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Chances of having another child with ASD

Gtwill

Hi, i would like to know what the chances are of having another child on the autistic spectrum! I have a 9 year old daughter to my previous relationship who does not have autism and I have a son who is 4 who is on the autistic spectrum and me and my partner are considering having another child (my 3rd) but are slightly concerned of the chances of it been autistic , which my god I would still love the child dearly and would cherish it but don't know if we could cope with 2 children with ASD and concerned of how my son will cope with another sibling. 

Anyone found any latest research on the chances of another child been on the spectrum, any reply would be much appreciated. 

Thanks 

  • That link was very useful thank you very much

  • Yes a very complex question , Iv done research on the chances but it's just making me very unsure, a suppose it's a chance i take and I will never know until I have another child but don't want to decide not to as I'l always be wondering "would him or her have had autism"! I'm still learning myself on ASD its such a complex disorder. Iv also read that it does a child with ASD good to have siblings but also worried that he can't cope with a new addition to the family

  • Hi Gtwill, as you might imagine, this is a very complex question. The fact is that autism is rather an umbrella term for a variety of similar conditions, meaning that a genetic cause is not currently known or understood in the vast majority of cases (current research is still trying to find the link to the most easily traceable physical characteristics).

    As such, it is simply not possible at the present time to determine whether your next child (if you decide to have one) will have any autistic traits. However, please bear in mind that there are a fair number of families reported in various scientific literature who have only one profoundly autistic offspring (these are known as cases of 'simplex autism').

    A google search of this term shows a variety of links, including:

    www.autism.org.uk/.../genetics.aspx