Do the children of siblings of people with Asperger Syndrome present a similar or greater risk of developing autism in respect to those with classic autism?
There are few data published on this issue which could allow us to address this question. At this point in time, it seems that Asperger Syndrome and Autism breed true in families and in many ongoing studies, investigators have found families who have for instance two affected siblings, one with autism and one with Asperger Disorder. There is also evidence from some family studies that Asperger Disorder clusters in families and that the risk of Asperger Disorder in the relatives of Asperger Disorder children is raised significantly. The risk for the offspring of the sibling of a child with Asperger Disorder will depend upon the own developmental history of the sibling (whether or not he/she has had developmental problems or not) and with whom he marries. The risk for the offspring to have either Asperger Syndrome or classical Autism cannot be precisely estimated.
