Interesting autism conversation with co-worker ...

kylara111

First I want to say that I know very little about autism.  I've read about it some but its not something I really understand or have first-hand knowledge with.  So, I have a new co-worker who is very nice but seems a little odd.  We never thought much of it because we're engineers and there are plenty of odd engineers.  So he came to ask me a question and we started talking about family.  He has a son with asbergers (sp?) and a son with autism.  Though he's never been diagnosed (he's in his 50s) he believes he has some form of it as well. 

I asked him his theories on what causes it.  He said he believes family history (several people in his family have it including possibly his great-grandfather), age of father (he was in his late 40s) when his first child was born among other things like environmental factors.  He does not believe it has to do with mercury although he does believe its best to strech out vaccination schedules.

He is a Mensa member and we started talking about how smart but how very strange other members he knew were and he wondered if they might have autism.  Its interesting because I think of some of the engineers I went to college with years ago who were brilliant but so strange.  Makes me wonder if some of those people would be diagnosed with some form of autism these days.

 We talked about his younger son and that almost made me cry because he's 11 and very smart but he just doesn't understand why he's different.  His dad knows what he's going through and seems to be so sweet and supportive about it.

I don't want to start a debate or anything.  I just though someone else might find the conversation as interesting as I did.

 

august0605bride

I just read an article about autism in engineers and scientists-- very interesting

kylara111

august0605bride:

I just read an article about autism in engineers and scientists-- very interesting

Honestly, its something I never really thought about but it totally makes sense to me.  Where did you see the article?

august0605bride

It was in my paper, but it was an AP story-- you could probably google it. ?It was talking about how children whose parents are both scientists/engineers have a higher instance

AZ_Erica

DH and I are engineers as well, and I have often thought the same thing. I also read an article about engineers/scientists having autistic children and really some of the attributes that make a great engineer are what they are now saying are signs of the autism spectrum.

Brewster

They did a study awhile back and the #1 occupation of parents of children with autism was engineering. 

I agree with pretty much everything he thinks, as an educator of those with autism.  I think they have proven a genetic link, although that is not the sole cause.  I believe there are environmental factors as well.

joseysbride

Dh and I are both engineers as well, and dh has a sister who is autistic.  We have talked about this a lot as well.  If anyone could provide links to the articles you've read, I would be really interested to read them.

From knowing my SIL, and all that I've read and researched about autism, I personally believe that some children have a genetic predisposition to autism, and it is triggered.  What the triggers are, I don't know, but I do believe that vaccinations can be one trigger.  I also believe that it isn't curable, but it can be managed through different treatments.  Of course, I am no expert, that's just my opinion.

kylara111

august0605bride:

It was in my paper, but it was an AP story-- you could probably google it.  It was talking about how children whose parents are both scientists/engineers have a higher instance

Thanks, I'll have to look for it.

DH and I are both engineers also.  One thing I forgot to mention is that my co-worker also has a DD who is not autistic and it only appears to have affected the boys in his family.  He also mentioned that Newton, Einstein and possibly Bill Gates are believed to have Aspergers.

kylara111

joseysbride:

Dh and I are both engineers as well, and dh has a sister who is autistic.  We have talked about this a lot as well.  If anyone could provide links to the articles you've read, I would be really interested to read them.

From knowing my SIL, and all that I've read and researched about autism, I personally believe that some children have a genetic predisposition to autism, and it is triggered.  What the triggers are, I don't know, but I do believe that vaccinations can be one trigger.  I also believe that it isn't curable, but it can be managed through different treatments.  Of course, I am no expert, that's just my opinion.

I asked him what he thought about Jenny McCarthy and he said he doesn't believe her son is cured but he does believe food has an affect.  He said his son can't have dairy or he goes nuts.

buffalo_buckeye

Interesting.  There is a very common genetic disease called Fragile X that typically affects boys and is often confused with autism.  Have his boys been tested for that?  Just curious.

This is interesting to me b/c my dad is a member of mensa and intel and didn't walk until he was 18months-2 years old.  Everyone laughs at how 'behind' he was with walking, but yet is this genius.  He had me pretty late in life (in his early 40's).  So far I think I'm fine   but interestingly enough, I am a 'scientist' and my husband is an enginer.   I think the findings have significance, but more that there is a fine line or one that crosses between 'genius and autism', (and maybe that is what you are saying too)...

  Oh and I agree 100% with pp that I think it is genetic with a 'trigger' such as vaccines, or an illness but it is not really preventable or curable.

 

https://spectrum.ieee.org/oct06/4665

I found this link...

Eddy1

august0605bride:

I just read an article about autism in engineers and scientists-- very interesting

I read somewhere that Microsoft has one of the highest group health insurance costs because so many of its employees and family members have forms of autism. There definately is a link between very brillant people and the disease.

kylara111

-auntie-:

Meh.

I have a son with Aspergers and I moderate a well known international support and information board for AS and HFA.

 

There are all manner of theories about how and why autism. My spin is that what is being called autism may be, in fact, a number of different things that present similarly. For some folks there may be an underlying mitochondrial disorder that reacts to an environmental trigger and causes the autistic-like symptoms. For others I'm certain it is a heritable condition. I personally have never met a child on spectrum who didn't have a parent or other close relative who themselves had autistic traits to some milder degree. Often this milder degree of "affectedness" lends itself to a career where their bend as systematic thinkers can be best utilized.

 

There has been a link made to the age of the father, and most kids I know come by their autism on their dads side. These days though, I know a number of mothers who have Aspergers whose kids also do. I'm also seeing more links published between prematurity and autism. I have heard of 3 families in the last 6 months in which one of their triplets has been diagnosed with a form of autism.

 

Ten years ago I would have agreed that most kids I know on spectrum where the offspring of engneers and scientists,  but this is no longer the case. I think this was more a function of the child having intelligent, well educated parents with excellent insurance benefits advocating on their behalf. These days I'm seeing more kids who are the children of single moms, who have artists and musicians for parents and even military parents. When my son was dx'd I didn't know a single kids with autism whose parents weren't college educated, today I know hundreds.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Miss October, her son seems more impacted than my does at first glance. She also does not pay much credit to ABA and the other mainstream interventions her son received in her interviews though she does him her book. There may be a small percentage of kids who are helped by the GFCF diet, but I have never personally met one who was what I would consider "cured".

 

Its all very interesting to me.  Like I said, I have no personal experience with it other than what I've heard.  Its just something I never considered in people I encountered in work or school literally until this man sat in front of me today and gave me his opinion, background and experience.  We did agree that its such a mystery and there are so many things that it could be.  I wondered if with all the attention that they might find a cure or a cause in the near future.  He said that it might be like cancer where its many diseases lumped into one label so it might not be that simple.  If that's the case, its unfortunate.

Oh, and I didn't mean to imply that these ideas are universal or anything.  This was just my co-workers experience and opinion.  It was just interesting to me to talk to someone in his 50s that has so much experience with it.  You seem to have a lot of exposure to people like him but that's not the case for me.