally isn't hereditary, and oceanmachine19 is correct about the genetic recipe. Some conditions on the autism spectrum, however, are thought to carry a genetic component. One that comes to mind is Asperger's, which affects a few members of my family, and does tend to run in families. |
Jordanna Posted 03.12.10 | We do not understand the cause of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the majority of affected individuals. We believe that both genetic and non-genetics factors contribute to autism, however, some cases are caused by inherited conditions. There are numerous genetic conditions that are associated with autism spectrum disorders. In these conditions, there are often additional, characteristic mental and/or physical abnormalities. Some of the more common genetic conditions associated with ASDs include: Fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, deletion 22q11.2 syndrome, and chromosome abnormalities. If your child has a diagnosis of autism, we recommend that you meet with a medical geneticist for evaluation. A medical geneticist is a doctor who specializes in genetic disease. |