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Do you want to know what gene(s) caused your autism?

HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
edited October 2021 in General ASD
I personally always wonder what specific gene(s) I have that caused me to develop autism + some of the comorbids I have. Both of my parents have autism/many autistic traits, so I am also interested in if I ended up with one parents ASD-linked gene or both, since I have traits both of them have + comorbids one or the other doesn't have.

I just would find it super interesting to know these things, and I don't even want to know them for any reason (like concerns for my offspring or something) other than pure curiosity.

Comments

  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
    Since this isn't just a site for people with ASD, I should add that if someone wonders what caused their ADHD, OCD, learning disability, etc. they can also comment here.

    I personally think it'd be interesting to know if my ADHD and dyscalculia are related to my ASD, or are from different genes/just environmental factors. Dyscalculia I'm more interested in since I don't think anyone else in my family has it.
  • AmityAmity Administrator, Citizen
    Ive been interested in how events during mums pregnancy and my birth may have interacted with certain genes.
    Epigenetics is an area i find fascinating.
  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
    I think my mom smoked marijuana while pregnant with me, and I also had to be taken out a couple months early because my placenta started dying. I sometimes wonder if the marijuana use contributed to the severity of some of my symptoms/the development of certain comorbids, since I know prenatal use is starting to be associated with children developing ASD/ADHD/other issues, and if having that issue with my placenta is possibly related to any genetic changes I have or if it being like that for awhile affected my brain development at all. 🤔
  • AmityAmity Administrator, Citizen
    edited October 2021
    That is interesting Hylian, my theory (as a complete layman lol), is that traumas occurring during stages of development/growth can interact with our genetic tendencies and what we pass on to our children.

    My dad had TBI as a child, happening just on the cusp of adolescence, I've often wondered about how this experience impacted on the genetic markers I inherited.
    Traumas in the womb, I believe to be particularly significant.
    The loss of the placenta and the continued trauma that followed, would to my mind, have had a significant impact on you, at a significant stage during your development.

    I wasnt preterm, but I had a vanishing twin, went into fetal distress before birth and was born via emergency C-section, hypoxia was quite likely as the gap between my heart slowing and mum arriving for surgery was anecdotally at least 15 minutes.

    If your mums placenta was dying, the steady lack of oxygen and nutrients coupled with being born early by a few months must have been quite a traumatic experience for your little body.
  • HylianHylian Citizen, Mentor
    All of that's very interesting, and honestly I agree with that theory. There is more and more evidence towards epigenetic changes being real and having real affects on an animals future offspring, and it makes me curious about how my choices + my life experiences may affect any offspring I have (which isn't bad, since it makes me want to make better life choices lol). I can also agree that the field of epigenetics is fascinating, and I really wish I knew a lot more about it than I currently do.
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