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Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

nature.com

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Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#11

Post by SubiculumCode »

JPKab wrote: post #7

Something that has struck out to me for many years now is the rather striking lack of reporting on the incredibly strong correlation between parental (both maternal/paternal) age at time of conception and ASM. My nephew is autistic. He is my sister's youngest, and is 10 years younger than his sibling. This isn't a coincidence. Parents who have their children in their mid 30s and later are orders of magnitude more lik…

Paternal (not maternal) age is highly correlated with ne novo mutations, a portion of which are associated with autism, depending on the location of the mutation. Perhaps this is less well known among news reporters, but among autism researchers, paternal age is often considered as an important factor, and is well accepted in that respect.

Edit: I am a post-doc at the autism institute at which this research was conducted. While I am not associated with this research, Judy does solid, impactful research, and I know beyond a doubt that she is aware of the association between autism and de novo mutations in older fathers.

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#12

Post by waheoo »

adaml_623 wrote: post #9
macksd wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a movement to reframe things like autism as neurodiversity rather than strictly a disorder. I suppose the emphasis in that case would instead be on things people can do well, not what they do wrong by everyone else's standard.

It definitely feels like that redefinition would be a difficult thing to use for any practical purpose. Death redefined as a situation where people continue to have the ability to occupy space and don't require any food or oxygen.

Dead people don't have higher income insurance premiums. The neurodiverse do because they're more likely to have problems holding down a job.... Because people keep perpetuating a society that punishes difference.

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#13

Post by trhway »

macksd wrote: post #5
rsstack wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An honest question: is there a Positive or even neutral one-line summary of ASD?

There's a movement to reframe things like autism as neurodiversity rather than strictly a disorder. I suppose the emphasis in that case would instead be on things people can do well, not what they do wrong by everyone else's standard.

"Neurodiversity" does sound like a thing to be encouraged, or at least not to be avoided/minimized. Do we really want more autism?

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#14

Post by adaml_623 »

JPKab wrote: post #7

Something that has struck out to me for many years now is the rather striking lack of reporting on the incredibly strong correlation between parental (both maternal/paternal) age at time of conception and ASM. My nephew is autistic. He is my sister's youngest, and is 10 years younger than his sibling. This isn't a coincidence. Parents who have their children in their mid 30s and later are orders of magnitude more lik…

Lots of discussions about the multiple birth thing. Medical research too.

https://consumer.healthday.com/disabilities-information-11/c...

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/02/doctors-urge...

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#15

Post by rsstack »

DanBC wrote: post #10
rsstack wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An honest question: is there a Positive or even neutral one-line summary of ASD?

We could re-write > Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by [...] restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. as > ASD is characterized by an ability to focus intently on an area of special interest, developing an unusually detailed level of knowledge of that topic. There's always a tension with efforts to depathologise things, because some people do need support and the way they get support at the mome…

> ASD is characterized by an ability to focus intently on an area of special interest, developing an unusually detailed level of knowledge of that topic.

However, this is not true. It doesn't apply to all people with ASD. I volunteered with adults with ASD about ten years ago. One person in the group really had a special interest fixation (a person), but he didn't know more than the average person would know after reading a single biography. He was barely able to read or remember complex facts, so I don't think he had the ability to develop an unusually detailed level of knowledge of that topic or any other. The rest didn't have any memorable interests, but I guess it's also possible that it wasn't cultivated in them.

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#16

Post by [deleted] »

JPKab wrote: post #7

Something that has struck out to me for many years now is the rather striking lack of reporting on the incredibly strong correlation between parental (both maternal/paternal) age at time of conception and ASM. My nephew is autistic. He is my sister's youngest, and is 10 years younger than his sibling. This isn't a coincidence. Parents who have their children in their mid 30s and later are orders of magnitude more lik…

[deleted]

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#17

Post by alisonkisk »

SubiculumCode wrote: post #11
JPKab wrote: post #7

Something that has struck out to me for many years now is the rather striking lack of reporting on the incredibly strong correlation between parental (both maternal/paternal) age at time of conception and ASM. My nephew is autistic. He is my sister's youngest, and is 10 years younger than his sibling. This isn't a coincidence. Parents who have their children in their mid 30s and later are orders of magnitude more lik…

Paternal (not maternal) age is highly correlated with ne novo mutations, a portion of which are associated with autism, depending on the location of the mutation. Perhaps this is less well known among news reporters, but among autism researchers, paternal age is often considered as an important factor, and is well accepted in that respect. Edit: I am a post-doc at the autism institute at which this research was condu…

And "Advanced Maternal Age" is extremely well known among mothers (in broad strokes if not technical details), who have generational experience with the issue.

Of course gynecologists are also well aware.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/getting-pregnan...

It's a little bit disconcerting to see men pontificating about things they discovered that women already know quite well.

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#18

Post by alisonkisk »

tokai wrote: post #4
nicoburns wrote: post #2

> Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by social and behavioral impairments, along with restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. This seems like a very negative view of autism.

Seems neutral to me. If there wasn't any impairment it wouldn't be a subject for medical psychiatry.

"behavioral impairment" is a social judgement, not a biological flaw.

Homosexuality was long considered a psychiatric disorder, so be careful putting blind faith in psychiatric judgements.

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#19

Post by danielheath »

trhway wrote: post #13
macksd wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a movement to reframe things like autism as neurodiversity rather than strictly a disorder. I suppose the emphasis in that case would instead be on things people can do well, not what they do wrong by everyone else's standard.

"Neurodiversity" does sound like a thing to be encouraged, or at least not to be avoided/minimized. Do we really want more autism?

Autism is an extremely broad term. At one extreme, those who will never speak and spend their lives enraged by being unable to communicate. At the other, a very substantial fraction of the worlds finest science & engineering minds.

I wouldn't mind a few more of the latter.

Re: Mother's blood test predicts a sub-type of autism

#20

Post by alisonkisk »

DanBC wrote: post #10
rsstack wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An honest question: is there a Positive or even neutral one-line summary of ASD?

We could re-write > Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by [...] restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. as > ASD is characterized by an ability to focus intently on an area of special interest, developing an unusually detailed level of knowledge of that topic. There's always a tension with efforts to depathologise things, because some people do need support and the way they get support at the mome…

Even more neutral would be to call it Autism Spectrum or Autism Spectrum Condition, not "Disorder".

"Disorder" is a medical term for "badness", especially weird to apply to a condition that is notable for its extreme mental... orderliness.

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