August 05, 2004

Will your baby have Asperger's syndrome? A university study released last week reveals that tilting the body of infants at the age of six months reveals indicators for Asperger's Syndrome, a high-function form of autism. The study was printed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and builds on a 1998 study.

As I myself have Asperger's Syndrome, this has settled my wife's concern for our seven-month old son, who seems otherwise normal and scores negative under this test. My psychiatrist, who specializes in autism, just now skimmed over the paper today and found it very interesting. He thinks it identifies the sensory integration problems that are very common in almost all forms of autism, and thus it may not be the holy grail but could be the thing to diagnose one key symptom.

posted by rolypolyman 20 years ago
  • May I divert this thread straight off the bat? Asberger's is something I have been wondering and reading about ever since my son's teacher recommended that we have him tested for the syndrome. Since there were no performance or behavioural problems at school, we resisted the recommendation (according to other teachers, the teacher overstepped his authority in suggesting it). Things have progressed a couple of years now, and although there are still no behavioural problems at school, my son is obviously deeply unhappy doing anything but what he wants to do. Academically, he is far ahead any of his classmates (and he wants to spend all his time reading, writing, drawing cartoons, computer programming, etc.), yet his social skills are sorely lacking compared with his peers. We have been frustrated in all our attempts to get him to maintain friendships, or to get some exercise, or change his behaviour in any respect: he apparently cannot be moved from doing what he wants to do. (Luckily, he's generally a good kid.) Does this sound like some kind of autistic tendency to those with some first- or second-hand knowledge of these things? We made the decision today that we will probably have him tested.
  • BTW, the Wikipedia article is great. Thanks!
  • Skrik - I saw myself in your description of your son. That was me! Really only a psychiatrist can say for sure whether your son has Asperger's syndrome but I think the chances here are high. Assuming that -- most likely your son isn't interested in his peers at school because he sees their interests as shallow or incomprehensible. Many Asperger people -do- have social needs, so you should be looking at overlaps of interests. I'd be exploring technical societies in the school, "2600" society meetups, ANY local crowd of computer programmers, or even local SF fans if he enjoys SF. Back in the 1980s we had local BBSs which helped me immensely in meeting unusual folks like myself; I think that door is closed now unfortunately with everything being globalized. In any case you should realize that all his creative energies are never lost, and will probably give him some incredible job skills later in life. My obsessions led to a great career; I'm pretty well known in my field and have written four books. If he still doesn't want to socialize, it's best not to heap expectations on him that he may not need, but the creative things are great.
  • Also, does he drive? I shunned a lot of social contact through much of high school because, in addition to my social difficulties, the stigma of getting rides from mom/dad was the trump card. May not apply of course, but this was in Dallas and it was hard to get around without a car.
  • skrik- how old is your kid??
  • Roly: Thanks. I see nothing but opportunity, should it turn out that my son has Asberger's (although I'm sure there are challenges to be overcome, too). But, yeah, he'd need to find a place socially where he's happy. Wedge: He is only 10 years old, so we have plenty of time.
  • Skrik, a 7-yr old I know well was diagnosed last year with Asperger's. The tip-off for the teacher was not only the social troubles you mentioned, but also terrible handwriting. He's lucky to have a wonderful local school that's well-equipped to work with him. Get the tests. This kid is a science nut, so his parents were very up front about what was going to happen. As a result, he wasn't the least bit scared, but rather fascinated and asked lots of questions. He also wowed the doctors by knowing a lot about their machines.
  • I am too. Now send me money.