New here...again

Avatar for dublindee02
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
New here...again
3
Mon, 07-18-2005 - 6:08pm

Hi there,

I was posting on this board around 6 months ago as I was waiting for ds (5) to be evaluated by a neuropsychologist. We were dealing with lots of obsessive behavior, aggression, tantrums, rages etc. Ds has never had stranger anxiety and seemed "quirky" and a little odd at the best of times. So when the neuropsych said no to pdd or aspergers (despite the aspergers questionaire suggesting otherwise-doc said it had a high false positive rate), I accepted it. Ds had already been dx with bipolar disorder (it's in the family) and was doing well on meds. Stiiiiill, the question lingered in my mind...why the obsessiveness, the forced eye contact. He is affectionate, loving and was speaking at 18 months, but always been quirky.

After a few false starts with therapists we started a new therapist for ds last week, and within 10 mins of being in the room, she questioned had we had him tested for pdd. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Aspergers is in my family (3 first cousins and possible grandparent and uncle). The neuropsych and dev ped all jumped on the adhd bandwagon, and I agree with them to a point, but adhd is not ds's only issue. Take away the adhd and the bp (almost stable now), he is still well...quirky; precoscious with speech, obsessions, forced eye contact etc. He really seems to be very high end pdd.

Which brings me to ds#2 (2.1). He is affectionate, communicative, but isn't speaking. He has a few words, but no where near what a 2 year old should have...oh, and he's obsessed with cars, lines them up, puts them in and out of bags, contaners etc for hours. But just like his brother, he is commmunicative and he actually does make good eye contact. So he has a speech eval tomorrow. I could be overreacting but I was wondering if anyone else had an issue like this where multiple children had the same or similar delays? Thanks for your time.

Dee

p.s ds#1 had all the mercury in his shots adn his first mmr, ds#2 has had almost no mercury and hasn't had his mmr shot yet. I say this as ds#1 stopped talking for almost a week after his mmr at age 2.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-24-2004
Mon, 07-18-2005 - 7:48pm

Dee,

There are a few here who have several kids on the spectrum. I do not, yet, although I am pregnant with #2. DS #1 has PDD-NOS with hyperlexia. His obsession with books is more like a mode of learning. He has auditory processing issues and loves to memorize scripts. He learned to read before the age of 2 and it was his first form of communication. He is very bright in many ways but also emotionally labile. Depression, giftedness, and quirky sorts of people run in both DH and my families. DH has one brother who could easily be diagnosed today with PDD-NOS. Ironically, DH and I are the most sociable ones in our families.

Our neuro told us that the odds in recent studies of having a second child with a PDD were between 1 in 80 and 1 in 90. People who have no kids on the spectrum have a 1 in 166 chance of having a PDD kid, so we are basically twice as likely to have another. I just thought you'd like to know your chances. Hopefully others will answer with more info about having 2 on the spectrum.

Suzi

Avatar for dublindee02
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 07-18-2005 - 9:58pm

I figured as much as to the statistics. With my family history I am sure the odds are up again, lol! Both boys are so social in so many ways and then not in others that I guess my antenna is up right now. Dh and I really want another baby, but are holding off for a while so we can see where the boys we have are headed. We still plan on another pregnancy but I need to get ds#2 talking and ds#1 more stable. GL with #2. If my #2 is anything to go by he's nothing on my first guy. Even my youngest's quirkiest days are nothing compared to my first:)

Dee

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
Tue, 07-19-2005 - 12:25pm

Dee,

I think you should have DS#2 evaluated just in case. There are some red flags there; not speaking, lining objects, etc. It won't do any harm, and if they do find any issues, the earlier he gets help, the better.

I have two kids on IEPs. One is on the spectrum. The other "probably is". She is currently identified as "at risk for Aspergers" and gets a TON of services in an attempt to prevent it.

But you know, compared to Peter (7), Siobhan (5) was so advanced that we had no idea anything was not typical about her. It was the daycare lady who mentioned that she had a speech delay, and didn't seem to interact with the other kids quite as she should (she did interact with them, but something was not quite right...). We had her evaluated at 29 mos -she didn't qualify for services. Then again at 3yo and she did.

The thing which constantly amazes me about my kids is that although they will probably end up having the same DX -Aspergers; they are so different: Peter is extroverted, Siobhan is shy. Peter has behaviour problems, Siobhan does not. Peter has no attention span for things which are not Pokemon, Siobhan has great focus. Peter is totally focussed on his obsessions. Siobhan can pay attention to other stuff. Peter can tolerate change and surprises reasonaby well (up to a point!), Siobhan cannot. Peter is OK if someone brushes up against him, Siobhan freaks out.

I could go on and on, but you get the picture. As was said frequently on this board: if you have met one kid with Autism, you've met one kid with Autism. Even in the same family, they can vary vastly.

Please let us know what ou decide to do.

-Paula

-Paula

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