SV: off topic question

[Guest guest]

Fra: lisacna@...

Dato: 29. juni 2001 15:39

>I have been mullling around the idea of another child- I ask an OB

>doc what my odds were of having another child with a disabilitey were-

>he gave me arather odd answer-he said abu0t50/50-he said I needed to

>have a girl because they just were not affected by these disorders-

>this is a gross misconception right? F

BOYS AND GIRLS

Of course there are girls on the autistic spectrum. But for some reason, the

number of girls is proportionately lower than boys. If you're a girl, the

chance that you will end up on the spectrum is about 25% to 33% of what it would

have been, if you're a boy.

SIBLINGS

There is a genetic factor in autism. The following information is - partly -

taken from http://www.autism.org/overview.html

* For many years, the most cited statistic is that autism occurs in 4.5 out of

10,000 live births. This was based on large-scale surveys conducted in the

United States and England. More recently, estimates on the prevalence of autism

have ranged been as high as 1/4% to 1/2% of the population. These estimates

typically include those with autism, Asperger syndrome, and PDD. If you extend

the definition of the spectrum, then you get more patients on it...

* If you have one autistic child already, the chance that your next child will

also be affected, is far higher. It's hard to say how high: That would depend

on the specific combination of environmeltal AND genetic factors that caused the

first problem. Some families have 3 or even 4 autistic children: These

obviously have some kind of persistent and rather dominant problem lurking

around. My guess is that if you are not one of these very unlucky people, the

risk for having a second autistic child MIGHT be about 10 times higher than

normal if you have one autistic child already. I don't know if this is

interesting to you, but we have 4 children: 3 of them NT in every way, and one

on the autistic spectrum.

( http://www.autism.org/overview.html says that " Although there is no known

unique cause of autism, there is growing evidence that autism can be caused by a

variety of problems. There is some indication of a genetic influence in autism.

For example, there is a greater likelihood that two monozygotic twins (i.e.,

identical twins) will have autism than two dizygotic twins (i.e., fraternal

twins). In the case of monozygotic twins, there is a 100% overlap in genes;

whereas in dizygotic twins, there is a 50% overlap in genes, the same overlap as

in non-twin siblings. Currently, a great deal of research has focused on

locating the 'autism gene;' however, many researchers speculate that three to

five genes will likely be associated with autism. There is also evidence that

the genetic link to autism may be a weakened or compromised immune system. Other

research has shown that depression and/or dyslexia are quite common in one or

both sides of the family when autism is present).

Yours

n Klaveness

www.advimoss.no/GFCF_results

www.advimoss.no/GFCF_survey