Autism question

[5knights3maidens]

I have been wondering. How many people here have a dd that is autistic or on the autism spectrum? I have noticed/read that it is more in boys but have been wondering if that is going to change in the near future.

[Niffercoo]

I have a daughter who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when she was 3.5.

 

I believe it is misdiagnosed or missed completely in girls. Perhaps as knowledge of ASDs increases, that will change. I do know that the same symptoms in my daughter provoke much different reactions from adults and peers than it did for my son. People tend to want to baby my daughter and protect her. With my son, people told me he needed a good spanking and it was seen as a problem.

[katalaska]

My 8.5yo dd was given the educational identification of autism when she was 4. By the time she was 5 that designation was taken away. However, when I read the descriptions in the book Asperger's Syndrome in Young Children by Laurie Leventhal-Belfer and Cassandra Coe, I see that my dd had many, many of the "red flags" they list.

 

Just this week she was diagnosed with the very ambiguous "language disorder" (and we're looking in the direction of auditory processing disorder, too). She's definitely socially and emotionally immature as well.

 

Since my nephew is severly autistic and my father-in-law is very Asperger-ish I'm guessing my dd probably really IS on the spectrum but has made so much progress that now she has "earned" a different variety of labels.

 

I agree with Niffercoo that the girls are seen differently... My daughter has some peers (but no friends, really) who at least tolerate her social/emotional/language difficulties. And while some of her behaviors provoked glares, etc. when she was younger people do seem to be more patient with her (than, say, with my nephew). Also, she seems to have an unusual affinity for and ability to relate to my nephew and I have to wonder if it's because they have similarities. I know that as my sister-in-law and I swap stories, there are lots of common threads even though her experiences with her son are probably more difficult than my experiences with my daughter. The two of us relate because I've got a lot of BTDT and she's still right there doing it.

 

That probably doesn't help much and just muddies the waters... :001_smile:

[Laurie]

My dd has HFA.

[hsmamainva]

My youngest daughter has autism and she wasn't diagnosed until she was 3 1/2 ... everyone dismissed it because 'it's more prevalent in boys'. She was also very affectionate and attached to us and because she wasn't 'in her own little world', they said that it couldn't be autism.

 

I have found that my daughter is more severely affected by autism than my older son (who has high functioning autism). Her delays are more pronounced than his were ... for instance, he was able to have a conversation with you by the time he was 5 or so...my daughter is 6 1/2 and still can't do that and she has the speech abilities of a 3 1/2 year old. My son was potty trained by 4 -- my daughter is still not potty trained at 6 1/2. My daughter has alot more sensory issues; she's very routine-oriented and has to have things 'just so', whereas my son had a few things he didn't like, and would avoid, but they didn't really affect his day-to-day life

[Hebrews3:13]

based on a LOT of reading is that yes, it probably will occur more and more in girls as time goes by.

 

Face it we live on a toxic planet and that stuff (chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides) is in our food, our water- you name it. Add to that medications (have you read the latest information on medications found present in our waterways- runoff from sewage)- yikes! The fish are going to stop reproducing with all the birth control hormones in the water. That scares me to death. What water is safe?

 

Ok, then don't get me started on the vaccinations. I don't care what has been proven or hasn't been proven by science- my son got 5 shots in one day and was never the same. If you just read the rap sheet of ingredients in these things that is enough for me. FYI, everyone out there mercury (thimerasol) is STILL in the shots- check the CDC site on info for the flu shot they are now pushing for all children this year. Vaccines have helped people, but this is not how they were intended to be. Smear me with some pox pus and I'll take my chances.

 

I think Dr. Amy Yasko has some interesting things to say genetic wise on autism. It seems less girls (at this point) are affected, but in general are then more severe than many boys. My 2nd son is pretty bad and we are going on 5 with no language and no potty training and at times some severe tantrums.

 

When I had my youngest daughter I lived in paralyzing fear for the first 2 years. I was holding my breath for every milestone to come. Now, she has long since surpassed son #2 in develop and for all intents and purposes seems very normal (not even sensory issues!) except for the speech delay, although she is catching up by leaps and bounds there too.

 

BTW, anyone else read the study in yesterdays paper about the genes they have identified related to autism? Very interesting that the parents had the same genes in some of the children, but no autism. That proves there is an environmental trigger IMO. They used a very similar gene pool- going to the middle east to find families where cousins often marry, still they said the genes were vastly different.

[Guest ratherbegardening]

Hi! I'm new to these boards. I have 3 girls and I suspect the middle one is somewhere on the spectrum. Talking halted and regressed significantly after her MMR. We were really worried that she was going deaf, but that wasn't it. Then someone told me about auditory processing disorder, and it opened up a whole new line of research into all kinds of things like SID, autism, etc. We're currently on a waiting list to get her diagnosed, but in the meantime have done a lot of work at home, taken her off gluten & casein (after casein was gone she was potty trained in two days...but the week going off of it was something to be reckoned with as far as behaviours). After we put her on a probiotic her sentances increased from 2 words to 7-10 words within 1 week. I know this sounds crazy, but it's what happened. Her eye contact returned for awhile and everything. It has plateaued since then and learning new things is extremely difficult. I just felt I couldn't wait for a diagnosis (as it take nearly a year just to get in to the doctor) so we started trying everythng within reason to help. There has got to be hope out there, and yes, I've met many more boys with autism than girls, but I think it will increase since our diets, and environment are not getting better. But I think there is hope, since there are still places in the world where it's not as prevelant as it is here.

[Holly IN]

I have a dd with autism.

 

Holly

[summer]

Depending on where it is on the spectrum, I have read with full blown autism, it is 3 to 1 boys to girls but with aspergers, it can be up to 15 to 1 boys to girls.

[sandellie4]

We have autism in our family. Two of ours, both girls, have Asperger's. One was diagnosed at age 12 and the other at 13. I think it's not nearly as recognizable in girls as in boys, because the "symptoms" are based more on boys' or boy-like behavior. Neither of my girls does things like obsess about video games or build robots, so my concerns were always dismissed. The doctor who diagnosed our girls said that she's noticed that girls who have Asperger's tend to obsess on things that aren't as obvious (except maybe dogs, which is kind of obvious). One of mine does obsess about dogs, so we have adopted two dogs in addition to the one we already had. But the other one obsesses about relationships. I don't mean like a lot of girls do, but I mean waaaay overboard. For example, in social group, she once saw a boy taunting a girl by holding a toy over her head. She analyzed this for months and months, discussing in excruiciating detail every aspect of the incident, whether or not it was a dominant/submissive game, etc., etc. It was mind blowing for all of us. It just wouldn't GO AWAY. Still today, 2 years later, the subject will come up if there is a "trigger" in the grocery store or something, if she sees similar dynamics between two people.

[tonygirl]

We have Autism in our family as well 3 boys 1 girl with PDD (NOS) traits and un professional dx husband