Hello,
I am talking about the possibilty of raising a family with my partner. He has a 12 year old daughter who has asperger's disorder from a previous marriage. I am not sure of the severity but I think it is quite a mild case as she goes to a normal school.
What is the likelyhood of our future children inheriting this disorder? Are there any tests he can take to determine if the genes are on his side or the mother's or how strong/present these genes may be? I suspect however that the genes are on his side as he had pretty severe ADD as a child.
Thanks so much for all your feedback guys... A thousand apologies for calling it a 'disorder'. I only just became familiar with Asperger's Sydrome today so I guess I wasn't thinking clearly when I hastily wrote this post. Really sorry about that - hope I didn't cause any ill feelings. There is a lot for me to learn which is why I hit the forums first as I wanted to talk to 'real' people who live with asperger's every day.
As for the rest of his family, I know his father had a terrible temper and he doesn't talk to him anymore.
Any more comments re. my original post are still greatly appreciated..
Thanks again,
Emily
Thanks for that... I'll look it up.
I've read that Asperger's can tend to be diluted as it gets passed down. Has anybody else herd of this? Therefore if his daughter from a previous marriage has Asperger's which isn't too servere i.e. she doesn't attend a school for special needs, that even if I did have a child with Asperger's it wouldn't be such a servere condition. Or that the chances of me having a child with Asperger's are even slimmer.
The fact that my partner does not actaully have Asperger's, he only had ADHD as a child also makes me think that the chances of our baby having Asperger's are even slimmer. I know that one can't predict what life will throw at you and there is no magic formula but I am just trying to figure out the chance of it happening. Obiviously, if I did have a child with Asperger's I would love it unconditionally regardless. I am just trying to get my head around it all...
Surely there would be a higher chance if both the mother and father had Asperger's rather than the father having ADHD as a child?
I just read it in a forum thread....
There is also a bit of disagreement as to whether ADHD is connected to Asperger's. Because my partner had quite severe ADHD as a child I took this as a sign that it was most probably from his side of the family rather than his previous wive's. He is completely NeuroTypical now though.
There are people with AS who can train themselves for years to pick up on social cues and do this and that, and although it never goes away, they could marry someone and that person wouldn't even know.
I don't understand why it is so important for you to know because it is a touchy subject with the community (parents who think of it as an illness or disorder). People with AS can have above average intelligence, maintain jobs, and be successful. They just think differently.
Before I started talking to people on the forums less than a week ago, I was very ignorant of Asperger's but now I know a lot more. I have learnt so much during my interaction on these forums and talking to people.
I have decided that it doesn't matter if the child has Asperger's and that you are right, it is not such a bad thing after all. I was just ignorant and I sincerely apologise if this came across the wrong way. It will just be good to be aware so that I can look out for the signs and make sure that my child has the best and most relevant care available if needed.
I hope you understand..
Emily
I know I'm kind of late replying to this thread, but from looking at my family on both my maternal and paternal sides, it's like super mega genetic. At least 90% on my mother's side have it, and about 80% on my father's side (though you'll never get any of them to admit it, neither side), with all sorts of ADD and ADHD mixed in on both sides. Although, it might just be a fluke, or something.
I suspect every male member on my dad's side of the family, minus his sisters two sons, could be AS: my brother, father, and two uncles who do not have children. I am officially diagnosed AS.
Related question from an ignorant Aspie: is the actual severity of ASD heritable?
For instance, if an Aspie has children, does that mean their kids might be Aspie, or that their kids could be anywhere on the spectrum?
I think it's pretty much random - There's quite a few Aspies on the site that have Autistic children, and most likely vice-versa. There's also a few people that have changing functioning levels during their life, suggesting that the differences in the spectrum may be developmental or personality based, rather than genetic.
None of my grandparents were normal, all were considered to be eccentric.
My biological father is eccentric to say the least.
My mother had something wrong with her, she certainly wasn't 'normal'
One half sister is probably on the spectrum
one half brother is VERY shy & dyslexic
I am certain I am AS
My two boys are AS
My daughter thinks she has traits.
I have two nephews who are highly likely AS.
Dad was an intellectual, almost had a Master's, strong interest in history, socially reclusive (retired to thinly settled part of area between Martinsburg and Berkeley Springs WV and even then had a crane put in a mini-house behind the main house, with electric hookup, to retreat from the family too), honest to a fault, law abiding, patriotic, probably thought he was generous, and was, but came across as an a--h--- a lot (to me anyway)
His older brother retired from teaching math, nifty math sort of person, had a free come-and-go lifestyle visiting in and going out just as freely, married for first time maybe ten years ago
His younger brother retired from chemistry, unmarried.
His sister did complain about the "Marsh curse" during her divorce process before she remarried. The brothers talk about Marsh curse like a joke.
My brother is a computer programmer with 16.5 years experience, one year of college equivalent, complains of community alienation nd sometimes romantic isolation. Has his own unique religion, best thing to call it.
Mom seemed sociable, well educated, and in fact did qualify for and joined MENSA (for geniuses) for a short time (until listening to the male egos was too much for her), but seemed naive with regard to acquaintances neighbors et cetera who took advantage of her financially
Only I have the Asperger diagnosis but I think it runs in the family.
My aunt is an R.N. (maybe retired), so when between divorce and remarriage she said a bitter joke about an anatomically incorrect baby born on the reservation (then living in Wisconsin), we took her seriously until the punch line.
It was a male baby and he had a brain.
One thing about MENSA. Aside from listing Mom incorrectly as never married (but correctly listing two kids), the menfolk did not take her seriously about her solution to provide for children of geniuses. Moreover, I think they liked looking at Mom, a natural blond (though I remembered her as brown and eventually brown gray) who never weighed much more than 100 pounds even when pregnant
Who would have guessed from my picture?
Our neurodiversity presents us with a set of predispositions. There is, however, a complex set of interactions between neurology and socialization which remains largely unclear to neurologists and psychiatrists.
I have Asperger's and OCD (both diagnosed). However, as a child I was grossly misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, hospitalized for a short time (at 11 years old) and given a battery of ECTs (electroconvulsive treatments) Sadly, my situation was not at all uncommon for the time (1960s).
My sister has ADHD-inattentive type, OCD, and narcolepsy (all diagnosed); while my mother (deceased) had, I suspect, serious OCD (undiagnosed) which was principally manifested in her insomnia (diagnosed), i.e., she obsessed over sounds which she expected to hear eventually.
Finally, my father has, in my view, AS (undiagnosed). As a child, I deeply resented him for how he treated me. Since concluding he has AS (which, based on my descriptions, was confirmed by my psychiatrist), I now, for the first time, feel close to him. (He is 88 years old.)
Cheers,
Mark
17 people out of 54 in my family are Aspergers.
Qazi Fazli Azeem
Asperger Savant
fazliazeem.wordpress.com
Meiloyn, in what ways do you appear "***"?
This is not something I'm familiar with. The only labels I'm familiar with from my youth are "weird" or "quiet," really.