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Children's health

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Is my daughter autistic or is this health related?

7 replies

ThisDreamyTurtle · 04/06/2024 06:09

Since my daughter was a baby she gets a non blanching purple dot rash (petechiae). It looks exactly the same as meningitis but isn’t.
I went to the hospital, and to the GP multiple times. Nobody gave answers.
she had a blood test around age 6, which was a full blood count and was normal.

she’s now 10, and this rash still comes and goes. She’s always been very pale looking , and she’s currently on the waiting list for an autism assessment. The reason for this is she’s anxious all the time, has sensory issues like sensitivity to loud sounds, bright lights etc, if certain textures are touching her skin she can’t concentrate and has a melt down. She has low mood a lot of the time and struggles doing normal things.
a dermatologist ignored her rashes and gave cream for her eczema. she didn’t have a rash at the appointment so they wouldn’t discuss it.

she also regularly complains her legs hurt. When she was little and first started walking she’d regularly walk funny, she had an xray and they put it down to growing pains.
and yes kids can have growing pain. But she says it almost daily! “Mum my legs really hurt”

and yes , she could be autistic! , and that’s okay. But somethings just niggling in my mind. Could any of her symptoms be linked to this rash?

it’s not even an actual skin rash , petechiae is bleeding under the skin. and doesn’t happen for no reason.

a dr told me it’s most likely viral. But she wouldn’t have had a virus since birth… this rash is there at least every few days. And it isn’t just in one place, it can be anywhere on her body.

something just isn’t sitting right with me and I can’t explain it.

does anyone else have experience with anything similar?

OP posts:
Macramepotholder · 04/06/2024 06:24

Ehlers Danos and other hypermobility disorders quite commonly co occur with autism. EDS is a tissue connectivity disorder and can show as rashes/bruising. If she is saying her legs hurt as well and is tired a lot I would definitely be exploring this and going armed with info to the GP.

Autism itself won't cause the rash, though.

MakeMineExtraHot · 04/06/2024 06:30

My daughter has had the same rash every time she gets a virus. Shes been diagnosed with EDS and is getting assessed for autism and ADHD

leafybrew · 04/06/2024 06:34

I was going to suggest hypermobility as well. It means you bruise more easily as well as having joint pains a lot. They can also tend to feel cold easily.

It can be difficult to diagnose, and there isn't a specific treatment available, but physiotherapy can help. We noticed especially when my DDs shoulder 'popped' out of place when she was brushing her teeth, but she had also had a lot of knee and hip pains.

Littlemissnikib · 04/06/2024 06:48

My son has this but his is due to low blood platelets. Interestingly he also has hypermobility and is also autistic.

ThisDreamyTurtle · 06/06/2024 10:04

Thankyou , reading these comments all saying the same has been eye opening! Thankyou all!!
she’s got an appointment Friday so I’ll research it today and go in with as much info as possible! Is it rheumatology she’d need referring to please?

OP posts:
MotherOfDragon20 · 06/06/2024 23:01

The first thing that strung to my mind with the rash and leg aches was vasculitis. Doubt this would cause the autism like symptoms though.

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