Autism Risks

[Anonymous]

Read Brain Health from Birth. I agree with others, autism is not the end of the world, but I also have a kid with ADHD and sometimes debilitating anxiety and any of these things can add complexity to a family.

[Anonymous]

You can get fragile x carrier testing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:maternal immune response during pregnancy predicts autism-- hence why i'm being extra neurotic to avoid covid (and anything that may trigger my autoimmune disorder)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30430410/

The first trimester is crucial for brain development. I had a horrible flare requiring prednisone and the flu at 30 weeks and DC2 is typical.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just looked it up for myself. Genetics and parental age play the largest role.

1. Having a close family member with autism.
2. Being an older parent.
3. Having a boy vs having a girl. Boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism.
4. Preterm birth.
5. Comorbidities, such as fragile X, Rhett's, tuberous sclerosis.

I have a kid ( girl ) with Autism and it gets very weary reading about how frightened people are having kids with Autism. People with Autism are just regular people who see the world differently than us. They are not monsters.
Perhaps we had number 1 but, I was only 30 when I had her, and she was born on time and she is a girl. Girls have Autism too but, can socially mask it better than boys. I don't have number 5.

Please don't worry about Autism! The people with Autism that had trouble being successful in the past was because we had no therapies for them. Heck, most people didn't even call it that.

Are you the poster spamming these boards with this message?

Please stop giving such a rosy picture. I’ve BTDT. It’s very hard.
No one is saying the kids are monsters, for God’s sake. But I’m livingvit and it’s VERY HARD.

So shut up.


No I will not shut up. This is a message board and I am allowed to speak. You don't like it? Take your own advice and don't read it. My dd's life isn't perfect but, life is difficult for everyone in different ways. I am sorry you are having a tough time but, it is good to read other people's experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read Brain Health from Birth. I agree with others, autism is not the end of the world, but I also have a kid with ADHD and sometimes debilitating anxiety and any of these things can add complexity to a family.

+ 1 pp. Both my kids have epilepsy even though only one has Autism. When my kid was diagnosed they never mentioned that kids with Autism have a greater chance of having it. Plus, anxiety or depression.

I am sorry for all the families dealing with these challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:maternal immune response during pregnancy predicts autism-- hence why i'm being extra neurotic to avoid covid (and anything that may trigger my autoimmune disorder)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30430410/

I have fraternal twins and only one has autism even though they were both products of the same pregnancy, and therefore exposed to the same maternal immune response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just looked it up for myself. Genetics and parental age play the largest role.

1. Having a close family member with autism.
2. Being an older parent.
3. Having a boy vs having a girl. Boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism.
4. Preterm birth.
5. Comorbidities, such as fragile X, Rhett's, tuberous sclerosis.

I know lots of autistic kids (close relative works with special needs kids) and none of them have parents over 40. Conversely, I know lots of older parents, as in *ancient* parents (I live in Manhattan), and all of them have neurotypical kids. I think the age of parent risk is overstated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is considered an "older parent?"
30?
35?
40?

and does it matter whether its the mother or father that's "older"?

Read the science.

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/link-parental-age-autism-explained/

"Even so, the absolute chance of having a child with autism is low even for the oldest parents. The researchers in the 2017 study calculated that about 1.5 percent of children born to parents in their 20s will have autism, compared with about 1.58 percent of children born to parents in their 40s."

In other words, age is not much of a factor and should not deter people over 40 or 45 from having children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:maternal immune response during pregnancy predicts autism-- hence why i'm being extra neurotic to avoid covid (and anything that may trigger my autoimmune disorder)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30430410/

The first trimester is crucial for brain development. I had a horrible flare requiring prednisone and the flu at 30 weeks and DC2 is typical.

+1. Had flu with persistent high temperature around week 32-33, DD is healthy and perfect (and really, really smart, but I am biased

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just looked it up for myself. Genetics and parental age play the largest role.

1. Having a close family member with autism.
2. Being an older parent.
3. Having a boy vs having a girl. Boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism.
4. Preterm birth.
5. Comorbidities, such as fragile X, Rhett's, tuberous sclerosis.

I have a kid ( girl ) with Autism and it gets very weary reading about how frightened people are having kids with Autism. People with Autism are just regular people who see the world differently than us. They are not monsters.
Perhaps we had number 1 but, I was only 30 when I had her, and she was born on time and she is a girl. Girls have Autism too but, can socially mask it better than boys. I don't have number 5.

Please don't worry about Autism! The people with Autism that had trouble being successful in the past was because we had no therapies for them. Heck, most people didn't even call it that.

I’m not afraid of mild-moderate autism, I’m afraid of nonverbal, severe autism.

That degree of symptoms and support needs is much less common than mild-moderate. I get being anxious but I would really try not to fixate on this. Of the few families I know with a severe autistic child, it was either completely random/no history in the family, or the child was diagnosed with autism secondary to a primary medical diagnosis of Downs Syndrome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just looked it up for myself. Genetics and parental age play the largest role.

1. Having a close family member with autism.
2. Being an older parent.
3. Having a boy vs having a girl. Boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism.
4. Preterm birth.
5. Comorbidities, such as fragile X, Rhett's, tuberous sclerosis.

I have none of the above (except DC is a boy) and ended up with a child with Autism. You get what you get, I'd not worry about it, until it's a reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just looked it up for myself. Genetics and parental age play the largest role.

1. Having a close family member with autism.
2. Being an older parent.
3. Having a boy vs having a girl. Boys are 4 times more likely to be diagnosed with autism.
4. Preterm birth.
5. Comorbidities, such as fragile X, Rhett's, tuberous sclerosis.

I have a kid ( girl ) with Autism and it gets very weary reading about how frightened people are having kids with Autism. People with Autism are just regular people who see the world differently than us. They are not monsters.
Perhaps we had number 1 but, I was only 30 when I had her, and she was born on time and she is a girl. Girls have Autism too but, can socially mask it better than boys. I don't have number 5.

Please don't worry about Autism! The people with Autism that had trouble being successful in the past was because we had no therapies for them. Heck, most people didn't even call it that.

And those like my son who don't get diagnosed until its too late to address some of their issues because the doctors, teachers, etc don't believe the mom that there are issues.

Autism is...hard to deal with. Some kids do great with it, but, if you know a kid with autism, you know ONE kid with autism. They're all different, it presents differently in all kids with autism, and not all of them do well.

Yeah. And it's ok to be concerned about the potential for a disability. It doesn't mean you love your child any less.

I have a genetic condition that severely impairs vision in one of my eyes and welp, my daughter inherited it. Can't say I wasn't worried about that. She is getting more targeted, more advanced and earlier treatment than I did, but it still makes me sad that her life will be a little harder.

+100. Same here, severe vision impairment in one eye and DC has it. Thankfully better and earlier diagnosis and interventions than I had. I have permanent depth perception issues and while I can do a lot, like play sports, I am a terrible driver and often "bull in the china shop" clumsy.

[Anonymous]

Maternal obesity, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, older sibling with OCD or ADHD

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maternal obesity, high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, older sibling with OCD or ADHD

Or an older sibling with autism or pregnancies too close together or too far apart

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:maternal immune response during pregnancy predicts autism-- hence why i'm being extra neurotic to avoid covid (and anything that may trigger my autoimmune disorder)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30430410/

The first trimester is crucial for brain development. I had a horrible flare requiring prednisone and the flu at 30 weeks and DC2 is typical.

+1. Had flu with persistent high temperature around week 32-33, DD is healthy and perfect (and really, really smart, but I am biased

My autistic child is also healthy, perfect, and smart. Disability does not mean imperfect.