There is some genetic component. I know a psychology teacher who says it skipped a generation -- her dad has it and her son has it. Once she said that, I realized my dad has it, and my son. But my sons and me and my husband got genetically tested adn didn't show any of the known autism genes. I have known many Aspies who had kids who are aspies and they love them and accommodate them even more than us neurotypicals. I can't see killing a fetus just because it had autism!!!! And I am prochoice. But why live in a country where they won't even accept difference? How does your grandson do there -- is he okay? Then his son will be. Is your grandson Japanese? If not, then he's different anyway, and his kids will be different, and will never be accepted (I teach Japanese society at the college level and have many contact there).

Actually GETTING the flu is a significant risk factor for autism -- therefore mothers SHOULD get a flu shot!http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/flu-f...(Phone number can only be seen by the question and answer creators)

I think the first thing to realize is that there are many different type of autisms - even for known genetic causes, there are about a dozen known different causes, and about a thousand SNPs that are implicated which is more about genetic susceptibility. The dozen known genetic causes may account for less than 10% of the cases. For the remaining, it may be genetic susceptibility combined with a trigger (and there could be dozens of triggers as well). For example, taking tylenol for someone who is genetic susceptibility may significant increase risk of autism (Tylenol use during pregnancy has been linked to ADHD/development delays in two large population based studies). To add even more to the complexity, one can also have epigenetics which is also implicated in autism and a new area of research - epigenetic is how genes are expressed in various parts of the bodies rather than what you are born with and epigenetic changes can apparently be inherited as well. Epigenetic changes can be caused by external trigger as well (viral, chemicals, etc).

So unless you know what is the underlying cause of your sons autism to begin with (which I highly doubt), I don't see a point to test a fetus for underlying risk. Run your son through those tests first once should they become available down the road (which may still account for a very small fraction of all the cases). In the meantime, one can easily test for the dozen or so known genetic causes, so perhaps start with that first as these can be inherited. In my opinion, it doesn't make sense to test the fetus ever (I am anti-abortion) but it does make sense to study autism risks during pregnancy (and there are about a dozen of things that one can do during pregnancy to minimize the studies risks starting with not taking tylenol, no flu shots, and lots of Vitamin D).

There is supposedly a test being worked on by some researchers in Australia that is supposed to be 72% accurate in predicting ASD: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/12...

I'm a white American who lived in Taiwan for couple of years. I'm married to a Filipina and we live in the U.S. with our mixed kids. One thing to remember is when you're living in foreign country expect to adapt somehow and know that their society won't change to accommodate you. Some countries have little to no experience with foreigners especially ones that look different. I could on and on about the reactions of shock and nervous laughter in Taiwan when people saw me but I could tolerate it as long as people didn't get violent with me.

I have a high regard for Taiwan and Taiwanese because they good folks in general and they are a highly developed country. It also taught me how it feels to be a member of a minority group and this would be a good lesson for a lot of people but the people who need it most probably won't go outside their comfort zone. I couldn't see myself staying in Taiwan for the long-term as my Chinese was pretty bad.

If your grandson chooses raise a family in Japan he already knows a lot about their culture. If it's a hardship to be mixed kid there, I hope his future wife would consider moving to the U.S. as an alternative.