autism and genetic

my brother was diagnosed with asperger's. do i have the risk of having autistic children?

[mammo]

Asperger's is considered a genetic defect even though the defective gene has not been located, and tends to run in families.  I have a genetic condition in my family and know that your best resource for this is to meet with a geneticist.  They can answer any and all questions you may have.

[supermum_ms]

Asperger's and Autism are thought to be genetic, there is research under way that is trying to isolate the gene(s), the research seems to be promising but like everything else nothing is 100% conclusive.

Asperger's runs strong in my family but so does gifted, my eldest brother and young son have duel dx of both Asperger and gifted, my youngest brother and daughter have the single dx of Asperger's. My youngest was dx at age 3 with Asperger's but today he wouldn't get the dx because he is missing the core deficits that are required for the dx, he is highly gifted if not exceptionally gifted, and that muddies the dx some what.

It might be interesting to note that it is the 2 with only Asperger's, are by societies standards, successful in life, independant and highly respected in their area of expertise, active in their hobbies of interest and overal content and happy.

The way I look at Asperger's is simply a different mind set and not necessarily a disabling dx as most would assume it to be. With Autism in the family, any offspring would have a higher lean but not necessarily a garrentee of an Autism dx. Knowing this and being proactive and involved from birth, could and should make a difference to the out come.

Food for thought!

Cheers........JJ