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Bennet May 8, 2024

@Tooden @PatternChaser
Neither #ADHD nor #autism is 100% heritable, so by definition there must be an environmental component to both. That could be very early environment - I think there's research about trauma in childbirth being involved - so we might still be essentially born with it. Even so, our genes shape our response to any environmental factors, and the environment shapes the way our genetics translates to phenotype, for any complex trait.

That said, it's true that ADHD is defined for diagnostic purposes as interfering with function, which might make diagnosis more sensitive to environment.

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Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷May 8, 2024

@DrMcStrange That's quite the dogmatic statement, and takes no account of either condition running in families, grandparents, parents & children. The truth is more likely to be that - through laziness, lack of curiosity, and deliberate ignorance on the part of the general psychological fraternity - Autism has remained a stagnated neurological disorder, and ADHD is believed to be a dietary disorder.
If you are going to 'cull' your opinions from the net, try to cast your net further and wider. #ActuallyAutisticElder @PatternChaser

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Bennet May 9, 2024

@Tooden @PatternChaser
I'm not culling anything from the net here (lol). I'm a statistical geneticist who works on complex diseases. I don't work on ADHD (which I've been diagnosed with recently) or autism (which I suspect I also have), and wouldn't describe either of them as a disease, but they're certainly complex traits.

ADHD is highly heritable - about 75% of variance in the trait can be attributed to genetics - but not 100%. Very few traits are 100% heritable! That means environment (in a broad sense) must be playing some part. For any complex trait, there are many genes involved, and they interact with each other and with the environment. Those interactions are really hard to untangle, even for much simpler traits! And that's before we even take into account the large overlap in genetics between ADHD and autism.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking anything is caused by *either* genes *or* environment. It's almost always a combination of the two, and it's the interactions that are crucial.

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Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷May 9, 2024

@DrMcStrange You should really take the test, then, because you are confusing behaviours with neurodiversity. Of course some is environmental. I'm a living example of environment exacerbating my Autism. It's called cPTSD.
You may ride your hobbyhorse to a standstill, but it is still an opinion based on your view. Wakefield has a view, too...as does Simon Baron-Cohen, and the # AutismSpeaks crowd. @PatternChaser

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PatternChaser

@Tooden @DrMcStrange

Simon Baron-Cohen is an acknowledged "world" expert on #autism. And, as we all know, lacking autists on his team, he gets it right about 50% of the time.

"World expert", hah! 😐

And as for #AutismSpeaks... There are no words. Violent coercion (ABA) is their thing, and it is despicable.

ABA was invented by Lovaas' team, a companion to their other invention: gay conversion! They all are Aversion Therapy, renamed and rebranded. Coercive & violent punishment for deviation.