To ask parents of autistic children...?

[AlmostAWife]

*Name changed for this
When did you start to think they might be on the spectrum, and why?
What were your signs?

Thank you

Eh? Because it's not something that can be seen on scan or MRI it's offensive to say there is a difference in the brain of an autistic person? That's really reaching. There IS a difference. Clearly. Yes it'd make diagnosis easier but that's about it.

Is behaviour not evidence of brain difference then? what else causes it?. I know I lack some kind of mechanism for socialising (among other things). I'm sure many autistic people would agree with me. As it's genetic in my family (three generations diagnosed) I am pretty certain we are wired differently because of our genetics

But we know because of scanning there are visible differences in the brains of some of those who are one the spectrum.

Just the same that in some cases there are visible differences found when an autopsy has been done.

Dd1 was hard work from day one, she hated people holding her, she rarely slept and struggled with textures when we weened her. She then developed phobias, some were so bad ( fear of women ) then it made it hard to go anywhere, when she was 2 I put her in nursery, they couldn't cope with her crying at everything and everyone, one day I went to pick her up and she was shut inside crying at the door whilst everyone played outside, I pulled her out of the nursery and took her to the GP, we were told to expect a diagnosis of Aspergers, 18 months later we got the dx.

Dd2 was a easy going baby, totally different than dd1, she would lie in her bouncy chair quite happily for hours just looking around the room, she rarely cried and she slept quite well, I was sure she was NT until we went for her 2 year check up and the gp referred her for assessment, the gp said she didn't respond correctly to being examined and dd2 was still non verbal. We were shocked, we just thought she wasn't speaking because her sister would never shut up. 10 months later dd was diagnosed with autism, speech delay and SPD. She is more severely autistic than her sister but we didn't see the signs.

zzzzz, some of the studies Ive read used a control group of those who aren't on the spectrum as a comparison.

I suspected DS had autism at 12 months (got diagnosed at 18 months).

Signs were poor eye contact, no pointing, no waving, no interest in baby classes, no bringing me toys or things to show me, throwing my hand at things he wanted, no words until 19 months, opening and closing doors obsessively, inconsistent responding to name, lack of comprehension and lack of imaginative play.

We started ABA at 20 months and he has come on leaps and bounds in the last three months. In my opinion, early intervention is key.

OP - my advice to you, if you can afford it, is to make an appointment to see Dr Daphne Keen for an assessment. She is one of the UK's top autism consultants and has a particularly good reputation for diagnosing hard-to-diagnose girls.

Zzzzz, just google it, there's load out there with particular reference to the Amygdala and Hippocampus.

The Amygdala is my particular area of interest and over the last few years its figured highly in my reading.

Yes. It would be a huge advantage but since it's not possible it's a moot point. It still doesn't make the fact that there is a difference between the brain function of an autistic person and a non autistic person, offensive. Really.

And just to add, there is even evidence of differences in brain structure between those who like my son who are on the spectrum and have an intellectual disability and those who are on the spectrum and high functioning.

No, I can't sorry, not right now.

I would have to get up and go down to the office and trawl through another computer.

It really shouldn't be hard for you to find the links yourself because there is just so many of them.

Zzzzz, Im not in the Uk and Im settled down for the night.

Sorry pressed enter to soon.

Something that does surprise me though is that you need the links. How can you argue the point you are trying to make if you need someone else to link you to studies that clearly show that when examined alongside a control group physical differences of the brain are apparent in some of those who are on the spectrum?

Out of curiosity, if there's no evidence of brain difference, then what, in your opinion zzzzz is the cause? Do you think it's genetics? I am interested as we have no autism present on either side yet our son has a diagnosis of classic autism and is (in the main) non verbal. Just wondered what other schools of thought there are. This is really interesting

I think there are a whole different bunch of factors all diagnosed as autism at the moment. Even on this thread, there are those with kids who regressed and those who didnt. Thats just tip of the iceberg

My son's old consultant used to say "A fascination with 'Mary Poppins' should be a diagnostic criteria!"

He watched that over and over. He never sang along - but loved it. Something about that world. Later, he got obsessed with other films. These days, he just adores 'Game of Thrones' and can tell you everything about it.

Which is a huge improvement on Mary Bloody Poppins.

Love it! We have a lego movie obsession at the moment

Oh, lego... Maybe there is something in the idea of genetic predisposition, as my non dyspraxic, non autistic son has had a lifelong obsession with Lego. He's 19 now and does it secretly in his holidays from uni...

The autistic son colour coded his entire colection of bricks, and put the HUNDREDS of minifigs in a drawer... standing in neat lines. They literally look like those Chinese clay warriors... Autism has its uses.

The 21 year old still shows his autism - he refuses to have the TV volume on an odd number. He gets really upset. Sometimes we put it on odd numbers when he went out of the room, just to get it out of our systems!

LOLOL at Joffrey and family getting the old tv numbers out of their system. Im sure we've all had our wee private moments. :)

My son was a lego fanatic and he was able to do the architectural one of the Eiffel Tower just by looking at the picture on the box, and if our ladder wasn't to heavy for me to carry I'd post pictures of the tens and tens and tens of lego sets we have in the tops of the store cupboards. My grandchildren have a field day with them and a friend who's grandson is also on the spectrum is satisfying his obsession with it by helping herself to them.

We also went through the Thomas stage for years and years and my grandchildren now use the sets, the rest we gave away because my son for some reason turned against them and wouldnt have them in the house. I think he had a moment of realisation one day and it hurt him so they had to go.

He now likes big train sets, those Christmas kind of train sets, and he gets one for Christmas every year. Sometimes it lives on his bedroom or 'office' floor for months and we all have to tip toe around it - then one day its gone.

He also does Jigsaws, very complex jigsaws of 1000 - 1500 pieces and we now limit him to a few sessions a day in order to not let it become an obsession but he still gets through one every 5-7 days. I have a store room full of framed jigsaws that we rotate throughout the house as his artwork, people like them and quite often they get taken down from the wall and put in the back of their car - does anyone want one or two or 5 of them??????