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SN children

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Original poster

Autism and larger head?????

11 replies

anniebear · 10/04/2005 09:51

My Friends DS (3) has Epilepsy. He went for an appointment and whilst there they commented on his head being a little large, then looked at his hands.

My friend asked why they were doing that and they said it was nothing to worry about but they will keep an eye on it.

She looked it up on the internet and just found somthing about Child with Autism and larger heads.

Does anybody know anything about this or why they might have looked at his henads and head?
Thanks

OP posts:

Socci · 10/04/2005 10:00

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coppertop · 10/04/2005 10:04

Both ds1 and ds2 have large heads. Ds1 is nearly 5 but needs a hat in an 8-9yrs size. Ds2 is 2.2yrs and needs a hat for a 3-4yrs size.

Ds1 and ds2 each saw a different Paed at the CDC and both Paeds commented on head size. Ds2's Paed said that there had been some research which showed that children with autism were more likely to have a larger head. I suspect he only mentioned it at that point because we'd already made it clear that we were concerned about autism and had been through the process before with ds1.

I have no idea about the hand-checking though.

Davros · 10/04/2005 10:22

I've heard of this and GOSH measured DS's head, don't know result....

Jimjams · 10/04/2005 10:35

the important thing is head growth after birth- so moving up lots od centiles. large heads by themselves are not an issue. All ds1's notes say "megacephaly" which pees me off as he's only 75 centile (and was born on that centile as well). Ds2 is and always has been 98 centile (ds3 50th). In ds1's case the paed decided it was because I have a big head as well.

it can also be linked to fragile x- so that's another reason why it could be lnked to autism. In ds1's case frag x test was normal

binkie · 10/04/2005 11:04

The hand check may have been for that theory that people on the autistic spectrum have ring fingers longer than their index fingers (as opposed to the other way around, as is "normal" apparently). Don't know how accepted that theory is, though - always thought it sounded a bit old wives' tale.

Socci · 10/04/2005 11:16

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maddiemo · 10/04/2005 11:46

My friends son had his hands checked for bone growth. He then had xrays taken of his hands and his bone maturity was assessed. So might be this?

Head growth is about the growth after birth and also if head is out of proportion to body growth. My asd son has a 98th centile head but is below the 9th in all other areas of growth. We were offered an MRI based on this but declined as he has had a bad reaction to GA before.

They are looking for syndome markers. My ds has webbing, moderate hypospadias, coarse hair, poor growth and facial markers. However we had some chromosome testing and nothing came back.

jayzmummy · 10/04/2005 12:42

J is a tiny dot....he is 9 but wears age 6 clothing......didnt come out of age 24 months clothing until he was 4.

When he was last seen by the Paed they shone an ultra violet light over his body and were looking for white patches....what was that all about?????
They found a large cluster of white marks on his back and tummy....said they would check them again in a years time....when we asked why the Paed told me not to worry.
Any ideas anyone....have tried googling but cant find anything???????

tamum · 10/04/2005 13:01

I know exactly what they were checking for, but it's probably nothing to worry about. They were looking for signs of tuberous sclerosis, which is a genetic condition characterised by autism. The fact that they didn't diagnose it on the spot must mean that they think there's not enough evidence for it. There are quite a few diagnostic features that have to be present before they can say unequivocally that it is TS; each of the features are not uncommon in the general population on their own so you have to have lots together before it is likely to mean anything. The TSA is here , but do remember it's not likely to be this .

Jayzmummy · 21/04/2005 01:01

Thanks Tamum....OH BLOODY HELL!!!!!!

TheRealMrsF · 21/04/2005 17:39

Hmmmm....my ring fingers are 1cm longer than my index fingers!!!!!

Mind you this could be the same as when we compare the size of a mans hands to the size of his %$%$^%%!!!!!!!!!!

Leigh's head is very large....he made a crown the other day and it completelly fell over alexes head...din't even touch his nose !!!!

leigh also had 'infantile Fits'...not linked to high temp (convulsions etc)...but likely was from brain growth too fast for body to cope with.

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