Pregnancy and aspergers syndrome?

Question

My friend is with someone who has aspergers syndrome.. she just found out she's pregnant.. can her child have aspergers syndrome as well??.. He said it's usually just passed down through the mother, she does not have it.. he does.. can anyone help me?

Answer 1

There does seem to be a genetic connection. But that doesn't mean the child will have Asperger's. They say that parents with one autistic child are more likely to have other autistic children. But I'm not really sure that's true. I think everyone has a chance of having an autistic child. It's just that the parent of a diagnosed Autistic child are usually more aware of the "signs" and therefore more likely to recognize it in their other children. There are a lot of "normal" families with children on the Autism spectrum...they just don't know it. Sometimes, especially with Asperger's, it's hard to recognize unless you really know alot about Autism.

Since the parent has Aspergers...they'll be aware of what to watch for....and if the child has Aspergers, he'll have a great support group already!

Answer 2

We have no idea what causes Autism Spectrum Disorders (autsm, PDD/NOS, and Aspergers) right now. There does seem to be a genetic component but we're not sure how right now. Just watch the child closely for any signs. Ealry signs of an ASD that would be apparant at 18 months would be lack of eye contact, delay in or total lack of speech (although kids with aspergers usually have normal speech), not using appropriate non-verbal communication such as pointing, and seeming to be in theri own little world.

Answer 3

Being the mother of a little girl with autism I can honestly understand. Unfortunately the causes of autism and whether it can be genetic are still unknown...there are thoughts as to the causes of autism but nothing's definite.
There are autistic parents who have autistic children so it's definitely a possibility. Her best option at this point is to be prepared for the possibility. Remember...Autism is not the end of the world...it's the beginning of a new one!:)

Answer 4

It can have a familial component but this doesn't guarantee that the children will have it just because one parent or the other has it. It's good for the parents to be aware of the possibility but they shouldn't be stressing over this.

Answer 5

Adults with AS as parents
One area of study in which more of such research is sorely needed concerns adults with AS who marry and subsequently become parents. Until recently, it was just assumed that autistic/AS adults did not function highly enough to marry, but this is now known as simply untrue. AS adults do marry. Those who marry, however, may find it difficult to stay married; some initial research puts the divorce rate at approximately eighty percent.[93] Inflexible routines or embarrassing social behavior (like reading a book while having guests) can undermine the marriage[94], as can the difficulty maintaining emotional closeness. The resulting split can be fraught with intense or high conflict or domestic violence.[95] Custody cases, already often difficult affairs, are complicated when one or both parties has AS. The parenting skills of a person with AS may be inadequate to the task to the point of inflicting long-term psychological damage on children, particularly neurotypical children, raised in such an environment.[96] Such damage may be even more pronounced when the AS parent goes undiagnosed and fails to receive the intensive help s/he may need in developing and maintaining adequate parenting skills.

Even with support, AS parents simply may not be up to the enormous task. Raising a neurotypical child with corresponding needs involves complex emotional interaction between parent and child, as well as the ability to avoid parental behaviors damaging to a child's well-being. Typical adult symptoms of AS include the inability to empathize with others, lack of comprehension of the emotions and motives of others, difficulty in holding conversations and actively listening to others, and poor ability to control feelings of anxiety and, importantly, anger, and rage, especially in stressful situations, which can lead to violent aggression.[93] Sheila Jennings Linehan notes that these problems can at times be simply incompatible with successful parenting.[97] (It should be noted, however, that if the child of an AS parent has AS him/herself, that AS parent is probably more likely to understand what the AS child is dealing with and can, if motivated to do so, provide support not readily available from neurotypical parents. In contrast, neurotypical parents run the risk of not knowing what to do with an AS child and taking wrong or inappropriate corrective action until diagnosis, treatment, and parenting intervention are provided.)[98]

The AS parent/NT child dynamic has only nascent understanding as yet. Kathy J. Marshack comments that neurotypical adults raised by AS parents (most often undiagnosed due to the relatively recent understanding of AS) often report "a lifetime of severe depression, 'nervous breakdowns' and a string of broken relationships because they came to believe that they had no worth. Remember it is the child’s experience that defines the parenting, not whether the AS parent loves their child."[99] Because it is the child's, rather than the parent's, perception -- both of the parent/child relationship and of the child's own worth -- that impacts the child's well-being, this finding is crucially important.

Having AS does not mean, however, that these parents do not love their children. AS parents should not be stereotyped or categorized as evil, uncaring, or intentionally abusive. As Australia's Better Health Channel puts it, "Because the affected person is neurologically unable to understand other people's emotional states, they are usually shocked, upset and remorseful when told their actions were hurtful or inappropriate."[93] Jennings Linehan notes that "problems in parenting are linked directly to the core neuro-cognitive clinical features of Asperger's Syndrome itself",[97] rather than to "character flaws" or "ill will" on the part of parents. Thus it seems clear that more research and better coping strategies are needed on the part of everyone involved in the welfare of a child who has a parent or parents with AS.