...health problems (e.g. autistic ppl struggle to access good healthcare & good nutrition etc due to society's prejudices against us). Or, infertility may be caused by endometriosis, differences in reproductive layout etc (autistic ppl have higher hypermobility conditions that may link to those)/ - ThreadSky

annmemmott.bsky.social • 78 days ago

...health problems (e.g. autistic ppl struggle to access good healthcare & good nutrition etc due to society's prejudices against us).
Or, infertility may be caused by endometriosis, differences in reproductive layout etc (autistic ppl have higher hypermobility conditions that may link to those)/

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annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

*and, with a higher proportion of autistic people who are part of the LGBTQ+ communities, assisted reproduction will be more common.

evenicholls.bsky.social•78 days ago

I think a lot of people use IVF to mean any type of assisted reproduction, so it can just be some queer folk and a turkey bast- um, syringe. It doesn't have to mean infertility.

I don't know what proportion of actual IVF involves gamete donation, or how many donors are autistic.

annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

Dear researchers doing this stuff. Please check whether your cohort is autistic.
The main cause of autism is autistic parents having autistic children.
I know this goes against everything your ancient Professors are telling you to write in your papers, but try. Just try.
Thank you.

annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

*Reminder - we've only identified about 1 in 10 autistic people. Your adult cohort probably won't know if they are autistic. Or, may not wish to tell you. Sensitive discussions, good reliable screening tests etc are helpful.
Your Limitations section of the research paper can fill in the gaps.

annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

One day, we'll teach more students about this stuff as part of their courses, without having to rely on them finding the info by accident on social media, eh?
My own thanks to my excellent tutors, who would have given us a Very Hard Stare if we failed to consider this.

annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

I will die on the proverbial hill of "For goodness sake check whether your cohort is autistic, before declaring that product X or procedure Y or environmental factor Z 'caused' their autistic child."
It's not rocket science.

annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

Yes, some autistic children may happen from other causes, as far as we can tell.
But leaving out the potential primary factor, just about every single time, is bizarre behaviour and deeply concerning in a multi$billion industry (which autism research is...).

annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

I would argue that failure to consider whether a cohort is autistic ...combined with a relentless negative narrative about our lovely autistic people...can lead to some catastrophic results, e.g. parents too scared to take medication, too scared to have IVF, etc.
It is an ethical failure, in my view

taperoo2k.bsky.social•78 days ago

It’s all part of the make Autism seem a terrible disease (it’s not a disease) so ABA and other “treatments” can be sold to desperate parents at a huge mark up. We are a growth market worth billions. Some researchers might want in on that. Not the first time greed distorts science.

annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

There's certainly deep concerns about the relentless negative narrative and who gets an awful lot of money from peddling alleged 'cures' or 'interventions', yes. Again, a matter of ethics that seems rarely discussed in academic papers.

uofagrad97.bsky.social•74 days ago

It’s a spectrum. I know parents who genuinely need help.

zigi-now9.bsky.social•78 days ago

For me if anything, I'm encouraged to consider IVF thanks to such research. 🤭 /hj

americanabroad.bsky.social•78 days ago

Then there's the higher rate of immune dysfunction in autistic people. Immune dysfunction can affect fertility. Hopefully they're exploring that for all infertile couples.

If they want to cure anything when it comes to autistic people, they could help cure/treat immune dysfunction.

sheepdog6k.bsky.social•78 days ago

It is wild they don’t ask! With the other causes, it must also be super hard to know whether any grandparents were autistic too, considering the lack of widespread diagnosis at the time. So tests that say anything else ‘could be a cause’ may still be missing that critical part.

lukebmtb.bsky.social•78 days ago

It's becoming less of a problem but relatively few autistic people over 40 will have ever had an assesment so any researcher in the past that even asked the question "Are you autistic?" would have been misled by the answers.

yrieithydd.bsky.social•78 days ago

You could do an assessment rather than relying on a question. Though a possible answer to the question is "I've never been diagnosed but I suspect I am"

lukebmtb.bsky.social•78 days ago

Issue not problem might have been a better word.

pootissandvich.bsky.social•78 days ago

I’m autistic and I turn out OK!

It’s like being on Linux instead of windows except you can’t change it!

Both are valid mental patterns. Just as others need help in some areas I do too. They’re just different areas.

flyhuntress.bsky.social•78 days ago

Not sure why “they” haven’t gotten it yet. It’s established science that the main underlying cause of autism is inherited, whether that’s the sequence of genes or their expression via a different inherited mechanism. We’re here, we’ve been here all along and we keep making more of us!

annmemmott.bsky.social•78 days ago

Too many teams who get their funding from peddlers of profitable 'cures' and 'treatments', in some cases. In others, I sense they are never told to think for themselves and read widely.

neurallyuntypical.bsky.social•78 days ago

Autistic women commonly have issues with their periods (irregular, heavy or none at all). My mother who was undiagnosed but as far as I'm concerned autistic AF had irregular periods (sometimes going without for months) right up until she was 39 when she had me - she managed to have 2 kids already

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