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.

Mm, I don't think there are any particular tests he could take. It would be interesting if any other members of his family besides his daughter were affected by autistic spectrum conditions.

Btw, it would be a good idea to be careful about referring to autism as a "disorder" since most of us view it as a condition or a neurological variation rather than as an illness or a disease.

There are no test's.  I know in my family the traits are there in both my mum and my father, also my sister.  I was joking to my mum about finding an autistic sperm doner (I am a 30 year old single woman with no kids) she said I should go to a sperm bank so I could get me some normal genes, I told her to you know what!  Though seriously me and my sister are on the spectrum we have both grew up well, we were not labelled as kids.  I also work with disabled adults and there are classic autistic kids in my family.  I know its a hard thing bringing up a moderate to severely disabled child, but asperger's we just different with varying issues.  There a million and one what's if's? If ya want kids stop worrying and plan on a healthy pregnency, avoid things that are preventable like Spina Bifda (folic aci yea?), eat healthy and don't smoke/don't drink loads.  Excuse my spelling, little bit dyslexic.  Carrying on reading the boards and look at the positive stuff.  By the way you are playing with fire with this thread on here! Sorry but I agree difference not disorder yea!

By the way I did read that they believe that the chances are increased with the father's age but not mother's, then there are lots of theories I take no notice.

You should definitely understand that AS is afar from a tormenting disorder, people with AS have tried to express this numerous times. Look at this YouTube video, it has a twist in it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AQkfAyAfhQ

Asperger Syndrome is nothing to be afraid of, but as a parent you should try to understand it and be prepared from those diffuculties that are common for kids with AS.

On the subject of ASD running in families, since my diagnosis and my family realising what I did months ago (the oh that explain's ya uncle, ya sister, ya mum etc) my aunt gave the classic statement of that what probably attracted my mum to my dad.  I also started to realise I attracted to guys with similiar personality traits, I will add that these traits are strong and turns out my ex also has ASD in his family.  Anyone figure this too?  Its like I have an inbuild aspie radar!

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

Try reading Asperger's and Girls by Tony Attwood, loved the chapter by Ruth Synder.

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've not heard of it being diluted as it gets past down, don't think that applies in my family where did you read it?
My familiy's a mix of autism, ADHD and a few other things.

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

You seem to be very open-minded, that's definitely a good thing for a such a new thing for many people such as autism.

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.