Autism Spectrum Disorders

RunawayCurves

I think it is most likely genetic, I have been officially diagnosed as clear cut case of Aspergers and although no one else in my family has wanted to get an official diagnosis it is very clear that many other members of my family also have it, my only sibling , my mother and her brother and my grandfather and his sister my great aunt. In my family it is very clearly a dominant genetic thing.

In school I was assessed a couple of times and diagnosed as having specific learning difficulties, it was very clear I was quite different to most children but they could not put finger on why or what was going on. It was not really so well understood back then, same for the generations before me. I got my diagnosis as an adult.

mburgess458

My son is severely autistic. I think one problem with the genetic versus environment argument is that in my mind "autism" or "on the spectrum" is NOT just one thing with one cause. It is diagnosed based on symptoms. If we named a new disorder "Headache Disorder" we could argue that it is caused by stress...or hunger...or lack of sleep...or a million other things. Because having a headache isn't a disorder, it is a symptom of a disorder. I think eventually autism spectrum disorder will be split out into a bunch of discrete disorders that have similar symptoms.

The fact that very premature babies are more likely to be autistic (see link below) proves that autism CAN be caused by environmental factors. My son was a preemie and I'm convinced that is behind his autism. He might have had some genetic predisposition for the possibility, but no one else in my family or my wife's family were preemies and no one else developed autism.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20151228/study-extremely-premature-babies-at-greater-risk-for-autism

unsuspectingfish

mburgess458 wrote: »

My son is severely autistic. I think one problem with the genetic versus environment argument is that in my mind "autism" or "on the spectrum" is NOT just one thing with one cause. It is diagnosed based on symptoms. If we named a new disorder "Headache Disorder" we could argue that it is caused by stress...or hunger...or lack of sleep...or a million other things. Because having a headache isn't a disorder, it is a symptom of a disorder. I think eventually autism spectrum disorder will be split out into a bunch of discrete disorders that have similar symptoms.

The fact that very premature babies are more likely to be autistic (see link below) proves that autism CAN be caused by environmental factors. My son was a preemie and I'm convinced that is behind his autism. He might have had some genetic predisposition for the possibility, but no one else in my family or my wife's family were preemies and no one else developed autism.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20151228/study-extremely-premature-babies-at-greater-risk-for-autism

I think the real problem here is that we've only presented the options of "genetic vs. environmental", when in reality it should be more "nature vs. nurture", since non-genetic causes can still fall under the "nature" category.

GaleHawkins

dija92 wrote: »

I can't find the link or I'd post it, but I saw an interesting TED talk a while back which suggested that autism and other 'disorders' on the spectrum, are instances in a step forward of human evolution. It's only viewed as a problem because of pretty petty social conventions in the general population. But essentially they were suggesting that those on the spectrum are sort of super-humans, and that the rest of us have created a society where these people can't fully thrive.

... oh and to answer your question, I was of the opinion that autism was a combinatorial genetic disorder. There is a pattern of inheritance in families so it is definitely at least partly genetic. I'd be inclined to agree with the 95% genes, 5% environment thing I guess!

Interesting point of view. Sadly we just don't know the cause for many diseases.

MagneticGanymede

There's a genetic correlation.

kanibre

My son has autism, and comorbid epilepsy. Diagnosed at 10 with high sensory needs. Where parenting plays a part is - once you know what your dealing with then you can make positive choices to manage behaviours. When he was younger meltdowns were 2 or 3 times a day. - not including seizures. Then I started mindfulness and things changed. He still has high sensory needs and is clearly has autism. But he can now catch the school bus without a chaperone, attends army cadets, which he loves. There are still issues - Executive functioning is appalling lol very impulsive, rigid view point, selective eating and so on. It's a work in progress have I been blamed for his autism, by friends, family and professionals - hell yeah! Am I to blame, no

GaleHawkins

@kanibre thanks for sharing and welcome to MFP forums.

rhtexasgal

I am very proud of my 18 year old son because he is working hard to overcome some of his Aspie tendencies, particularly the social cues and inference. He is very literal and could never really grasp inference. We started homeschooling him in 6th grade, when he would have started junior high. There was no way that he was equipped to handle the noise, changing classes and most of all, bullies.

Now, he is a dual credit student in junior college so when he finishes his senior year of "high school" he will also be starting college as a sophomore. He struggled a bit with the faster pace of the professors but he earned a 3.75 GPA his first semester and right now, he is doing well in his second semester. We never told the professors about his Asperger's as my son did not want us to. Instead, he "sucked" it up, asked many questions when he didn't understand directions (the inference factor) and made some stumbles along the way. However, he has grown so much in just a few months.

He still has some sensory issues which he will likely always have. And, it could become a problem too. He has his learner's permit but still no license. It is that sensory thing. He can focus well on one or two things at a time but when you drive, your concentration needs to be in 10-20 places at once. It is so hard for him to do. So far, we practice in the neighborhood and parking lots but I am not sure about getting out on the open road. He scares me and he scares himself. It may come with time but ... I just don't know.

With him, I think it is mostly genetic. His father had "quirks" growing up and he still does but when he joined the Navy during Desert Storm, it was sort of sink or swim. He swum, or rather tread water enthusiastically! So far, our 18 year old seems to be doing the same. I will say that some diet changes did help him slightly but nothing drastic.

younique80s

My son was in speech therapy since he was 3. He's super smart and was reading board books by 3 1/2. He passes all the kids at school in every subject. We've never been told that he was on the Spectrum, until this year, he's 8 and in 2nd grade. He's always had to chew on something. His 1st grade teacher gave him a chew tube and it helps a lot. He is very socially awkward, but only at school or when he's with us and his friends are around. He won't acknowledge they exist if we are with him. It's weird. Talking to his speech therapist and teacher this year, they are saying it's not normal to still be chewing on things and being anti-social. He passed all his IEP tests with flying colors, so she can't work with him anymore. But, even though he reads very well, he doesn't understand what he's reading. I ask him what happened in the story and he just shrugs or says I don't know. So his therapist and teacher both said "oh, he's prob on the Spectrum, he should be diagnosed" I'm like "what?" I know he has sensory issues, his cousin also does, she chews on stuff too. And he has anxiety, that runs in my family. I'll definitely talk to his doctor and see what he thinks and go from there.

treehugnmama

I read some it erecting info that was captured in Britain I think and higher rate of as in mom's with pcos regardless of weight. interesting study to due with effects or hormones one fetus. I have pcos and a child with aspergers....I like to think I'm a good parent

12Sarah2015

There are some really harsh comments here. Definitely not environmental. Its not abnormal, just brain wired differently. There are some things eg. Therapy to help. The extra diagnosis are due to a number of factors...better tools to diagnose, more dads over 40 having children more premmies surviving. Not bad parenting. Parents with children with austim (incl parents themselves with autism) are superparents and should not be judged on their parenting at all.

VeryKatie

I always thought it was 100% genetic, a no fault kind of situation. Or maybe (slight maybe) if the mother unknowingly consumed something dangerous while pregnant (like a medication or something - and I only say this now since I'm pregnant and it seems like pretty much everything is somehow "harmful"). I'm a bit curious what the 5% environmental part would be (Regarding the OP).

ETA: Now that I've read a few other responses, I guess I could see how some environmental aspects could make situations harder. And I saw one poster who mentioned more males than females are diagnosed with it. I doubt that it's chromosomal. I think it's that it probably presents differently and at different ages in females and is thus missed by doctors. This is the case for many issues and doctors are only recently beginning to realize the differences and starting to study it more.

youngmomtaz

I believe it is genetic but....

There was a comment early on about behavioural issues and parenting. And I can see why that is a common thought for many. It is sad that parents can be pointed at as the problem when there are so many others who have an effect on our children's well being. I have only my own experiences to go by and will share a short/not so short part of them for you.

My sons third grade teacher had issues with the boys in her class. They were active and hyper and distracting to the class. At the same time, the school tried out a new schedule that reduced the total outside play time for elementary students to a total of 30min/day. Despite my arguments and the many research stats I brought to them they refused to change. We were in that classroom weekly and were told our child was a horror. As were at least 3 other parents. We have two older boys who had similar personalities as 8year olds and my husband and i quit attending these horrible meetings at which we were browbeaten, our son was henpecked and spoken down to, and basically the uneducated staff we were dealing with refused to listen to our advice on getting a young boy to focus. Those three other parents had children in the class who were the oldest in their families. Therefore these parents had no other children by which to "set a standard" and were highly concerned. All three brought their children in for extensive testing, at three different specialists. All three diagnosed with severe ADD and one on the ASD.

Fast forward to grade four this year: a teacher who has boys herself, is open to many learning styles, a new principal who was appalled at the recess restriction and changed it to 4 periods of outside time totalling 1.5hrs, and an altogether amazing group working with the exact same classroom, in the same school. None of these boys are medicated anymore, all are excelling, zero issue with classroom distraction, zero refusal to do work assigned, or hyperactivity. Not even one parent teacher meeting that is outside the normal.

So yes I think behavioural issues can be very related to the circumstances surrounding the child. And even extended so far as to be cumulative to daily life outside of that classroom for these boys. I can see how many are misdiagnosed due to things that cannot be controlled like the classroom situation we had. I was seriously considering moving to homeschooling and cannot imagine what that class would look like had the situation continued at our school. I can also see how parents/caregivers can be blamed for poor behaviour. And I don't think any of those parents blame the professionals who diagnosed their children. All of our boys were showing stress and acting out because of it, but when the classroom situation was resolved they reverted back to their normal selves(as normal as 9/10yo boys can be). All three that were previously diagnosed now show no signs and their families have been apologized to for the wrong diagnosis.

treehugnmama

VeryKatie wrote: »

I always thought it was 100% genetic, a no fault kind of situation. Or maybe (slight maybe) if the mother unknowingly consumed something dangerous while pregnant (like a medication or something - and I only say this now since I'm pregnant and it seems like pretty much everything is somehow "harmful"). I'm a bit curious what the 5% environmental part would be (Regarding the OP).

ETA: Now that I've read a few other responses, I guess I could see how some environmental aspects could make situations harder. And I saw one poster who mentioned more males than females are diagnosed with it. I doubt that it's chromosomal. I think it's that it probably presents differently and at different ages in females and is thus missed by doctors. This is the case for many issues and doctors are only recently beginning to realize the differences and starting to study it more.

boys and girls with add present differently and many girls go undiagnosed.

also there was a study done in Europe that showed a link to a higher occurrence in women with pcos. with obesity being a problem more pcos higher rates of asd? I had pcos before I was obese I am not bashing but society as a whole has more obesity. tje study said weight wasn't the issue and they looked at the hormonal aspect to it. Amother thing to look at is disordered attachment can also look similar to some of the behaviours with a person with aSD. disordered attachment can be caused by so many things. I work with children with special needs. the last thing parents need is bashing. Believe me even tje best parent of a child with a disability blames themselves!

DasItMan91

My younger brothers are autistic, the middle one can't talk and the other one has ADHD and has an IQ of 72 meaning he is retarded. They tend to have repetitive behaviors like the youngest one would always ask the same questions over and over and over and over and over again. He also seems obsessed with certain people he barely knows or just met.

treehugnmama

kanibre wrote: »

My son has autism, and comorbid epilepsy. Diagnosed at 10 with high sensory needs. Where parenting plays a part is - once you know what your dealing with then you can make positive choices to manage behaviours. When he was younger meltdowns were 2 or 3 times a day. - not including seizures. Then I started mindfulness and things changed. He still has high sensory needs and is clearly has autism. But he can now catch the school bus without a chaperone, attends army cadets, which he loves. There are still issues - Executive functioning is appalling lol very impulsive, rigid view point, selective eating and so on. It's a work in progress have I been blamed for his autism, by friends, family and professionals - hell yeah! Am I to blame, no

I am glad you found something that works for him. Huge success on catching tje bus on his own!!! It sucks that you were blamed. I think we all have been blamed by someone!! it is hard to raise a child with a medical or developmental or mental health condition. It is hard to parent period but when you have a child with sensory issues and other needs it takes on a whole new meaning to hard. Until one has walked in these shoes please don't judge. most of us are doing the best we can and a smile amd understanding goes a long way!

Verity1111

midwesterner85 wrote: »

I'm sure some people are going to jump all over me for this viewpoint, but I don't really care. If you think there is something that would actually change my view, I'm open to it. If you just want to tell me I'm a terrible person for having this viewpoint, or that I'm wrong because your cousin/sibling/kid/etc. doesn't fit either of the things I see; my viewpoint won't change based on that.

Since they changed the DSM criteria several years ago, the number of ASD cases has drastically increased. If you read through the criteria, you might understand why... anybody could be diagnosed under one or more of the criteria. While I believe that many patients truly have a developmental issue, there are a lot diagnosed with ASD now that just have old-fashioned behavioral issues. Many of the latter are actually "bad parenting."

That isn't to say all ASD patients fit that scenario, but it has become a trend where terrible parents have kids with awful behavior, so they take them to someone who diagnoses ASD based on vague DSM criteria. Terrible parents then just excuse their absent parenting with "I just can't help it... my kid has ASD."

My kid has autism and he is 5 since March. My 2 year old (different father) may also have it. My oldest does not (same dad as my 5 year old). What I can say is that my 5 year old is entirely non-verbal. He spoke for 1-2 weeks in 2016 and just stopped. My 2 year old says a few words here or there. The issue with those behavioral comments for me is that my kids CLEARLY have autism and they are loving, sweet, polite kids, especially when you consider their struggles. Sure, they cry more than normal for their ages, but they can't communicate, so that's understandable. We are STILL potty training.... BUT my 5 year old hugs goodbye, even gives kisses on one cheek than the other to say goodbye, does not hit/kick/bite and is starting to learn to help clean up. He even cleans up without being told now. He just learned to put his socks in his shoes when he comes home. He is a good child in my opinion. I don't think you can blame all behavioral issues on bad parenting. My child doesn't self harm either, which I hear is common. That's not to say my son is perfect and never mean because what kid is never ever mean? My son has taken a toy from his brother before, nudged him a little as to say "you're in my personal space" etc but he doesn't hurt people on purpose or throw huge tantrums for no reason. The worst he ever does is when he needs to sit still for long periods of time but that is a sensory issue and he just tries to get away (he still doesn't try to hurt anyone or break things purposely). So I can't say no child would ever misbehave despite good parenting, but I am not the most amazing mom and my kids are pretty great people IMO so I also can't say I get it 100% when they say "My kid who can speak and function acts like a total jerk because autism." I kinda call BS on that one. But in general I try to instill good manners in my children. My daughter was student of the month in her school (kindergarten) for setting a good example too. I'm very proud of her too and she can talk so she has the ability to run her mouth or act out but 90% of the time at least does not. Lol. She even helps me take care of her brothers without being asked.

2snakeswoman

I know that there are many nervous system disorders for which the doctors/researchers have no clue. They don't know what causes them, and they don't know how to cure them. I think the same is true of ASDs.

Lgcoulter33

I believe asd is mostly genetic. My father has aspergers, I have aspergers, and my 13 year old son has classic autism although he is on the high side of the spectrum.
To answer the question someone asked above, no you do not grow out of an autism spectrum disorder. You can try managing it and train yourself to look people in the eyes and whatnot, but it will always be there.

Lgcoulter33

robininfl wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

Our daughter's story is parallel to your son's. We never went through with formal diagnosis since I homeschooled her, even through dyslexia. Interestingly with her sensory issues, she also has synesthesia like I do, and her texture issues with food translate to that. Foods taste odd to her. She, for example, think carrots taste "square" and that lettuce tastes "purple".
.

I don't know about lettuce, but raw carrots DO taste square! That is funny, I never thought about it, but they do.

I think this way too! Meijer rotisserie chicken tastes like bandaids to me. I've always been teased for saying that foods taste like something I have never tasted.