Only Autie in family?

[nyxjord]

Anyone else on here, the only person in their family who is on the spectrum? I know I'm the only person in my entire family to have an asd diagnosis... my younger brother might be on the spectrum (not sure since we don't talk), or might just be a misfit/ juvenile delinquent due to crappy parenting. Is anyone else on here the only person in their entire family to have a diagnosis (whether self or formal)? I think it's really strange for me because I think ASD is genetic, right? So wouldn't someone else have it too? I'd ask my parents if they they think they're on the spectrum but they are both deceased-- however, I think they were both model nt's.

 

[Progster]

I understand - I'm also the only person in my family that I know of to have an ASD diagnosis, though my father and grandfather had one or two traits. The psychiatrist who diagnosed me thinks that I have it due to complications in the womb because my mum had leukemia when she was pregnant with me.

 

[Slithytoves]

Even if something is genetically transmitted, it doesn't mean everyone who carries a particular gene or combination of genes will actually manifest the associated traits. For example, take the recent population-based study from the University of Edinburgh that found a correlation between slightly higher intelligence and ASD genes (Clarke et al, 2015). The sample wasn't of people on the spectrum; it was of people who carry ASD genes but do not actually have an ASD. You could be the first person in your family in which those genes expressed.

There's also the possibility that people from current or previous generations in your family simply went undiagnosed. When I got my own diagnosis, I immediately started looking for clues in my family tree, and found there was a great uncle on one side of my family (died in 1976 at an old age) who was always considered "odd". A little more research into what his oddness entailed revealed that he likely had Asperger's. The condition wasn't commonly diagnosed until the 1990s, so there's no telling how many people, especially adults, were never identified.

Since I was diagnosed, my sister's two oldest children are now suspected to have Asperger's, one almost certainly. Once it is identified in a family, it's easier to spot it going forward because you know it's a possibility.