Guest,999,
I promise you that when all is known your genes had little or nothing to do with your daughter's autism. IIt took a while but my nephew has figured that out for himself.
Greg,
Autism was not a diagnosed illness when I was a child. I agree. My observation is that there were bno children exhibiting the extreme symptoms of autism we see commonly today. I lived in a small community where a birth was commonly celebrated. Occasionally, Down's Syndrome appeared. But no children in school or in the neighborhood exhibited the behaviors of autistic children we see everywhere today. AND no babies suddenly disappeared. Sever autism as we know it today did not exist. At least not in the NYC neighborhood where I grew up.
A child who flapped or rocked or did not speak would have been noticed. Again, I remember several children with Down's Syndrome and several with cerebral palsy.