How heritable is Autism?

[Greatshield17]

How likely is it for Autistic parents to have Autistic children? I remember googling this and finding results that said "parents with Autistic traits, are more likely to have children with Autism," but nothing saying how likely it is for Autistic parents to have Autistic children.

The cynical part of me suspects this is done on purpose, that researchers are deliberately trying to hide this or not research this, for various misautistic reasons.

What do you know about the likelihood of Autistic parents to pass Autism onto their children?

 

[Raggamuffin]

I suspect my dad is on the spectrum and me, my brother, my half brother and half sister all appear to be on the spectrum. Also my brother has twins and one of them is exhibiting signs. My half brother is visiting tomorrow, so I'll be intrigued to see how his kids are, as I haven't seen them in years and never actually spoken to them properly.

Don't think it'd ever be as clear cut as to be able to offer a percentage, as there's still a lot of aspects to Autism that aren't fully understood.

Ed

 

[LadyS]

Both my parents show signs of being on the spectrum (mostly my dad, it's less clear with my mom) and both me and brother have diagnosis and now my eldest son as well. So I guess we fall under that category.

I wonder if they're alluding to that perhaps many older generations have not yet been formally diagnosed yet? I know with my parents because English is not their first language and the lack of knowledge of their past history and childhood that a successful diagnosis is most likely impossible right now.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

The risk is 80% due to genetics. Here is a summary of a large study. I have not read the original paper yet to see the probability of having an autistic child as a parent with autism.
Autism Largely Caused by Genetics, Not Environment

 

[Streetwise]

How likely is it for Autistic parents to have Autistic children? I remember googling this and finding results that said "parents with Autistic traits, are more likely to have children with Autism," but nothing saying how likely it is for Autistic parents to have Autistic children.

The cynical part of me suspects this is done on purpose, that researchers are deliberately trying to hide this or not research this, for various misautistic reasons.

What do you know about the likelihood of Autistic parents to pass Autism onto their children?

It depends on what you believe!

 

[Jordy]

It's very heritable, but the majority of cases are caused by a mutation since only a small portion of autistic have children, usually autistic woman.

 

[Owliet]

I suspect that a lot of family members on my dads side are on the spectrum. It is particularly evident in one of my male cousins, and my dad has traIt’s. My female cousin also seems to be on the spectrum too although I think one of them were in the process for diagnosis but I have spoken or seen them in a long time, so not sure how that would turn out if it was diagnosed.

When I was diagnosed, it was a thing that they said that it was likely heritable, and that my dad was also on the spectrum with obvious traits.

 

[Greatshield17]

It depends on what you believe!

What do you mean by that?

 

[Aspychata]

It's very heritable, but the majority of cases are caused by a mutation since only a small portion of autistic have children, usually autistic woman.

It maybe a tab hard for an autistic male to have a baby. Lol

 

[Aneka]

How likely is it for Autistic parents to have Autistic children? I remember googling this and finding results that said "parents with Autistic traits, are more likely to have children with Autism," but nothing saying how likely it is for Autistic parents to have Autistic children.

The cynical part of me suspects this is done on purpose, that researchers are deliberately trying to hide this or not research this, for various misautistic reasons.

What do you know about the likelihood of Autistic parents to pass Autism onto their children?

My father is most definitely on the spectrum, displaying stronger signs than me. My great aunt, my cousin's daughter and my uncle probably as well.

 

[Luca]

I’m adopted so I have no idea about my biological family, but my (adoptive) mom definitely seems to have some autistic traits. There are a few people in my extended family who I think have some autistic traits, but none are formally diagnosed (my cousin might be, but her parents don’t talk about it.)
My family (except for my parents) have a really negative attitude towards autism so I doubt they would even accept a diagnosis for their children.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

It depends on what you believe!

Unlike the supernatural, Genetics is not subject to belief.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

My family (except for my parents) have a really negative attitude towards autism so I doubt they would even accept a diagnosis for their children.

That is so sad. As some of us have found, stumbling towards helping ourselves demonstrates that appropriate help at the right time can be so valuable not only for our happiness, but for helping to establish ourselves as valuable members of our community.

 

[FlowerFlo]

My dad seems to be autistic aswell.I might have gotten it from him but i dont know.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

How likely is it for Autistic parents to have Autistic children? I remember googling this and finding results that said "parents with Autistic traits, are more likely to have children with Autism," but nothing saying how likely it is for Autistic parents to have Autistic children.

The cynical part of me suspects this is done on purpose, that researchers are deliberately trying to hide this or not research this, for various misautistic reasons.

What do you know about the likelihood of Autistic parents to pass Autism onto their children?

Based upon your statements, I believe you may have a critical misunderstanding of genetics and epigenetics as it pertains to autism. Nobody is hiding anything. No reason to be cynical. Autism, from a genetic perspective, is not like passing along brown eyes or blonde hair to your children. Autism is highly variable in its presentation because of the high variability in the genetics and epigenetics. For example, autism is known as one of the "low dopamine" neurological conditions,...but there are at least 4 different genetic variants within the autistic population that influence dopamine turnover. Some identical twins,...one child will be born with autism,...epigenetics. We can do this all day,...it's not a simple genetic probability,...there are over 100 identified autism markers on the human genome, but only a small percentage of the population is actually autistic. Some genes need to be activated in utero,...epigenetics. Genes for autism can be activated by the conditions within the intrauterine environment and/or those born extremely premature,...but even then, it's a small percentage. Maternal hormonal milieu, maternal exposures to environmental toxins, viral infections, placental dysfunction,...just a sample of the "associations" with autism, but none identified as "causes". Although autism does run in families, suggesting a strong genetic component,...it would appear that it is genetics + other risk factors = a risk of autism,...not cause.

If you are trying to pin down an actual percentage of autistic children born to autistic parents as identified by large population studies,...I haven't found one. If you are wondering why these studies have not been done,...all I can say about this is that it is INCREDIBLY difficult to do large population studies. The medical-legal environment today is extremely prohibitive, these studies have to go through an intensive Investigational Review Board (IRB), and trying to get families to consent to studies is very difficult. You can have a relatively benign, non-invasive study,...and you still might not be able to achieve the numbers for statistical significance. Having gone through this process several times during my career,...I know this first hand.

 

[VictorR]

As virtually everyone here has stated - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and one can usually find relatives on the spectrum or otherwise neurodiverse.

Keep in mind that it's only in the past 1-2 decades that we've seen more screening and diagnosis in childhood, and so until those children grow up (and many are now young adults) and have kids, and also unless there is also a longitudinal survey keeping track of them, we might not find out since as @LadyS suggested, the vast majority of adults on the spectrum are undiagnosed, and likely also not aware of the potential of being on the spectrum either.

 

[Suzette]

It's very heritable, but the majority of cases are caused by a mutation since only a small portion of autistic have children, usually autistic woman.

I think that statement needs citation. The likelyhood of someone on the spectrum having children probably increases as support needs decrease and there is no evidence that support needs are gender related.

 

[Streetwise]

What do you mean by that?

In certain denominations of what some call Christianity ,its believed that through prayer ,specifically not agreeing with the mindset ,that you will inevitably inherit whatever! your immediate descendants had in older parlance sins of the father,we can't discuss it here any further

 

[Jordy]

I think that statement needs citation. The likelyhood of someone on the spectrum having children probably increases as support needs decrease and there is no evidence that support needs are gender related.

It's not that support needs are gender related, but it's more that woman at any type/level of lower functioning are more likely to find someone that wants to make a baby with them then their male counterparts, whether it's autism, mental illness or a physical disability.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

How likely is it for Autistic parents to have Autistic children? I remember googling this and finding results that said "parents with Autistic traits, are more likely to have children with Autism," but nothing saying how likely it is for Autistic parents to have Autistic children.

The cynical part of me suspects this is done on purpose, that researchers are deliberately trying to hide this or not research this, for various misautistic reasons.

What do you know about the likelihood of Autistic parents to pass Autism onto their children?

Hello, interesting question.

To understand a bit better the history of autism, how studies were done, what things were hidden and what problems did scientists, parents and autists faced in the past I would recomend "Neurotribes" book. There is a thread in this forum about it.

As there is no clear metric of autism (like this person is on the 97% percentile and that other is on the 67% percentile) its not easy to track. Its very multidimensional, sensory stuff, perception stuff, coordination, ways of brain processing.... each if those things influenced by multiple genes, enviromental factors and so on...

In my personal case I come from a family of mechanical engineers, I do think my dad is Aspie and some of his brothers and sisters. His dad seems to have been somewhat Aspie too. In my family case its seems to be kind an advantage for most of us, my daugther is really smart and seems to have less social problems than I had at her age. But also has some traits.

In the book "The Autistic Brain" of Temple Grandin there is very good info about this topic. And is very nice to read.