Published on 12, July, 2020
The article linked below suggests that the children of older parents may be more likely to be autistic. It caught my eye because my dad was almost 50 when I was born and his own father was a similar age when my dad was born.
I’ve always assumed that it just took them longer to have families because they too were autistic (my dad certainly was) but the article suggests that older parents accumulate more mutations which they pass to their children.
Were your parents older when they had you?
https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/link-parental-age-autism-explained/
My parents were 29 and 33, having married in 1949. I have always suspected that my mother was autistic, but she would not have been diagnosed as a child as there was no NHS and many people just couldn't afford to see a doctor. In mid-to-late life she showed a lot of ASC symptoms and received repeated treatment for anxiety, burnout and shutdown; all, of course, behind closed doors lest the neighbours should find out.
Ben
I should add that I wasn't diagnosed until age 67.
That's great! Really hope it was a positive life changing experience for you. I was diagnosed in my teens, it was confusing and at the time I wasn't sure how to feel about it but now I'm an adult I'm so glad I know I'm autistic and feel a lot happier in myself.
There's only one thing that makes me regularly consider leaving this forum, and it's the posts from people about their partners and children, which just make me feel 100 times worse about myself. If I could have been given guidance during that most important time for our social development, it might have transformed my life.
It wouldn't just be guidance about communication but about social behaviour. For example, one of the things I did in my late teens in an effort to fit in was to copy how others dressed but that just made me look silly. Someone quietly telling me that it was an understandable strategy but just stop it, you're making it worse... would have been helpful.
Amerantin (former member) said: I think we could have mandatory classes in socialisation and self presentation for all teenagers. Then people like me could have benefited without the need for a label.
I understand what you mean, but wouldn’t that just lead to harmful conformity?
By having these types of classes made you could harmfully enforce that there is only right way to socialise which obviously is not true. Alternatively, these classes could also include an introduction to neurodiversity and therefore discuss different communication styles too.
Ah....an early adopter! Impressive. My jading became apparent in 2006-8 and I was awarded my full stripes as a major general b'tard in about 2016.
No need to worry about that, I was a jaded old b-tard by the age of 16.
Yes, in principle, I agree....but in practice (re: mandatory classes)?
Finding your way as a teenager must be ABSOLUTE hell these days, whether you are NT or ND.
Being a teacher these days must be unimaginably hard?
Plonking 30 kids in a classroom and telling them that you are going to teach them how to self-present and socialise with each other.....I can't see how that it going to result in anything tangibly useful. Or, maybe I'm just a jaded old b-tard?
Many articles about adjustments for neurodivergent people point out that the adjustments would help everyone else too. In that vein, I think we could have mandatory classes in socialisation and self presentation for all teenagers. Then people like me could have benefited without the need for a label.
In terms of my ability to work, I agree sometime in my 30s would definitely have been a good time to understand why I kept having to retreat to the office bathroom to recover.