Autistic 3 yo/ 4 yo with Asperger's

[Silkirene]

I'm a 25 yo mom of two boys. My sons have both been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. My 4 yo was diagnosed as having Asperger's Syndrome. The 3 yo has recently been diagnosed with Autism. They have different dads. How common is it that children in one family with different biological backgrounds have the same disorder (same spectrum)? I have no history in my family of Autism, nor does the dad(s). Does anyone else have children with these disorders, and if so, does the sibling also have the same spectrum disorder? I've found that not many families have these problems. Luckily, I've had a tubal and can not have any more children. I wonder if I had another child, would they also have these problems or worse?

Thanks!
amber

[Bethintx]

My older son wad dx'd with asbergers (but he's very high functioning, if it wasn't for our schools testing him for it, We wouldn't have known). My younger son is typical autistic.

Neither side of our family has been dx'd with autism, but now that I know more I see symptoms in my sisters, my dad and cousins.

The Mayo Clinic also had an article about the frequency of people with Manic Depression or Bi-polar diease in the same families of autistics. My sister is bi-polar.

The cause of autism is still a mystery, but there are more hints being found every day.

Food allergies, genetics, environmental factors all have shown some clues.
I read somewhere(I'm sorry about not knowing my sources, I'm going from memory here!) that there is a high instance autistic children were deliverd by enduced labor.

I don't think any one factor is the cause. Its the combination of things.

Like Rita Rudner said , " you mix flour and water to get glue. You add sugar and some other stuff and get cake! Where did the glue go?"
My anaology, most people are glue, autistic people are cake!

Bethintx