The U.S. National Institutes of Health is funding this genetic study:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/autismiacc/newyorkautism.cfm
Autism has been shown to be highly heritable, with heritability estimated at over 90%. Estimates for the number of genes underlying autism range from 3 to over 15 and there is evidence for genetic heterogeneity.
The people I have asked have all been Aspies, none of whom have any Aspie relatives.
Because the Asperger's diagnosis did not exist until the 1990s, there are many people who have Aspie relatives and are unaware of it because their relatives were never diagnosed.
You'll find that, on the AFF forum, posts about Aspie relatives are fairly common. In my family, it's clearly genetic: four of us are unofficially diagnosed (we don't want official records because of prejudice) and the others have some traits.
a lot of disorders that are "all in the genes" are horrible disorders that cost society and their victims horrible amounts. Do we really want to associate ourselves with them?
The way to avoid that sort of association is to put an end to the use of words like "disorder" to describe Aspies. Many characteristics, such as height, gender, and skin color, are genetically determined. The existence of genetic differences doesn't necessarily imply a defect; most genetic differences are beneficial because they contribute to the diversity of the species.
The research into removing diabetes alone from the gene pool is worth billions of dollars, so normies won't have far to go in thinking "why are we not researching how to rid ourselves of Aspies? It's genetic..."
You're quite right about that, and they already are researching a prenatal test for autism.
Unfortunately, it will not help the situation to pretend that maybe if we don't say it's genetic, they won't notice.
just because the condition does not manifest in one generation does not mean they do not carry the genetic marker.
That is probably what happened with you and other Aspies who do not have any autistic people in their immediate families. There's probably an Aspie great-grandfather or other ancestor a bit farther back.
Genetic disorders also propagate by being passed on. One genetic marker from one parent, another from the other parent, and so forth. Law & Order also had an episode once in which a child was murdered as a mercy-killing because they had some kind of motor-neurone disease that is prevalent in Jewish families, and genetic testing is done in order to ensure that if one parent has the gene, the other does not. And I hasten to add that just because the condition does not manifest in one generation does not mean they do not carry the genetic marker. Sadly.
Autism/Asperger's appears to be a heterogeneous genetic condition, i.e. a result of the expression of a number of genes together. You are oversimplifying the situation by speaking of "one genetic marker from one parent." It doesn't work that way with autism.
If the formula that one woman gave me is correct and my IQ can be estimated at 167, then mine would be equal to the combined IQs of my mother's brothers. They are about as Aspie as I am a monkey, but they are all drunks, idiots, or both.
Being an Aspie does not necessarily mean one will have a high IQ. There are plenty of Aspies out there with average IQs.
Granted, I have only asked about thirty, but when I ask thirty from three different countries and get a strike rate of zero, it does make me wonder.
30 out of all the Aspies on this planet probably does not make for a statistically reliable sample.
If you'd like more input, feel free to ask me about my familial situation.
AspieGirl's right. And even people with the same genetic inheritance (e.g. identical twins) won't necessarily exhibit the same behavioral traits or disease susceptibilities. There are epigenetic and environmental influences on development. Even for diseases with relatively obvious genetic predispositions, there is so-called "incomplete penetrance" -- i.e., not everyone with the same "predisposing genes" actually gets the disease.
That's true, I have diabetes on both sides of my family. My grandpa on my dad's side died of several heart attacks caused by diabetes, but his brother to my knowledge doesn't have it at all.
If you are going to present something to the public, at least have the nerve not to cower in renunciation when someone you purport to argue for is horrified with it.
Horrified? If I were you, Iron Man, I would save my horror for such things as murder of autistics. There are plenty of truly horrifying things in the world, and a few words on a web site (even if they could have been better phrased) are not in that category.
You have made a valid point that some diseases are genetic and, therefore, it does not logically follow that autism is not a disease simply because it is genetic.
If you have a constructive suggestion for the wording of the "Aims of AFF" page as you would like to see it, then go ahead and post your suggested changes. Amy has asked for, and has accepted, constructive criticism of her writings from AFF members in the past. Suggestions for how to improve AFF's public image are welcome here, but let's try to keep the tone of this discussion civil, please.
Okay, but my statement still stands. Gates is hated by a lot of people, with good reason.
Yeah and while he may be hated, he's got more money than I'll have in this lifetime and more than most of us will. Now too bad I hadn't done what he did, I'd be rich. :lol:
And as far as Autism/Aspergers being genetic, I fully believe that it is one of the major components. I have Aspergers, my son has Autism (high functioning), I have a few relatives that have autism (some high, some low functioning) and I truly believe after hearing stories of my father's father that he was likely an Aspie like myself and the more I look at my father through my childhood and to adult years, there are some quirks there that could be a 'shadow syndrome' of AS.
One study cited 90% of autism is genetic, maybe you are in the 10% that has another type of cause, were you born prematurely for example?
I don't think anybody knows the cause of autism in prematures. It is entirely possible that premature birth is caused by autistic genes. Since there is already a very large span for autistic genes, from physical traits, non-verbal communication, social traits, mental abilities, preferences, autoimmune disorders and metabolic disorders, why couldn't also premature birth be related to autistic genes?
Med Hypotheses. 2002 Sep;59(3):283-8.
Live virus vaccination near a pregnancy: flawed policies, tragic results.
Yazbak FE, Yazbak K.
TL Autism Research, West Falmouth, Massachusetts 02574-0770, USA. tlautstudy@aol.com
Vaccination of women with live virus vaccines around conception has always been contraindicated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the vaccine manufacturer because of potential risks to the fetus. Nevertheless this dangerous practice occurs and is associated with maternal health problems and a very high incidence of early-onset autism in the children. Postpartum vaccination with live virus vaccines has been recommended by the CDC, and described as 'convenient' by the vaccine manufacturer. This 'routine practice' may lead to health and is also associated with many health and obstetrical problems in the recipient, and is frequently associated with autism in both current and future children. Re-vaccination often fails to produce immunity, the very reason for which it was recommended.
Publication Types:
Case Reports
Review
Review, Tutorial
PMID: 12208154
I was also born in the 70's and back then, nobody was aware of Asperger's syndrome, just the classic Kanner's autism, and low-functiong at that. Because of that, it wasn't until my late 20's that I got a formal diagnosis. It just wasn't common in the US, but if I were a child today, I would probably have gotten the correct diagnosis.
As for Bill Gates having those aspie traits, Temple Grandin mentioned the possibility in her book.