If both parents are autistic or neurodivergent, then it's likely our son can be too?

[Vesuvius87]

It wasn't until my later adulthood years that I've realized there were signs of neurodiversion within me. Many years ago, this has caused misunderstanding among people, getting emotionally bullied during my early school years, a harder time forming friendships as well as losing acquaintances (never progression to close friendship level) after an argument and had few tolerant friends. Maybe a couple people were intially interested in me but fewer understood me. My mother said I was already diagnosed by a doctor as toddler (but another told her no, other wasn't sure); telling her I had autistic traits, there was no cure but it was a mild level. They told her that as an adult, I would still be able to function in society, have more self-control over those traits and go to school.

My younger brother has been officially diagnosed last year too. He's also a mild version but with depression and anxiety too. Ever since becoming more aware of my different cognitive process, I'm able to notice others with similar condition. I'm noticing my husband shows signs of neurodiversion too but like me, is a mild version. If this might be inherited (my mother had me in her early 20's so it's not due to age), then our son can be one too? He's now 15 months old and is progress is within the age range. The teachers in his early stimulation classes said he's doing good at this age. He's walking, playing with or throwing toys, blabbing that sounds like he's trying to form words, pointing to the picture of daddy (who will come in Nov) when I asked him where daddy is, respond to his name, etc. But since it's early to tell yet, our son can still be within the spectrum too?

Updates

1 mo

I love my husband if he's within the spectrum too. Even better since we can understand each other better. My only concern is with our son. We want a better upbringing for him. He don't want him to understand bullying at school later on nor struggling socializing with people. That's the issue.

[Account]

Yes, your son can still be autistic. It is very likely he will be, but it is not guaranteed. Why would that be a negative thing and why are you solely focusing on the negative aspects of it?
The condition has both pros and cons.
Let me reiterate, why do you think your son will have the exact same experiences as you did solely based on the fact that you are autistic and he might be autistic too?
Do you think that all the neurodivergent people have the exact same experiences? Why are you already worried over something that hasn't even happened or might never happen?

[Vesuvius87]

It's not really a negative trait by itself. It just means we process and might interpret things different than a neurotypical (allistic) individual. Though we still only make up 1-3% of the global population and can cause issues with people that judge us too quickly, without understanding it's not our fault we were born differently. I do agree there are positive aspects too and some of them are highly intellectuals. Not all neurodivergents have the same traits nor act the same. For instance, I'm not sensitive to light nor sounds. It's just to that perhaps to any parent, we want our son to have better experiences, better upbrining and not go through similar things we went through nor other hardships. I want the best for him. If someone wanted me the wish that he'll be free from any problem in life I would take it without hesitation but yeah that's not possible. All I can do is raise him better than my parents raise us and hope for the best for him.

[Account]

I know it is not a negative thing, it can have its own difficulties, but apart from it being a burden, it can also be a blessing too. As for your son I am sure your child will be fine and he will thrive in his life since he has parents that love him and support him. Everything else is manageable.

[Anonymous]

Spectrum isn’t real. It’s a self diagnosed joke by people who had enough free time to be depressed or whatever

[Opinion Owner]

It’s proven statistically , people who studied science and engineering don’t have autism , it’s the lousy fashion / arts graduates who ramble this nonsense

[loveslongnails]

I am not a geneticist, so I don't have a valid opinion to offer. From the little I know, traits can skip generations or re-manifest in all subsequent generations.

[Vesuvius87]

True. Hopefully it skips him but in case our son shows signs of it, the good news is with all this information available nowadays and openly talked about, we can handle this better than in the past. Fewer people knew about this back then.

[loveslongnails]

All true.

[Bklynbadboy12]

Its likely that anyone could be

[Vesuvius87]

True. Nowadays having autistic traits (even mild ones) isn't that bad. It's now openly talked about.

[Vesuvius87]

It's no longer a taboo subject like back then.

[jahaims]

Google is free

[Vesuvius87]

I like hearing opinions from people too.