Did we inherited autism through the Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes?

possibly - 

but that doesnt explain autism believed to be created by spontaneous mutations ie not inherited

I do entertain the idea, that if you have a neanderthal man who because of his biological differences would perhaps processes things differently like an autistic person perhaps, and when let's say the Neanderthal mates with a homosapien

The child would be a mix therfore a spectrum is created?

I am not saying this is the case but I would think further into it, to see if it could make sense enough to be a possibility. 

What do you think Aidie. 

i think that would be one of the biggest research projects of all time!

i recommend you read the following book written by the queen of autism Temple Grandin

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Autistic-Brain-Temple-Grandin/dp/1846044499/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UJIX1H92M3XD&keywords=the+autistic+brain&qid=1576412576&sprefix=the+autistic%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-1

she covers the genes involved in autism quite well. Also, her book is simple a good read and delivers a different attitude to autism

BTW I got it from my local library :)

ask your mum and dad if you have any Nearderthals in your family tree !  

medium.com/.../the-15-types-of-human-species-discovered-till-date-4d1eb036ba46

www.discovermagazine.com/.../20-things-you-didnt-know-about-neanderthals

I do feel like there is some merit to the idea everytime I look into it I feel more that its a possibility. 

I think how cool would it be to have such ancient DNA be so prominent in me?

I often too wondered if memories in some part are stored in DNA and that one day we could see through our ancestors eyes. 

Wonderful concept I think, in this world there is an abundance of variety that makes anything possible. 

Author Summary

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders that affect 1 in 88 individuals in the United States. Many gene mutations have been associated with autism; however, they explain only a small part of the genetic cause for this disorder. One gene that has been linked to autism is AUTS2. AUTS2 has been shown to be disrupted in more than 30 individuals with ASDs, both in coding and noncoding sequences (regions of the gene that do not encode for protein). However, its function remains largely unknown. We show here that AUTS2 is important for neuronal development in zebrafish. In addition, we characterize potential AUTS2 regulatory elements (DNA sequences that instruct genes as to where, when, and at what levels to turn on) that reside in noncoding regions that are mutated in ASD individuals. AUTS2 was also shown to be implicated in human evolution, having several regions where its human sequence significantly changed when compared to Neanderthals and non-human primates. Here, we identified four mouse enhancers within these evolving regions, two of which are expressed in the brain.

Author Summary

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders that affect 1 in 88 individuals in the United States. Many gene mutations have been associated with autism; however, they explain only a small part of the genetic cause for this disorder. One gene that has been linked to autism is AUTS2. AUTS2 has been shown to be disrupted in more than 30 individuals with ASDs, both in coding and noncoding sequences (regions of the gene that do not encode for protein). However, its function remains largely unknown. We show here that AUTS2 is important for neuronal development in zebrafish. In addition, we characterize potential AUTS2 regulatory elements (DNA sequences that instruct genes as to where, when, and at what levels to turn on) that reside in noncoding regions that are mutated in ASD individuals. AUTS2 was also shown to be implicated in human evolution, having several regions where its human sequence significantly changed when compared to Neanderthals and non-human primates. Here, we identified four mouse enhancers within these evolving regions, two of which are expressed in the brain.